I took a cruise during the Pandemic! Part 8

 Part 8 - Pre cruise days in Athens

Once we got into the terminal, the necessary evils known as immigration and customs were handled quickly, although I was very disappointed with the rather lame passport stamp.  I claimed my luggage, which took maybe 15 minutes and left the secure area in search of my driver from Athens Transfer Services.  I looked at a few options and settled on this company as they responded quickly to my questions and they made a couple changes with no issue.

Could this passport stamp be any more ambiguous?

Athens airport 

Athens Airport 

The ride to the  Hermes Hotel took maybe 40 minutes, and my driver, known as George the English Teacher gave me a "tour" on the way. Not a real tour, but he pointed out a few things along the route.  I asked George if he was from Greece as he spoke perfect, if slightly accented English.  He told me that his family lived in Chicago from the time he was 8 until he was in his early 20s or so.  Hence, he teaches English as a second language and has a summer job driving shuttles and doing tours.

We got to the hotel, which is hidden on a tiny street, and I eventually settled into my room.  I've done a review of that hotel which can be found HERE.  In short, while it took half a day for me to get comfortable, I really liked the hotel overall.  I liked it better after staying in the second hotel (Acropolis View), which, in my opinion, was not as well-located as this one.  Honestly, if I could take parts of each of them (Acropolis View had a great terrace and a more comfortable bed while Hermes had a better location and wins better breakfast due to actual hot food choices), I could make a perfect hotel.

Lots of places to shop

Exterior of Hermes Hotel

Street in front of hotel, walk to end, turn left or right to get to stuff!

The road to Athens is paved with good intentions and I'd planned to do a loop of the HOHO bus tour.  Instead, I probably "watched news" for a bit, got some lunch, took a look around the area and tried to cool off and relax.  I did a little unpacking, just what I'd need for the next couple days, charged my electronics and did some editing.

From what I've read, the Athens airport can be a hot mess when a lot of international flights arrive in the morning.  Perhaps our bad ass tail wind, resulting in an early arrival (almost an hour ahead) made it a much easier process.  

I didn't spend any time exploring the airport but there was a huge line at the currency exchange (always a lousy rate, so skip it and use an ATM instead or bring some local currency with you.)  There were several places to grab a coffee and I did see a Covid testing location, with a fairly long line.  

On Friday, my first full day in Athens, I had my breakfast in the hotel, gathered my cameras, chargers and some water and headed out to the HOHO bus.  I ended up just doing one loop and not leaving the bus ( I remained on the lower level in the A/C) but at least I saw something.  Following the tour, I needed some coffee, so I stopped at the Starbucks right next to where the bus route began.  Yum!  Decent coffee.  

One thing I did want to get was some KORRES bath products.  I first encountered them at the AC by Marriott Hotel at home in New Jersey and while the hotel lines are exclusive to hotels, they have great bath and body products.  There was a shop just a block away from Syntagma Square, between where I'd gotten on the bus and my hotel.  40€ later, and I was set for several months with body wash and shampoo. I think I came home with 6-8 bottles and a lip balm.  (The bottles are packaged in pairs so I really got a good deal)

My KORRES haul. LOVE it.

While walking back, I remembered that I could bring a couple bottles of wine onto the ship with me.  So, where can I find a wine store?  Google suggested one a couple miles away. Ugh.  Too far so I figured I'd try to buy a bottle from a restaurant or ask at my hotel.  Literally 30 seconds farther down the street I located a wine shop.  I explained what I wanted to the nice clerk and he found me a nice bottle of rose for 10€.  #Winning.

Back I went to the hotel for a rest.  By this point it was close to lunchtime so I set off for some food.  Please see my restaurant post for more details.  After a rest, some more editing and more news watching, I headed out for a cocktail at the Electra Metropolis Hotel's rooftop bar (and wound up walking down 11 flights of stairs when the power went off, trapping me in the elevator for 30 seconds)  If you want details on the elevator issue, see my pre-cruise restaurant post.  Pro Tip: Sometimes power goes off.  Elevators jerk to a stop.  USUALLY they get recalled to the ground floor.  IF you get stuck, after 2 seconds of panic, hit the button for the floor you're ON.  The door MAY open.  (In my case, it did. Whew)  Or, hit the button for the ground floor.  If neither of those work, remain calm and hit the alarm button and/or call button like crazy. 

