Atlanta, GA Near airport, Thursday 4 June 2009

Thursday morning about 5 AM. Spent the night in Atlanta at the Hampton Inn on Bobby Brown Ave. Good location. Several eating places we can walk to for light supper. We chose the McDonald's for salads.

We landed early in Atlanta about 5:10 PM yesterday. It was after 7 pm by the time we got to the Hampton Inn. I allow a minimum of 2 hours to get through passport, customs, and security again. After customs you have to put luggage on belt to baggage claim or to recheck if you are continuing on another flight. After putting luggage on the belt you go though a security check again, even if you are only going to baggage claim. That bottle of water they gave you on the plane, cannot be taken through the security check. That duty free liquid or maybe food you purchased after the security check at the international airport CANNOT be taken through the security check.

We go back to the airport late morning today and fly to Gulfport/Biloxi. Should be home by late afternoon

Hampton Inn: Free high speed internet.

All for now.
Emily

A, t Athens, Greece Airport waiting to Board

We had breakfast at the hotel. Finished packing and checked out. The desk called a taxi for us. From Mitropeolis Square the taxi fare was 40 including the tip. Time to the airport was 40 minutes. Traffic was light. The taxi used a toll road to reduce the travel time. We should be boarding in about 30 minutes.

Had a great time in Athens and on the Star Clipper.
All for now, Free Wi Fi at the Athens, Airport.
Emily

Athens, Greece Last Night, 2 June 2009

Tonight is our last night in Athens. We fly from Athens, Greece to Atlanta tomorrow;Wednesday. This morning we went up to breakfast about 9 AM. The sky was very cloudy with rain type clouds. About 9:30 AM there was a very light, short shower. That is one for the calender. Normally Athens does not get any type of rain between May 1 until the end of October. By noon the clouds were gone, the sky was blue and the sun was shining brightly. We walked down and over to Krinosos Cafe to get a cheese pie. It was definitely worth the walk over. We also purchased some pillow covers for sofa pillows.

We just relaxed with afternoon until time for supper. We agreed to go back to THANASSIS for supper. We got the ground meat kebabs and a Greek salad. I stopped in a small store to get some packaged olives on the way back to the hotel. We also found a good little grocery store about 4 blocks from the hotel.

It's been a very good trip. We plan to travel with STAR CLIPPER again and would definitely plan to stay at the Magna Grecia hotel again. The location is great and the staff are very helpful.

All for now. I will need to get my STAR CLIPPER log down loaded to the blog.

Emily

Athens, Greece Saturday and Sunday, May 30 - 31, 2009

We arrived at our hotel about 10 AM on Saturday morning. We checked in, dropped out luggage in the lobby and went to the roof top breakfast area. The lady working in the breakfast area recognized us. She welcomed us back and got us coffee, tea, and fresh squeezed orange juice. I checked e-mail and added to blog. We then headed toward Monostiraki Square to THANASSIS tarverna for lunch. The location to the flea market and the layout of the traverna seemed like the one we would eat at in 1976 when we were leaving the flea market. THANASSIS was estrablished in 1968. I told our waiter we used to eat there in 1975- 1976, The waiter had us meet Mr Thanassis. Mr Thansassis had the waiter get us another beer.

After lunch we walked to George's Jewelry (I purchased some items from George in 1975.)
The son, George is now operating the jewelry shop. I also had one of the jewelry boxes from 1975 with me and yes, I did make another purchase. Instead of writing a personal check as in 1975, I just used my VISA card.

For supper we were heading to Monastriaki Square when we hear the loud music. We ended up at a garden square cafe across from the "Tower of the Winds" I got a very good spinach and cheese pie.

SUNDAY

Jim and I got up early on Sunday. After breakfast, we headed for the real flea market. The real flea market is on Sunday and begins in the square at the end of Ifassou St and runs to Thesseion Metro Station. We stopped at a cafe near Thesseion Station for drinks and yogurt with honey. It was filled with Greeks. We were the only tourist there. We got back to the hotel about 1 pm. At 4:00 pm we walked over to the entrance to the Acropolis. We climbed up and toured the Acropolis. There is some much reconstruction or taking down and replacing with genuine fake copies. Walk ways have been constructed. We saw people on Mars hill, (where the Apostle Paul preached to the Athenians). The people on the hill do not know how easy their climb was. We did it by moonlight with no steps. In 1976 my mother was visiting; her guide book big hint was to see the Acropolis by moonlight. There are now 2 sets of steps up to the top of Mars Hill.

