雅典的神话之旅 - 毫无目的、无所事事的第一个半天 * Legendary Athens - First Half Day in Athens (3 June 09)

上一回去意大利的时候也是搭最早班的飞机，所以必不得已得在临晨开两个钟的车程到Birmingham搭飞机到罗马。这次去希腊同样的又搭早班飞机，但我们选择不自己驾车去Manchester 机场了，一整晚没睡觉又要赶车程实在是太累了，所以临晨3点多叫了一辆得士到Leeds火车站，然后搭火车到Manchester 机场，再从Manchester机场搭大概4个钟的飞机到雅典。

On 3 June, we took early morning train from Leeds to Manchester Airport (around 3am) and we flew from Manchester Airport directly to Athens on the same morning.



乘坐EasyJet飞往雅典.
Flying to Athens with EasyJet.




到达雅典了。看！都是一片深蓝色的海！
We were in Athens! It’s covered with deep blue sea everywhere.




终于看到希腊的土地和一些不知名的小岛。
This shall be Greece and some of it’s islands.



雅典和英国的时间相差2个钟，从英国飞往希腊一共是3个小时40分钟。7:15早上的飞机，加上开跑时间延迟了，到了雅典的时候已经是下午1点半了(迟了半个钟)。那时候我可紧张了(还好小华还是很酷)，5点之前一定得到两家不同agent 那里索取我们的船票。当时从雅典飞机场连接到雅典中心的Metro地铁 有一段路正在维修。本来网上有指补修工程应该在6月前完成的，但后来工程还是不了了之，还好我们之前已经知道这一回事，我们直接买了2张巴士票(一张€3.20)，直接从机场搭X95号的巴士到Syntagma 广场。上了巴士后得自己拿车票到巴士上面的一个小机器打卡。一出了highway，雅典很多地点是蛮塞车的，整个车程从机场到Syntagma 广场一共是1 个钟。3点了！我们还剩下2个钟的时间到2个不同的地方索取船票，蛮紧张赶不上时间，赶不上的话第二天一早的船票就泡汤了！

Greece is 2 hours before UK. Flying from Manchester to Athens is approximately 3 hours and 40 minutes. It was around 1:30pm when we touched down in Athens airport. The most convenience way of leaving airport and heading to the town centre is by Metro. Unfortunately the route from Airport Metro Station to Ethniki Amyna (blue line) was under construction. Although there were a few ways for us to travel from Athens’s airport to Syntagma Square, we have chosen to travel directly with shuttle bus. The ticket was selling at €3.20 per person. Once the shuttle bus reached Athens town centre, the traffic started to become busy. It took us about an hour to reach the destination. We were rushing to pick up Blue Star Ferries tickets from 2 different agencies. I was so worried that we couldn’t make it before 5pm!


这是雅典Metro 地铁的路途，从希腊飞机场到Ethniki Amyna (蓝线) 那一段路程正在维修。其实我们有几个选择可以到达Monastiraki 广场的，但我们还是选择了直接从机场搭巴士到达目的地比较方便。
Above is the Metro Map of Athens. The route from airport to Ethiniki Amyna (blue line) was closed for construction.

一到达Monastiraki 广场，我们就拉着行李到处找‘传说中’就在附近的agent索船票。照着agent给我们的地图在附近转呀转的，一直都找不到这间公司，找到有一点冒火了！最后问了很多次的路，终于给我们找到了，原来就藏在不起眼的角头边，可恶！

就是这张图弄到我们团团转。花了好多时间才找到。

This is the map given by Danae Travel Agency. It took us almost an hour to find the place and to pick up Blue Star Ferries ticket.

是不是很奇怪为什么我们要个别向不同的agent买船票，而不是一起买呢？其实很多时候游客都是向当地的旅行团包完全部的船票、机票与住宿，但小华比较喜欢亲力亲为。虽然很多网站都说agent可以帮游客讨到更好的住宿价钱，但小华还是相信自己找的会更便宜。无论如何，经过agent的手再销售出来的东西价钱当然会比较高，要不然agent吃什么？所以与其相信网站和agent， 小华还是比较相信自己。结果，他的决定是对的。

Most tourists love to book their Greece holidays with the local travelling agencies. Some believe they would be able to get good hotel bargain if booking rooms through agent. Hubby was trying to do everything on his own, he believed booking via travelling agency will cost us more.

在Syntagma 广场附近赶路的路人甲、乙、丙、丁。。。

Photo taken around Syntagma Square.