Needless to say, after my great drink on the rooftop, I stopped at the first restaurant I saw that looked good and proceeded to have 2 more cocktails with my dinner.  Once again, I crossed my fingers that the travel angels were watching out for me. At this point, it was time to go back to the hotel, gather up my stuff and try to get some sleep!  Which was impossible.  Why? 

 Tomorrow, after all, was CRUISE DAY!  #bestdayever!  

What I ate, and drank, in Athens - Part 1 Pre Cruise

Pre cruise dining

One of the best parts of traveling is trying new foods.  I like to think of myself as a bit of a foodie.  I've always been somewhat of a picky eater; however, since I've aged (like fine wine) my palate has gotten more sophisticated.

 While I'll never be a huge fan of fish, seafood, mushrooms, "raw cheese" and meats other than beef, pork and chicken, I'll try new things, especially when I'm someplace different! I spent a total of 4 days in Athens recently, 2 nights before and 2 nights after my cruise on Celebrity Apex.

There are hundreds of restaurants in Athens to suit all budgets.  In summer, essentially no one eats inside.  The cafes all have awnings and huge fans and while it was very hot when I was there, if you got the right seat, dining al fresco was quite lovely.  

My first hotel, Hermes Hotel was located in the Plaka/Syntagma area and when I asked where to get lunch,  the man at the desk said go out the door, walk to the end, make a left, then you'll see many cafes.  Just pick whatever looks good to you.

So, that's what I did. The first place I saw was Piazza Duomo so I had a seat and ordered a lovely roasted pork dish with delicious potatoes and a Mediterranean spritz. Just what I needed after being on a plane for 8 hours.

Pork tenderloin and roasted potatoes

Cucumber spritz

Later that day, rather than dinner, I sort of cheated and wound up getting dessert! LOL.  Since my mind and body really didn't have much concept of time, after a walk and a nap, I headed back to Palmie Bistro for dessert and something to drink.  The banana crepe made for a great 'midnight snack' around 5 PM or so! Pretty sure I just had a coke or club soda.

Banana Crepe at Palmie Bistro

 My hotel provided a nice breakfast and that's reviewed in the Hermes Hotel post which can be found HERE.

The next day, it was over to STYL Café for chicken souvlaki for lunch after my HOHO bus tour.  Again, dining al fresco was fairly pleasant and the meal was excellent.  Toss in a 4€ glass of rose and it was an excellent meal.  

Souvlaki

Rose all day

Athens has a large number of rooftop bars and restaurants.  I wanted to have a nice cocktail with a view so I went over to the Electra Metropolis Hotel.  This stunning property was down the street and to the right from Hermes Hotel.  The rooftop has a bar, restaurant and pool. This hotel seemed popular with families as well since I saw a number of kids splashing about.  

My cocktail was delicious and the bar even had individually packaged containers of mixed nuts which was a nice touch.  I was able to see the Acropolis and in the distance, one of the raging wildfires north of the city. I also saw some firefighting aircraft flying about.  

The Electra Metropolis Hotel is more modern and probably 4.5-5 stars.  I checked the rates and they were around $250+ USD per night.  A bit over budget but it's a great location.

I forget what this was, but it was amazing

Individual containers of mixed nuts

Rooftop bar at Electra Metropolis

Lobby at Electra Metropolis

 Pro Tip: Sometimes power goes off in Athens.  It can happen whether there are wildfires burning or not.  I got temporarily stuck in the elevator on the 10th floor.  Luckily, there were nice seating areas on every elevator landing.  I walked down 2 floors at a time.  Ugh.  Also, in the summer, Athens is HOT. ALWAYS have bottled water with you.

After my adventure hauling my sorry self down 11 flights of stairs (the ground floor is referred to as 0 not 1 like it is here) I stopped at a new little bistro called Burrattino Spritzeria. Yes, Italian food in Athens.  The restaurant has a large variety of spritzes, hence the name.  My peach spritz was fabulous, I actually had to order a second one to make sure I liked it.  LOL.  Spritzes are huge in this part of the world, or so it seems, and for good reason.  They're very refreshing on hot summer days, and nights, and the combinations of liquors is seemingly endless.

