Athens

Travelling through Toronto and Frankfurt, I arrived in Athens this afternoon.  Rather than brave the legendary taxi drivers from the airport (if you get a nice one he will very likely rip you off) I instead took the Metro train, which takes about the same amount of time and saves about 40 Euro or more than $50.  The hard part was keeping my wits about me to gather my bags and leave at the right exit after an hour on the train, since I couldn’t help but nod off a few times (it’s 9 hours ahead of the time at home).

Leaving the metro station whose exit was lined with homeless people, I hiked several blocks with luggage on my back to find my simple hotel.  Its conveniently located just off a busy market street, right behind City Hall and across the street from two video sex stores.

It’s hot, muggy and hazy.  The streets are lined with kiosks selling anything and everything you might need on the spot, except for wine.  Wine seems to be unavailable except from taps in some of the fast food places, so it is probably best not tasted anyway.