在城市里到处转的电流巴士。像大马的Komuter一样靠电流行走，唯一让我感到惊讶的是这种巴士并没有自己的跑道，它竟然和其他桥车一样公用同一条马路。
Some buses in Athens are run with electricity, like Komuter public transport in Malaysia. The thing that amazed me most was the buses share the same road with other vehicles, they don’t run on a specific lane.

哦！第一次看到那么神奇的街头流浪狗也！这只狗狗竟然和其他路人排排站，然后人行道的灯一转青的时候他竟然会跟着大队人过马路也！好厉害、好聪明的狗狗哦！所以一定要把它拍下来，纪念曾经见证过这样神奇的经验！
This is a super dog that knows how to cross the busy street! It stood beside the road with the rest of the people, when pedestrian’s green light was on, it follow everyone to cross the street! What a brilliant dog!!

Pretzel, 可以在雅典的任何角落找到它。这是大圈圈的面包，属于扎实面包，外皮沾满了芝麻。很香、很好吃。吃起来味道有一点像大马的芝麻油炸糕。每一个卖€0.50 ~ €0.80 不等。

It is easy to find and spot Pretzel in Athens. Pretzel is a kind of huge-rounded hard bread (look like a huge but thin donut) with sesame seeds toping. It is delicious! It tasted like ‘yao cha kuai with sesame seeds’. Each is selling at €0.50 ~ €0.80 .

这又是另外一种面包。街上卖的面包多数都是开着卖的，到处惹尘埃。这就要看你敢不敢买来试了。

Beside Pretzel, there are other kind of breads selling beside the street too. Most of the time these breads are left open on the cart, I am sure it catches lots of dust. Dare to try?

话说回来，本来小华是想自己上Blue Ferry 网站自己定船票、买船票的。结果购票网站出了问题，从Santorini回到雅典的船票是自己订购的，但我们一直没办法订购从雅典到Santorini的船票。票是还有很多，但一直买不到。后来多游揽几个网站才发现到原来希腊人对上网这一门意不多懂，也不太熟。网上购票后出问题在希腊是常事，所以我们在没办法的情况之下用了agent的服务订购从雅典去Santorini的船票，2 张票竟然给agent坎了€8的服务费。。。

向第一个agent索取了票后，已经快3点半了。肚子饿到打鼓了，就索性在Syntagma附近找麦当劳叔叔解决了午餐。

Coming back to the topic of Blue star Ferries tickets… Well, hubby was trying to buy Blue Star Ferries tickets directly from the official website. Although there were still lots of tickets available, we managed to get 2 returning tickets only. No matter how hard we have tried, the system doesn’t allow us to buy tickets from Athens to Santorini. In the end hubby decided to get help from a local agency. The agent charged us €8 service fees.

After getting our tickets from the first travel agent, it was already 3pm, we were almost starving to dead. Where else to go when we need food in hurry? McD of cause!

肚子饿了，加紧脚步找麦当劳叔叔去！

Pulling the luggage and heading to McD!

这种小火车会时不时出现在街头和一些旅游景点。游客可以乘着它到处site seeing。因为雅典的旅游景点都不是集中式的在一起，有了这个火车代步，老人家不用走得那么辛苦。

You could hire this train to do sightseeing around famous tourist spots.

路边卖的豆类小食。也是摊开来卖，我想豆豆上面应该加了很多‘料’。而且这里的飞尘是超多的。只要走在街上2个小时而已，皮肤上到处都会沾上一层厚厚、粉粉的飞尘，很恐怖！Munchies crunchy food selling besides the busy main streets… Definitely got thick dust sticking on these peanuts and seeds!

Syntagma 广场。广场的正对面是雅典的Parliament House, 每天准时5点钟有换兵仪式。别期望太多哦！这里的换兵仪式和英国的Buckingham Palace 换兵仪式完全不同的哦！Buckingham的换兵仪式会在同一个时间里换上一大批的兵士，很壮观！但这里的换兵仪式只有小猫三、两只。

The above photo is taken at Syntagma Square. Athens Parliament House stands across the main road. Changing guard ceremony will take place in front of the Parliament sharp at 5pm every day. Don’t aspect the changing guard ceremony will be as grand as changing guard ceremony in Buckingham Palace. Normally only 2-3 soldiers are involving.

雅典有很多流浪狗。奇怪的是这里的流浪狗都是名种犬。我想是被遗弃的狗狗吧？

Most stray dogs in Athens are pedigree breed.