I opted to get a margarita flatbread since I wasn't really hungry and it sounded delicious. I was correct, it was excellent.  I'd walked past Burrattino a few times so it looked like it would be a fun spot for dinner.  I'm glad I stopped and it was really close to my hotel.  Essentially out the front door and straight ahead for a block or so.  After my tasty dinner, I headed back to my hotel to recover from my adventures.  

With so many great restaurants, you'll be hard pressed to get a bad meal or to NOT find something you want to eat.  The nice thing about the Plaka/Syntagma/Monastiraki neighborhoods in Athens is that there are so many places to choose from.  If you can't find something you want to eat, you're doing it wrong.  I wish I had more time to eat in some other spots!

Hermes Hotel Athens Review

 

After a lot of research and review reading, I selected the Hermes Hotel for my first 2 nights in Athens, before a cruise. I was looking for a comfortable, well-located property that wasn't part of a huge, American chain and this did the trick.

My shuttle driver from the airport didn't have too much trouble finding the hotel but it is hidden on a VERY small street in the Plaka area of Athens, not far from Syntagma Square. I swear, some of the streets SHOULD be one way but they were not.  Yikes.  We made it.

I'd asked for a room with a double bed when I booked, and they were able to assign me that type of room. However, they wanted to charge me more.  I said, I thought that when I booked, the type of room said two single beds or one double, on availability. The lady who checked me in asked a manager and they didn’t charge me extra.  I'd say it was shortly before noon when I arrived, and I think I had bit of a wait for my room. I was assigned a room on the 6th floor and when I entered, I noticed that it was very hot.

Exterior

Double bed

Small desk

After a couple calls to the front desk, and a few visits by housekeepers and supervisors, we were able to get the room to cool off. I think it was really hot as the sun shined into the room early in the day. The a/c is operated via remote control and once she explained that I should hit the snowflake, I was all set. (TBH, it didn’t look like a snowflake.) She laughed though as I’d set it to 68F, which the supervisor said, “is kind of cold”.

The room was small by American standards but fairly roomy compared to other European hotel rooms I've seen. My room had a small fridge (which smelled really bad, BUT when I let the staff know, they swapped it out for a brand new one which was nice.) Small flat screen TV with just a couple channels in English. (BBC and maybe a sports channel), a nice sized balcony, closet, safe, small desk, and enough outlets for my purposes. Lucky for me, the Olympics were still taking place and you don’t necessarily need sound to watch that.

The balcony was very big

The bathroom was a nice size. I will say that the water gets VERY hot so be careful. Pro Tip: hotels in Europe tend to NOT provide washcloths/face cloths as they're considered "personal items". If you want them, get a pack of inexpensive ones at home, bring them with you, use them and throw them away. I took several, used one each day and then threw them away.  The provided toiletries were nice as well. 

Not a huge bathroom but it worked

There was also a small closet with a safe inside

The mattress in my room (605) was a little too hard, or maybe just old, for my liking as I could feel the coils and didn't sleep all that well. That said, the room was sufficient for my 2 nights in the hotel. I probably should have asked for a couple more pillows.  The housekeeping supervisor offered to place more mattress pads or blankets on the mattress, but I decided I could rough it for my stay.

I booked a rate that included breakfast and I will say that the spread was very nice. It's a buffet, even during Covid, but there are gloves provided and plenty of hand sanitizer. I didn't see the gloves, nor the sign that says to please wear gloves, on the first day but I was obviously tired from an 8+ hour flight. I was gently reminded to wear them. The breakfast attendant nicely told me to do so, and she said "it's OK, you didn't know, it's your first day! Now you know!"

The breakfast featured scrambled eggs, bacon, various cold meats and cheeses, cereals, pastries, fruits, yogurt, juice, coffee and more. It was very good and a great way to start the day. They offered both a regular coffee machine and a fancier espresso machine. A lot of coffee in Greece is Nescafe instant but one of the machines dispenses Douwe Egberts coffee which is quite good.

