Anecdotes of a Globetrotter: Greece

I am super annoyed this morning.

I sent my laundry in for washing in the morning 2 days ago. The turnaround time was 1 day.

When I asked for my laundry last night, they said they need to put it in the dryer and I can expect it ready in the morning.

This morning when I collected my laundry at 8am, it was inside the laundry bag I gave them, and the laundry is wet!

WTF!

Isn't it common sense to return laundry dry? They had the whole night to get it dry!

I made them put in the dryer for another hour but it was still wet when I got it the 2nd time round, although just a little dryer when I first received it.

I have no choice but to pack my luggage with wet laundry. 😭

I am hoping it doesn't smell when I check into my next accomodation in Malta.

The train journey to the airport was about an hour. I am however excited to hop on a plane again; the 1st flight since flying from Singapore!

Thankfully my checked in luggage is still within weight limit with damp clothes 🙄

Being on Aegean Air which is a Star Alliance partner, I got access to the business lounge, and the food available in the lounge also became my lunch.

I was browsing through their wine selections and came across a bottle of Tsiporou. I recently tried Tsiporou for the 1st time while in Kalampaka. It's a Greek Spirit and I much prefer this to Ouzo.

Tsipouro is distilled from grapes, with all of their personality intact. The notes of grape interplay with the aromatics for a more complex drink with more intense flavors overall, aromatics included.

It's also said to be the strongest of the Greek drinks. Tsipouro is a high-octane alternative to Ouzo. It’s usually around 42% alcohol, and can get stronger from there.

I poured myself a glass to accompany the food I selected.

The flight to Malta leaves at 2.30pm, with boarding at 2pm, giving me over an hour at the lounge to relax.

The flight was faster than expected, originally scheduled for 2hr 10mins, it only took us 1hr 15 mins, as we landed at 2.45pm. Malta is also 1 hour behind Greece, so I gained back an hour again 😁

Immigration clearance was really smooth and easy, having just need to show my vaccination cert and the PLF.

I had a slight issue trying to find my transfer as I was directed by different people to different counters. I finally found it, and was pleasantly surprised I got a private transfer, as I had originally booked a shared shuttle.

And finally I arrived into my hotel at Carnifor at St Paul's Bay at 4pm, not a very luxurious hotel, but it was really cheap for a night (less than €12) and the main reason why I booked it, was because it was close to the car rental company.

First order of arrival was to start finding places to dry my wet laundry! It also took a combination of drying it partially using a hair dryer, in hopes that it will be fully dry by tomorrow morning.

And then I quickly went out exploring St Paul's Bay, especially with just 1 hour left till sunset.

I walked over to Qawra Point Beach, the furthest point on the Cape - super rocky.

And then I made my way round the coast towards Buggiba (the main town centre), passing the Acquarium and also catching the sunset on the way round.

Buggiba seems rather laid back with not much exciting to see.

The only thing I wanted to check out was St Paul's Shipwreck Church, mostly because I was attracted by the name.

It was closed when I was there, but it was interesting to find these marble plaque in different languages on the wall. This is the English version.

I then headed over to Venus Restaurant, which had a lot of good reviews according to Google, and ordered one of their daily specials - Mussels in white wine and garlic.

I also found out that tap water isn't drinkable in Malta from the locals, though a few sites on the Internet states otherwise. I should better trust the locals on this and look for bottled water in a store on the way back.

One thing I was really glad to see was that toilet paper can be thrown into the toilet - there were signs in numerous places in Greece which indicates that this isn't recommended. 🤔

It's been 10.5 years since I was last in Athens. With 4 nights in Athens, I had chosen to randomly roam about the city discovering sites which I may not had encountered before, and there were sooooo many!

Syntagma Square & National Gardens
My first main stop was Syntagma Square, to see the changing of the guards. I've seen them the last time, but they are just so fun to watch that I had to go again.

They are wearing a different outfit this time, possibly because this is their winter uniform, vs the summer uniform that I saw the last time I was around.

The whole procession took over 10 mins, as the soldiers marched meticulously in a unique manner seen no where else! Definitely recommend seeing them when in Athens, especially since it is free!

Next to Syntagma Square is the National Garden, which came recommended by a local. I didn't visit this previously and it was nice just to take a quick look around. Lots of green, and even a small zoo!

Zappeion
Located just next to the National Gardens. Named after Evangelos Zappas, a businessman from Epirus who played a major role in starting the Zappian Olympic Games, which laid the path for the modern Olympic Games. He offered to sponsor the revival of the Modern Olympic Games and soon the first modern Olympics were held at the Panathenaic Stadium Athens in 1896.

The Zappeion building is a tribute to this great man who brought the Olympic Games back into the modern world. Having played the role of the official Olympic village for the Olympic games of 1896 and host of the fencing events, the Zappeion building today is used for conferences and trade events.

Areopagus Hill
Located close to the Acropolis on top of the rocks, with 360° view of the city.

I also went to catch the sunset on the 2nd day in Athens, and appears many people had the same idea.

Beaches of Athens
I also went to visit the beaches, but honestly, it's something that can be skipped if you don't have the time.

Originally intending to visit Piraeus, I was dissuaded against it, as I was told it was not the nicest. The recommendation was to go to Glynfada instead.

