We re-join the EU in Corfu after our time out and it’s obviously via the bigger queue. Fortunately we have lots of time for our flight to Athens, even more so when Aegean decide to delay our flight for a couple of hours which then annoyingly coincides with the Athens rush hour.
Our time in Athens is shorter than our last hardcowtravels, so this time we’re not trekking around all the ancient sites of the city. Plus, we have a much more anticipated appointment – a meet up with the Hardy parents and their cousin John. They are squeezing in a stay in Athens between their trip to Aegina and seeing Auntie Val just outside Athens. It’s been over five months since we’ve seen them, so it’s a very happy couple of days, during which at least three conversations are happening at the same time – we’ve missed navigating that particular challenge!
One other thing that you’re guaranteed with the Hardys is huge quantities of good food. Normally this is cooked by Mary, this time we rely on a fantastic local pizza establishment and, one of our favourites from previous Athens visits, the magnificent To Steki tou Ilia – aka ‘the lamb chop place’. 1.5kg of them were ordered and only one (that’s one chop not one kg) remained. Note to self for later in the holiday – there’s another branch in Thessaloniki.
Allan introduced Mary and John to Negronis and they were very well received. We discovered that mastika is amazing served with lime juice and black pepper. Much catching up was done on news, politics, family news, and even Lidl. Two days flew in no time. Like Abdi and Faye beforehand, we feel overwhelmed that people have used their valuable time to meet up with us on our travels – how utterly lovely.
After the Hardys, we only have a day left in Athens. However much the Acropolis always appeals, the 30 euros entrance fee discourages us, so we decide to go somewhere else and for the first time, we go to the National Archaeological Museum of Greece.
We see antiquities from the 5th century BC. We see some iconic pieces including the Mask of Agamemnon (which graced the front of Chloe’s copy of the Oresteia that she carried around in her college bag for two years) and the Jockey of Artemision. We also see some statues with noses – something we commented on when visiting the Getty Villa a few years ago. It is awesome and needs another visit, as our two hours didn’t even get us close to the attention it deserves.
Our AirBnB was pretty good, most things worked and it was very handy for everything. It had a fantastic balcony wrapping round the apartment, although we were right on a six-lane ring road so apart from 01:00-06:00, it was pretty noisy outside.
So, it’s time to leave Athens. We now have 31 nights in a place that is promising a lot, but only has one review, in a town we haven’t previously stayed, on an island that we’ve never been to before and it’s the second most expensive (after the LA hotel) of the holiday. What could possibly go wrong?