Day 586: Back to Athens

Up at 5am, taxi pickup at 5:30am, arrive at the dock by 6am where we wait around for a bit and then depart on the ferry at 7am. Crazy early.

The weather had calmed down the last few days so it was pretty smooth, and the first leg of the journey was great - the boat was less than half full so we could spread out, I had my laptop plugged in and was doing editing. But after the second stop (Naxos and then Paros), the boat was basically full and that meant people with reserved seats started wanting them! Eventually we had to move and find other spots which we only just managed. A nice man gave up his seat so that we could stick together and we finished off doing some planning for the USA. Might be a bit tough to visit some of the national parks in the west as it's getting cold by November!

Finally we arrived in Athens around 5pm and super glad to get off the boat. Schnitzel had been in his little bag for about 12 hours by this point but had been very well behaved! We let him out for a pee and then straight back in and onto the underground into the city. I wasn't expecting great things from the Athens metro but it's fine for getting people between Piraeus and the old city where we were staying.

After a wrong turn or two we found our Airbnb, a loft-style apartment about six floors up. Fairly newly renovated so it's quite nice, though the internet is quite slow again. Can't have it all I guess - it does come with a view of the Acropolis!

I had a nap while Shandos explored a bit, only venturing out later to grab a gyros. Not super impressed with Athens at first glance; it's very run-down and grungy like Rome or Naples, and with a slight hostile edge in the air as well.Read more