And since the tram ticket allowed me to also hop on and off within a 90 min period, I also headed to Voula - not impressed with Voula, as there were a lot of sections that were closed off or were private beaches.

Glynfada was better. There's also a town next to it, which I didn't visit.

Athens Archaeological sites
Athens is also famous for their numerous Archaeological sites.

I decided not to enter the archaeological sites this time (most can be seen from the outside), with the exception of Acropolis, just because I was keen to see how much progress has been made.

The Archaeological sites are now costing about €30 to see all 7 of the main ones. You can also pay to see them individually, and during the winter months, they are at reduced prices (or half price from normal), with the reduced rates at mostly €4 or €6 per site, with the exception of Acropolis at €10 during winter.

Keramikos Archaeological Site

Temple of Olympian Zeus

Not sure why there's so much scaffolding around the structure. There weren't any when I visited it 10 years back

Hadrian's Arch

Located just next to Temple Olympian Zeus, and with no fee on this.

Roman Agora

Hadrian's Library

Ancient Agora
This wasn't so easy to see from the outside but the key attractions here are the Theatre of Dionysus and Stoa of Attalos.

I find it really funny how Greeks decided to build a metro through an archaeological site!

Acropolis and the famous Parthenon (see other post)

There were also quite a few cool neighbourhoods that I discovered while randomly walking the streets of Athens, such as Lisiou

And of course shops around Monastiraki Square

Even this spray paint store located in Monastiraki is still around after 10 years, albeit with some modern face lift. Guess graffiti survives both good times as well as bad times for them to survive this long!

Food
I needed to satisfy an Asian craving especially since it's been over a month that I had Asian food - probably the last one was in Serbia for Korean ramyeon. So the 1st evening I headed straight to an Asian groceries supermarket and purchased instant noodles and Wang Wang rice crackers.

Ceci Hong Kong Restaurant for prawn rice roll and Glutinous rice with chicken.

I've got pretty high standards for dim sum, so this in my opinion was below average. But because I know ingredients aren't always available in such places, I can give these 2 dim sum items a pass.

Hanoi Athens for Vietnamese beef pho.
I rate Vietnamese places by the quality of the pho they serve and this one passed the test - the broth was flavourful and there was a generous serving of beef slices (I would had preferred it a little less cooked). It also has beansprouts in it.

It could do with additional basil leaves served on the side though.

Ended the meal with a fortune cookie... Funny advice! 😂😂😂

Anyone wants to buy Toto?

Fruits at Monastiraki

I remember the last time I was in Athens, I bought really cheap cherries at the Square.

They are still around! No cherries, but really cheap and huge strawberries at Euro 4/kg.

I ended up buying from the stores on 2 different occasions because the strawberries were really sweet too.

And also some mandarins.

This Indian guy was really funny. He asked where I was from, and I said Singapore, and the next thing he said, "Oh, Mustafa Centre" 😂😂😂

Mustafa Centre is definitely world famous!

Now for Greek Food
Ariston Pastries

They are popular for this item called "Kourou" - traditional handmade cheese pie.

This is what it looks like inside.

I also ordered the chicken mushroom pie which was really yum!

Oikeio

This place came recommended by Marie, whom lives in the same dorm room, but works at Pella Inn Hostel. The staff whom served me recommended me to try the meatballs rolled with cabbage in a egg-lemon sauce.

No regrets, as it was really good and I cleaned up the whole plate very nicely with the serving of bread.

Scholarchio
A recommendation from the hostel, prices were decent.

I ordered a Moussaka since it was one item which I haven't had on the trip. The dish came hot, but unfortunately the centre wasn't very warm, so I could taste the gamey meat taste which I am not a big fan of. The smell would likely be less obvious if it had been served hotter.

Atlantikos
This place was so good I went there twice during my stay and had the seafood platter!

Decently priced too at Euro 8 for the seafood platter.

La Greche
This ice cream place was also recommended by Marie. Not cheap though.

I went for flavours Mint Straciatella & Dark Chocolate with Plums and Rum.

Bars
The World's 50 Best Bars, of which 2 are in Athens.

Baba Au Rum
I ordered the Baba Zombie, made using a base of few different rums

Clumsies is the other World's 50 Best Bars, but unfortunately when I was there, they were closed for the week 😢

A for Athens (best for views!)
I had originally checked out another bar but didn't like the view, and headed over to A for Athens which came recommended by a few people.

In my opinion, this is the best bar with a view in town - you'll get a view of the Acropolis as well as the Monastiraki Square.

Drinks are more expensive here though, but I guess you pay for the view. Strongly recommend going to the open rooftop section. I ended up staying here for almost 2 hours, arriving at about 4.30pm and leaving about 6.30pm, shortly just after the sun set.

It did get way too windy and chilly for me in the last half hour, but it was nice to see the twilight view of Athens with Acropolis in the background.

Pella Inn Rooftop
This came as a bonus, as Marie happened to be working when I walked by. Outside guests aren't actually allowed (because of covid) but she made an exception for me. The rooftop was previously a bar, but they had temporarily closed it (also because of Covid).

View of Acropolis from here is also amazing.

Cafés
There were also a lot of fancy looking cafes and Instagramable spots, which I didn't try.

One which impressed me most was "Little Kook". I was attracted by the lights from a distance and was so amazed by the entire area - soooooo whimsical. I believe it's a fancy cafe for desserts and sweets.