We returned to our hotel from the Acropolis and started to walk to Monastiraki Square for supper. We could hear loud music so we just eat at a cafe cross from the hotel on Mitropoleos Square. Jim got the chicken kabab with fries and seasoned rice. I got the grilled veggies. My grilled veggies was grilled with olive oil and seasoning. There was a plate full of grilled tomatoes, squash, mushrooms, and eggplant.

Hopefully on Monday evening the square will not have loud music. We are hoping the music is only a weekend thing.

Athens, Greece Monday 1 June 2009

Today we walked over to Lykavittos. Before walking to Lydavittos, we stopped at the very small and very old chruch across the street, Mitropoleos Chaple. The guide book stated it was a 10 minute walk from Syntagma Square. It took us about 30 minutes to walk from Syntagma. We stopped several times to check our map. We passed on walking up or down (done that before) and just took the CableWay train. It was only 6 Euro's per person for up and down. You could purchase a 1 way ticket. We were able to visit inside the St George Chapel on the top of the hill. Also we could see all of the surrounding Athens and surburbs. Unfortunately it was very hazy and smoggy. There is a front moving in and it will be cloudy by evening. The extra mosit probably increased the haze.
We stopped in the cafe on top of Lykavittos to get a drink and some potato fries. The cableway ticket got us a 15% discount on the cafe bill. Things have really charged since 1976. New ticket office, new trains and also a very new (and now expensive) resturant. The old tarverna is gone.

We walked back to the hotel and then got a taxi to take us to our old apartment near Glyfada. We recognized the old main base gate. The old red and white checked water tank is still standing. There is a traffic light at the entrance to the old base and the taxi was able to cross Vouligamenis Ave and turn on to our old street. It looks like the surrounding buildings are is better condition now than when we lived there. We were able to take pictures of the outside of 17 Aphrodites St. We recongized the buildings next to our old apartment. The old empty lot down the street is now a fenced playground. The building is in very good shape.

We will walk down to Monostraki Square for supper this evening.

Emily

Athens, Greece Saturday 30 May 2009

We just returned to Athens from our 2 weeks on the Star Clipper. We enjoyed the ship very much.
I won the Big prize last night. I won the chart for our sail for the week of May 23 - 30. It is signed We checkout some of the other cabins this morning before we got off. I got photos with cabin numbers. I have been keeping a daily log on MS Word and will post when I can.
We found several free or very cheapWiFi connections but places were closed during the hours the ship was in port. also on Saturday, May 23 we walked to the Starbucks on the Piraeus Yacht Harbor. We tried to use their WiFi, card cost 5 Euros for 3 hours, but could not get logged in. They gave us a refund.
We are back at the Magna Grecia enjoying the view and breeze.

Emily

Thursday, May 14

It's our first morning in Greece. We are staying at the Magna Grecia on the edge of the Plaka and the Flea Market. In fact the Plaka Hotel is just down 1 down from us. We have a room with a view. We look at over the church courtyard and in the distance is the Aropolis. The sky a clear blue this AM.
After we checked in on Wednesday, we headed to the Plaka to get lunch. Thank goodness, there was only 1 Princess cruise ship in town. One of the resturants on the square was the gathering place for about 10 Princess Tours. We walked on down to find another place for lunch. I wil not be going back there. Both Jim and I found the souflakis to be tasteless. We walked about the "new" flea market, selling shirts, shoes, and made in China Real Greek souveniers. We soon headed back to the hotel to rest and unpack some items.
For supper we walked down into more of the area of the "old" Flea Market. About 1/3 of the shops were closed, but we were really just looking at the old area and really looking for a place to eat.
We found 2 tavernas across the street at the end of the flea market. There were many locals eating there. We choose the taverna with the real chacoal grill and the sausage souflaki. We got 2 souflake plates and 1 Greek Salad. Next time is will only be 1 plate.
The middle of the day is very warm, but it quickly cools in the eveing.

Once we figure out how to post pics, we will add a few to the blog.
Emily