Athens Revisited

Thursday, 12 April

We woke up with the sun shining on our last day in Paros. I wrote yesterday's blog as soon as I got up and when mom and dad woke, they made us some tea. We ate a lovely breakfast of coco pops (Ashlyn had to ration them out for everybody) and French toast (my idea!) I packed my bag while mom and dad went to Paroikia to do some last minute souvenir shopping and sort out some other things.

When they came back they asked us whether we wanted to go to the beach or relax in the apartment. We decided on the latter and so I continued reading a bit and they finished packing. Lunch was all about finishing the leftovers, but it still tasted really good! We had a pasta salad and bread. After lunch Ash and I went exploring and mom and dad lounged on the patio.

Lunch

Kostas arrived to help us transport our bags to the airport. We drove our last bit of road on Paros :( and soon arrived at the really small airport- it has only has one runway. Our flight from Paros to Athens was the nicest flight I've ever had! The aeroplane was small and there was no queue for checking in. While we waited for the plane to arrive, I bought a box of those chocolate filled wafer tubes. Me and Ash shared them and they kept us busy. I also read. The plane arrived and we went through border control. Then we sat in the waiting area outside and watched them unload and load the aeroplane. It was so charming :)

Outside waiting area- watching them load the plane

We climbed into the plane and I even got to sit in my own row (with a window seat) because nobody was sitting there! It is only about a 30 minute flight to Athens and it was lovely flying over the islands. There was only one air hostess and she did everything: announcements, safety demonstrations and even pulled an apron over her clothes to serve us drinks! I had an orange juice and a packet of salted nuts. Ash and I were the only people given a raisin 'brioche' (bread) I think it was because we were the only children on the flight. Later on she even came and gave us another one!

Tiny aeroplane

View from the plane

Soon we descended, landed and went to get our baggage. It took really quick because our aeroplane was so small. We had a hotel transfer and met the people who would be taking us. There were two women and they also phoned another man in his taxi to help transport. Mom and I went with the girls in one car and dad and Ash went in the other. We chatted all the way there: about our holiday, Greece, South Africa, the economy etc. They were so sweet. We arrived at Central Athens Hotel, checked in and then went up to our rooms.

Central Hotel

We have a family room, which actually has 2 rooms on the end of a corridor, but you can close a door to the passageway and make it a combined suite. I refreshed myself in the shower and then we went for dinner.

Our room

We walked down a few streets, admired the Acropolis again and browsed in some shops. Soon we reached a cute looking restaurant with a nice menu and decided to eat there. The interior was warm and cozy, with a wooded roof and stone walls. We sat down and ordered our drinks. Ash ordered a Sprite and I ordered an orange juice so we mixed them together to make fizzy orange juice! We had a Cretan 'salad' for starters (it was really a piece of bread with tomato and feta piled on top- more like a bruschetta) It tasted really nice. For main, I had lamb chops and chips. They were the best lamb chops I've ever tasted! I convinced Ashlyn to share a chocolate pie with me (she didn't need much convincing :) It was like a really moist chocolate cake. Yum! We went back to the hotel where me and Ash got into bed but stayed awake and chatted awhile before falling asleep.

Cretan Salad

Lamb chops

Sharing out the chocolate pie!