解决了午餐后我们得赶到Blue Star Ferries 的agent 那里索取从Santorini 到雅典的船票。在Syntagma 车站搭了Matro 地铁到Piraues站，也是找了好久才找到Blue Star Ferries的agent索取船票。由于这两张票是我们自己订购的，所以不用付另外的服务费。取了船票后又到处找旅馆，哦！感觉到这里的地图有点乱指乱点乱画一番。走着、走着竟然下起大雨来。算幸运了，开始下起雨来的时候我们也找到旅馆了。之前在BBC查天气报告时是说将会一整天都盆陀大雨，还好BBC天气报告也有不准确的时候，只是在下午下了一会儿的雨就停了。我们也乘机在下雨的时候小睡了一会。从昨夜开始没睡到觉，是应该小睡休息一下了。

After having late lunch, we took Metro from Syntagma Station to Monastiraki Station, then from there we diverted from blue line to green line, heading directly to the last station at Piraues. We were rushing to get the other 2 returning Blue Star Ferries tickets from another agent. No service charge this time, as hubby managed to get the tickets directly from Blue star Ferries official website. It took us quite a long time to look around for our hotel. It was raining

before reaching our hotel. We took a short nap right after check-in. Didn’t sleep properly for the whole night, although it was just a few hours rest, it helped us to rejuvenate our energy and strength.

由于Piraues 地铁站在青线的最后一站，我们从Syntagma 搭Metro地铁到Monastiraki (蓝线)转站，再从Monastiraki 搭另一趟地铁到Piraues。全程只需€1一人，每一张票有效于90分钟。除了90分钟地铁车票，这里也有售卖24小时地铁车票，一共是€3一天。

Photo taken at Monastiraki Metro Station. There are two types of Metro tickets available: ticket effective within 90 minutes (€1 each) and daily ticket that could last within 24 hours (€3 each).

路边的小店一到了傍晚就会把X-rated 的带子摆在档口旁卖。

Looking for X-rated DVDs? You could simply find these at any stalls beside the road after night falls….

这是我们在希腊第一晚住的旅馆 – Faros I。一晚只需€50，旅馆很干净，一切看来都还很新，receptionist也很友善。这里离市中心蛮远，我们会选择在Piraues过一夜是因为第二天一早就得到港口搭Blue Star Ferries到Santorini 岛屿。Piraues 就是雅典的港口，所以这样安排会比较方便第二天的行程。

Faros I was our first hotel in Athens. It is clean, still looks very new, receptionists are friendly and helpful too. €50 per night. Although it is far from town centre, it’s actually quite near to Piraues port (15 minutes walk from this hotel to the port).

傍晚7点多我们又出门了！在Piraues 的其中一间不知名的教堂。

One of churches at Piraues.

一路上发现了了很多大大小小的教堂。

Another church near Piraues port.

我们经过一家小餐厅的时候无意中看到了这个！好恐怖哦！还在吐舌头呢！我很好奇地问老板娘这是什么，她竟然用半咸不淡的英语很严肃的告诉我这是狗！我和小华对看了一下，再看老板娘，老板娘竟然笑了起来，才说明这是羊！哈哈哈！老板娘还真幽默！

Saw this while we passed by a restaurant. I was curious and asked the lady owner what were those. She answered ‘dogs’! Hubby and I were stunt, we looked at each other for a while, then we looked back at the lady boss hoping to get confirmation. The lady boss were laughing and explained those were lambs. Hahaha…

我们在同样的一家餐厅买了一个当地出名的小食 – Pita。小华手里握的是牛肉Pita。基本上Pita是一块大片的面包(Pita Bread) 包着几条的kebab牛肉串烧，加上一些生蔬菜，有一些店还会为你加上几条炸薯条，裹着来吃。当然除了牛肉Pita，也有猪肉、羊肉及鸡肉Pita。这个Pita 只卖€1.90，可以当早、午、晚餐，通常东方人一人一包就会吃得很饱了。最重要的是。。。很好吃！！去希腊一定不能错过当地的Pita。

We bought Pita from the same restaurant. The one that hubby held in the picture was beef Pita. There are also pork, lamb and chicken Pita. Pita is a kind of wrapping bread served with meat and some fresh vegetables. Some are also served with chips (French fries). Pita can be taken as breakfast, lunch or dinner. We paid €1.90 for this Pita. Pita is a must try authentic Greek food in Greece.

边走还边吃。。。明明就快到晚餐时间了，还大口大口的吃。。。