Yes, I know Paradise was spelled incorrectly yesterday. What happened to spell check!
Yesterday was a travel day. We left the hotel at 9:00 am and made a connection in Doha, Qatar. Actually I had never heard of the country until our itinerary routed us through there. I still do not know much about the country, but they have a beautiful airport, with not many people in it. Our second flight probably had fewer than 100 guests. We are amazed at how these flights can fly with so few people. I would presume the government subsidizes the airlines. Excellent service each time we have flown in the Middle East. And, the airports have been immaculately clean. We will see if we notice the same in Europe.
When we arrived at the hotel at 7:00 pm, we learned that all 4 of our reservations were cancelled and they only had 3 rooms left for the night. Reason: the credit card was invalid. Really? They took it for the 3 rooms now. After about an hour they found Ron and me a hotel across the street for just that one night, then we would move to the original hotel. We took a taxi because to get across the street we had to cross underground. I did not think I could drag my suitcase up and down steps. In the morning, we decided to do the steps and Ron would make 2 trips. Fortunately, they had a ramp so I wheeled mine all the way. We had breakfast at our original hotel and decided to depart at 9:30 am. Upon asking directions we were informed there was a strike today and the sightseeing bus was not operating and the Acropolis was closed. We wasted a long time trying to discover what to do. Finally, we decided to go ahead and use our hop off hop on bus ticket. It was an informative ride. At 1:15 pm we took a walking tour that was supposed to last 1 hour 45 minutes. It lasted 2 hours 45 minutes. That is a long walk. Our guide was interesting for the first hour and then she became boring, according to me. We did take at least 30 minutes to see the changing of the guard at the prime minister’s palace.
We were tired by then but it was too early to call it a day. We decided to go back to the hotel drop off some things and get a gyro in the neighborhood. Our newest and best friend was the bellman. He suggested we take a 7 (hah) minute walk to the metro station, go 2 stops, and walk down a certain street until we found lots of restaurants and better gyros than in the hotel neighborhood.
So, off we went. It took longer than 7 minutes, then try to picture 8 old folks trying to use the machine that spits out tickets. Quite comical. Hope you are not standing I line behind them. Did I mention, neither of us know any Greek words.
We found a restaurant and had some really good gyros. Gerard asked for lamb and Greeks don’t make them with lamb. We were stuffed, but some still got a gelato.
We traced our way back through the streets, the metro, and the walk back to the hotel. We arrived at the hotel a little before 9:00 pm absolutely beat.
Changing of the guard in Athens
This map shows Doha to Athens. It does not include Oman to Doha.
One of the ancient buildings of Athens, with Carol riding on the sightseeing bus.
Ron and I and Maria and Gerard in a selfie. We are on the top side of the bus.
Carol enjoying her gyro. It ended up all over her face!
Can you believe this pile of food? Tons of French fries, a gyro club sandwich, and a chefs salad. Can you even believe Robbin and Cathy ate almost all of it? Actually we were all pretty hungry. We have just been eating 2 meals a day for the most part.
That’s it for Wednesday and Thursday. I hope you enjoyed our day, without the tired feet and sore legs.