Greece Is The Word - Day 1

Day 1 - Thursday, October 13

Tel Aviv to Athens

On Thursday morning the sheirut (shared cab) picked us up at 2am and we were off to the airport. After a short visit with our friend Jessie who was on her way to Spain, Daniel, Arielle, Jeremy, and I boarded our plane to Larnaca, Cyprus. The flight was completely uneventful. I hear they served drinks and a snack, although I slept through the whole flight. We were supposed to have a two hour layover in Larnaca, but due to the air space over Greece being closed, all flights that went to or over Greece were delayed. So, after a 5 hour layover, we were finally on our way to Athens, Greece. We had pre-arranged for transferred to and from the airport, and it was really great to get off the plane and have someone waiting to take us into the city. After about 45 minutes we arrived at the President Hotel, and took a few minutes to put our things away. The hotel was really nice, and was located walking distance from the areas of town that we wanted to visit (which was good, since because of the strike all public transportation was shut down). After settling in the four of us got a map and headed out to Plaka, the old part of Athens. On our walk we really got a sense of Athens. Because of the protests the trash hadn't been picked up in a long time, so there were huge piles of garbage all over the street. Traffic was horrific, and nobody seemed to follow the rules of the road or obey lane lines. We walked by the American embassy and many other embassies, the war museum, the art museum, Parliament house with the tomb of the unknown soldier, the center of town, and around Plaka. Our walk took us by the new Acropolis museum, and around the base of the Acropolis to Marsh Hill, which held the low court of Athens until democracy was established. From Marsh Hill there was an amazing 360 degree view of the city and the acropolis. From there we walked back to Plaka, where we had a great dinner at Daphne's, a restaurant known for its authentic Greek cuisine. The restaurant did not disappoint - we had Greek salad, moussaka, spanikopita, and lots of delicious rolls with olive tapanade. And it was VERY different than the Daphne's in San Diego! We walked back to the hotel and went to sleep so that we could get up early to board our cruise.