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| Athens Parliament Building. |
This was to be my first visit to Athens. I had travelled in Greece previously only on the islands and the Peloponnese mainland and even though Athens had been so close I never had a chance to visit it before. I was very excited and a little scared to be entering this huge city for the very first time and to be doing it on my own. I had heard much of Athens from my friends, also I had read about it and not all of it was good. Mostly it was warnings and criticisms, yet some also praised it highly. I dont see myself as a person to be easily prejudiced against something I had not seen but I did have my doubts about the city. There were doubts in my mind but there was also a fascination for the historic glamour of Athens. I couldn't wait to see and to experience this glamour for myself. This first visit was however to be very short. I was passing through on my way to Parga but I would be returning very soon to view the sites.
I had started my trip at noon on Monday 1st of July from Lappeenranta and it was already late evening when I finally boarded the airplane at Helsinki Vantaa. My arrival to Athens was to be 00.30am. which is not the best time to be arriving. I was tired from travelling and hadn't had any sleep on the plane. Athens New Airport in Spata is HUGE! Arrival couldn't have been any easier though and busses took us from the plane to the terminal. Once inside the terminal the guiding boards and screens were so clear that it was impossible to get lost or not find your luggage. Being in the middle of the night it was relatively quiet with few arriving planes but still lots of people were waiting and wondering around. There were like a dozen or more luggage belts and it was easy to find your own. The luggage came quickly and I was out of the luggage reclaim in less than half an hour. I took a quick look around the arrivals terminal before I went looking for transport to the city of Athens. I had at first intended to stay a few hours at the airport and try to get some sleep before continuing my journey but it was still far too busy a place to get any rest.
It wasnt too difficult to find transport to the city. There were several busses to Athens or Pireus. Busses number E94 and E95 take you to Athens, E94 to Ethniki Amina, E95 to Syntagma and E96 to Pireus. The busses leave right in front of the terminal every 15 to 30 minutes. The fare is 2,95 euro and once you validate the ticket at the beginning of your first trip, it gives you the right to travel for 24 hours on Athens busses, trolley busses and subway. I do recommend this. You buy your ticket at a booth by the bus stop, not on the bus and there are machines in the bus to validate the ticket. Trip from the airport to the city takes depending on the traffic from 40 to 80 minutes. As I was arriving to the city I was too tired to view the route and it was easy to get confused. The city is huge and it is very busy even during the night. I had no idea where we were before we finally stopped at the centre by the Syntagma Square. As I stepped out of the bus, taxi drivers started their harassment but a firm refusal soon persuaded them to leave me alone.
Public transport in Athens closes at midnight and then opens again around 5 oclock. I had now 3 hours of my night remaining to spend under the Athenian stars. I didnt want to go to a hotel for such a short time, so I walked around with my pack bags. I didn't move far from the Square and the Parliament building but did check the entrances to the metro and maps for the centre. I found some travellers sleeping on the benches in the Squares park, stray dogs running around and youngsters having a good time. Otherwise it was quiet. I headed to
McDonalds for some breakfast. Greek Mac was somewhat authentic with a pita bread and two steaks plus greens. Delicious! I spent the remainder of the night there indoors planning for the day to come. At a quarter to five I took my bags and walked to the Parliament building next to the metro entrance. I got there just in time to see my first changing of the Guards at 5 am. At 5.20am the Metro opened and I travelled from Syntagma Square to Omania Square. From there was only a short walk, a couple of blocks, to the bus stop, from where the 0.50 bus took me to terminal A at Kifissou 100. Busses leave from terminal A for North Western Greece mainland, the Ionian Islands and the Peleponnese. My destination was Parga in Northern Greece, and I had no idea of the bus timetables so I planned to be at the station as soon as was possible. It isnt until 7.30 that my bus was to leave and so again I had a lot of time to spend.
My bus to Parga left promptly at 7.30. It took almost an hour to make its way through the suburbs of Athens and on to the Athens-Corinth highway. I was surprised to see that bus would take me first to Corinth canal and on to Patra highway. At first I thought I had taken a wrong bus but a look at the map made it clear that this was definitely the shortest way to Parga. In no time we arrived to Rio, which is a small village just next to Patra. From here we took a ferry to the opposite village of Andirrio and then continued the bus ride via Mesolongi and Agrinio. The bus took us inland all the way to Arta, then on to Filippiada, Louros, Zalongo and finally to Preveza. At Preveza I changed busses and continued the endless ride through mountains and via the small villages of Kanalaki, Morfi and Agia Kyriaki until finally arriving to Parga. After travelling for almost 9 hours in the bus I felt dead tired and exhausted but I felt enormously happy finally getting to my destination.
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