Greece. I don't remember what drew me to the idea of this place years ago, but now I know why I want to return. Early Saturday morning (4/11), my sister and I headed back to Heathrow via private taxi (less expensive than those cool London taxis that we see in the movies) - we got an Audi instead. :) The driver played a variety of techno 80's music. It was 3:30 AM.
I arrived at Heathrow at 6:35 AM the morning prior.
Our driver drops us off and we discover hiccup #2 of the trip: not enough cash to tip him properly (Oh dear!) - he generously accepts $5 (USD) and tells me he's going to keep it as a souvenir. Sweet, sweet man...
We find Costa just outside of security (this is my sister's favorite coffee spot in London) and order our beverages - truly an amazing latte, I must add. I also have a chocolate muffin unlike anything in my life. Suddenly, the reality that it's 4:30 AM doesn't seem so bad. We finish up and head for security, the gate and well, Vienna. That's where we're stopping on the road to Athens today.
Two hours pass with a lovely breakfast - can you say that about plane food? - and we land in Austria, deplane onto the tarmack (see, I've been there now!), passports stamped by the new Austrian friends and we scooted off to board the flight that will take us to GREECE. I was excited.
Landing in Athens, we experienced no passport control (strange we thought), grabbed our bags, figured out how to get to Port Piraeus via bus (Yes! Public Transport at the bargain price of $3.20 EURO each). Took the bus (stood for most of the hour-long ride), arrived at the Port and searched for the Flying Dolphin Ferry that would take us to Poros Island. Arriving in Poros, we grabbed our bags and looked for a taxi - a Mercedes this time. An aside: The Europeans know how to do things with style! He pulled up to a driveway and pointed up the hill saying, "I think that's your hotel."
There were no signs. There were no stairs. In fact, after manuevering our luggage to the hilltop, we couldn't decide where the Lobby might be. We started knocking on doors. After a few minutes, a woman walked towards us from the alleyway; we thought nothing of this until she handed me her cell phone and made a gesture towards it, then me. I said, "Hello. We are supposed to check-in today. Is this such and such hotel?" Affirmative. The woman on the other end gave some brief instructions - the jist: follow the woman who gave you the phone. So, we did. Evarina was fabulous to us during our time in Poros!
At any rate, we follow her to the itty bitty elevator and then to our room. A while later, Greek phrasebook in hand, we return to the Lobby asking her for thoughts on dinner. And well, then we meet Costas. Yes, Costas. He speaks a little English and quickly herds us toward his truck. He's taking us on a tour of Poros. We drive around - he kept pointing out places to eat and continues to tell us how beautiful we are. We kind-of liked Costas. Eventually, he drops us off at this restaurant at the base of the hill below the hotel and we have our first official meal in Greece. It was delicious.
I arrived at Heathrow at 6:35 AM the morning prior.
Our driver drops us off and we discover hiccup #2 of the trip: not enough cash to tip him properly (Oh dear!) - he generously accepts $5 (USD) and tells me he's going to keep it as a souvenir. Sweet, sweet man...
We find Costa just outside of security (this is my sister's favorite coffee spot in London) and order our beverages - truly an amazing latte, I must add. I also have a chocolate muffin unlike anything in my life. Suddenly, the reality that it's 4:30 AM doesn't seem so bad. We finish up and head for security, the gate and well, Vienna. That's where we're stopping on the road to Athens today.
Two hours pass with a lovely breakfast - can you say that about plane food? - and we land in Austria, deplane onto the tarmack (see, I've been there now!), passports stamped by the new Austrian friends and we scooted off to board the flight that will take us to GREECE. I was excited.
Landing in Athens, we experienced no passport control (strange we thought), grabbed our bags, figured out how to get to Port Piraeus via bus (Yes! Public Transport at the bargain price of $3.20 EURO each). Took the bus (stood for most of the hour-long ride), arrived at the Port and searched for the Flying Dolphin Ferry that would take us to Poros Island. Arriving in Poros, we grabbed our bags and looked for a taxi - a Mercedes this time. An aside: The Europeans know how to do things with style! He pulled up to a driveway and pointed up the hill saying, "I think that's your hotel."
There were no signs. There were no stairs. In fact, after manuevering our luggage to the hilltop, we couldn't decide where the Lobby might be. We started knocking on doors. After a few minutes, a woman walked towards us from the alleyway; we thought nothing of this until she handed me her cell phone and made a gesture towards it, then me. I said, "Hello. We are supposed to check-in today. Is this such and such hotel?" Affirmative. The woman on the other end gave some brief instructions - the jist: follow the woman who gave you the phone. So, we did. Evarina was fabulous to us during our time in Poros!
At any rate, we follow her to the itty bitty elevator and then to our room. A while later, Greek phrasebook in hand, we return to the Lobby asking her for thoughts on dinner. And well, then we meet Costas. Yes, Costas. He speaks a little English and quickly herds us toward his truck. He's taking us on a tour of Poros. We drive around - he kept pointing out places to eat and continues to tell us how beautiful we are. We kind-of liked Costas. Eventually, he drops us off at this restaurant at the base of the hill below the hotel and we have our first official meal in Greece. It was delicious.
This is our first of many new friends at the restaurant. Poor stray kitty.
The view from our table. It was beautiful at dusk.
Stray kitties made themselves at home all over the island. Here one catches a cat-nap on the seat of a Yamaha. :)
A view of the harbor on our way into Poros Town. I could spend some serious time here.
No comments:
Post a Comment