The breakfast room 

I will say that the elevator is VERY small, just big enough for 1 person and luggage. Also, one evening, due in part to the wildfires north of Athens causing power interruptions, there was a sign suggesting to NOT use the elevator. Oops. I wasn't going to walk up 6 flights with a bad knee. It’s funny, most elevators’ doors open on their own.  This one had a manually operated exterior door which was unique to say the least.

Tiny elevator

The hotel was a bit noisy, coming mainly from the hall.  The housekeepers were not the quietest and sometimes you could hear guests. That said, my room was 2 steps from the elevator, yet I didn’t hear anything from that. The balcony did have a great view of the city and was VERY big so that was nice. The hotel is in a fabulous area for dining, shopping, and sightseeing so that was a huge plus. All in all, while I prefer more 'creature comforts', I would not hesitate to recommend Hermes Hotel to friends and clients.

They also stored my bags for me while I awaited my transfer to the ship (opted to bring my luggage down at breakfast since I overpacked!) They also sold cold bottles of water for .50€ for a small bottle and I want to say 1-2€ for a liter size.

Lobby lounge area

Lobby lounge area

I made my reservation as soon as I booked the cruise and I think my rate was about 70€ per night plus tax. This was not a prepaid rate, it did include breakfast and I will say that the closer it got to the dates of my stay, the more full the hotel got, resulting in higher rates.  I’d advise booking early.  Greece also charges a tax that’s about 1.5€ per night and that is paid at check out, usually by cash.

All in all, this ended up being a great choice and while I prefer a more modern hotel, and maybe more creature comforts, in hindsight, I'd stay here again if the nicer places were way above my budget.

I took a cruise during the Pandemic! Part 7

 Part 7 - Flight to Athens

Once I finally boarded the aircraft, and handed off my crew gifts of a couple giant bags of chocolates and about 24 little travel hand sanitizers (from Bath & Body works.  I think they're 5 for $8 bucks, and I sometimes stock up. I buy a variety of scents too.  Somehow, I think this may have been helpful, stay tuned.), I stored my bags (both in the overhead since I was in a bulkhead/exit row seat) I settled into my squishy economy seat, 26A.  Note that on this configuration of an AA 777-200, 26A is missing a window.  Actually, it's misaligned, just behind the seat.  I was able to 'rent' the window for my GoPro to make a take-off video.  The people behind me were also sailing on Celebrity Apex but I never ran into them again. The seat is a bit more narrow due to the tray table being in the arm, but I had legroom for miles.

You'll see a blue pillow in the images below.  I usually don't use travel pillows (as it's something ELSE to carry) but since I was in economy, and thinking MAYBE I wanted one, I looked at reviews of the best ones.  The one I ordered is Jensens Innovations J-Pillow and I got it from Amazon. It's PERFECT if you have a window seat as you put it between the wall and your head.  The J part goes under your chin.  It looks ridiculous but I really liked it, though I only used it on the flight home since I ended up in an aisle seat. (I'm not sponsored by nor is this an ad so that link is just an FYI)

26A

Yes, there was an outlet

My GoPro on my 'rented' window

"Private" exit door

            Contents of amenity kit

Amenity kit








                                                  

Row 26, and my J Pillow

One of the FAs brought me a couple of amenity kits as a thanks for the goodies.  He said "they're not all that great, so have two.) LOL.  That was very nice of him.  After the usual pre-flight videos and announcements (where, of course everyone was  reminded of the mask rules), someone was relocated to an open seat in my row.  (Bummer, but we had a seat between us to put our crap on, although she was a crap-seat space hog.  AND a shoe-taker offer which REALLY annoys me, but I digress).  I endeavored to raise the In Flight Entertainment (IFE) screen.  There was no knob or button present, so I tried to pull it up, to no avail.  One of the FAs came by and tried too, and had no luck.  I don't carry actual tools with me but I did have a thumbscrew from my GoPro so I poked around where the button was evidently missing in an effort to raise the screen.

