June 24, 2010 - Our last day in Athens! We didn't really have a plan for today. We sat at our morning cafe to figure out what to do. We decided to take the Metro to Omnia, just a couple of stops outside of our stop. We got off the Metro and saw a McDonald's with a guard out front, watched an incredibly drunk (or high) man, walked by a few drug deals and a hooker - Whoa! not the part of Athens we would like to see! We walked and walked hoping to get to a nicer part, which didn't happen all too quickly. Nicholas named this area "Ghetto Greece." During our walk to safety, Julie was pooped upon by a bird. This put a real damper in the quest to find a safer area! It was all down her arm, leg and foot. The boys were no help, they just laughed and said how grossed out they were! Tom came to the rescue at the first restaurant he saw. He asked for a glass of water and cleaned it all off!! He's a good guy!
We found another Metro station, hopped on the train and headed for Monastiraki - a more familiar territory. We watched some street dancers in the Square and set out to find the Poet sandal-maker. Tom and Julie each had sandals made to fit our feet. The Poet Sandal-maker, Stavros Melissinos, has a great little workshop. Apparently, many big companies, including some in the U.S. have offered a deal to have his sandals sold in their stores, however, Melissinos likes his little shop and says that he is unique because he fits the sandals to each person that buys them. That will not be possible if he sells them to the big stores. His father started the company, he keeps the tradition going! While we were in the sandal workshop, we met a couple from Towson, MD - Yes! they had just gotten there that day and they were from Towson! After chatting with them a bit, we headed to a cafe for a much needed drink.
We shopped and walked back through Plaka on a mission to buy our worry beads - a "must have" in Greece. The worry beads are a small string of beads that you can have in your hands to fiddle with if you are worried. We saw several Greek gentlemen with their worry beads on the streets - didn't see many women though! We wondered what they are worried about.
After a short rest back at the apartment, we headed to the Plaka for dinner. It will be an early night, our cab driver will be at the apartment at 6:15 a.m. to take us to Pireaus for the ferry to Paros. Our first island stop! We have some work to do to get our stuff packed up!
No comments:
Post a Comment