Not happening.  At this point, a second FA came by and they both looked at their phones or handheld scanners to see what seats were open.  I was offered another extra legroom seat but it was not a bulkhead nor an aisle so I said that I'd stay put and just watch stuff on my phone.  Then one FA said, well, I have a seat you might like up in like row 15.  As a side note, I'm OCD about aircraft and I knew that the first row of economy or extra legroom economy was row 17. I also had a 99% suspicion that row 15 MIGHT actually be premium economy. He said, let's go take a look and if you like the space, it's yours.

DID I LIKE THE SPACE???  Hell to the yes!  I was right and it WAS premium economy. BOOM! Free upgrade to a seat that would have cost me $1600 more bucks (one way) for the small price of $30 bucks worth of candy and hand sanitizer.  Coincidence?  I don't think so.  I ALSO think that, since I had a pee-pee room AND a pee-pee car ride, the travel angels decided to throw a dog a bone. 

My new seat, 15C

Nice AA headphones

IFE controls, but it's also a touch screen, way easier

Tray table

I moved some of my stuff up with me, and eventually walked back shortly before breakfast to grab my other carry on out of the bin.  I was reseated in time for dinner which, in PE, was PROBABLY a lot better than in coach.  The beef was really good and while I am not 100% sure what the pinkish sauce was, it had a good taste.  Somewhere between ginger and pink peppercorn maybe.  Some of you may remember that the last couple times I was on an airplane, I felt dizzy.  I really watched my alcohol intake on the plane and in the lounge, and stayed hydrated with water and ginger ale.  I felt great this time. I think I had 2 glasses of wine in the lounge, diluted with a soda and water, and 2 on the plane, with water and soda in between. 

My seatmate was perfect too.  They wore their mask the whole time, except when eating, had the noise cancelling headphones on watching Dreamgirls and other movies, did NOT take off their shoes (well they had on the slipper socks given to us) and wasn't one to make me get up 80 times for restroom breaks.  They actually went after I went so that I wasn't all settled in and inconvenienced.  (TBH, I was so happy to be in PE for free that I didn't care but the fact that this traveler has obviously traveled a lot and knows basic airplane etiquette made me extra happy).  For the record, I switched into a pair of slippers for the flight, which I promptly placed in a plastic bag when we landed, and blasted with LYSOL when I to the hotel.

I later found out that my seatmate was off to Mykonos to party with their friends after a couple nights in Athens.  Frankly I wished that we weren't both so engrossed in our IFE screens as I think we'd have had a great chat.  Sometimes you want your seatmate to shut up, but in this case, I think I missed out on some fun convos.  They'd been to Greece before and travel quite a bit, so I probably could have picked up some tips.

As usual, I didn't sleep, I was too excited.  I watched a lot of episodes of a show called "All Rise" which was a CBS courtroom show a few seasons back. I thought it was a great show to distract me from the long flight. Pro Tip:  Do NOT watch the display of the route!  LOL, makes the trip seem a LOT longer.  Just kidding, but the less I looked at it, the farther we got.  At one point, the tail wind was around 100 MPH or the equivalent. I guess one of my #avgeek friends will let me know if that's possible BUT our flight time was just 8 hours and 11 minutes and we landed early!

There was plenty on the IFE to keep passengers occupied.  Movies, TV shows, music-LOTS of choices so don't worry! There's something for everyone.  I will say that may people did nap but lots of people had their faces in the IFE the whole time.

The route map

Dinner: beef & potatoes, key lime pie, roll and salad w/chicken

The partly unwrapped version.  And I had wine too.

Breakfast was a continental breakfast and it was good but the croissants should have been taken out of the fridge somewhere over London.  They were kind of cold but a quick dunk in the decent coffee helped a lot.  We did not park at a jetbridge, rather we were at a hard stand when they roll up a couple staircases, you walk down hauling your crap, walk across the tarmac and get onto a bus.  That sucked but a nice man carried one bag down for me. We piled into a rather hot bus (they actually didn't over pack the bus-Covid you know) and rode to the terminal.

Breakfast, also had OJ and coffee

The fruit was really good

I could not believe I was actually THERE!  In ATHENS!  During a pandemic!  

Next up, getting through the airport, finding my ride and the drive to my hotel.