Above: The view from the house over the town of Leivadia.

As I write this evening, I am back at the Neos Olympos Hotel (Ξενοδοχείο Νέος Όλυμπος) in the centre of Athens, having finished my stay in Leivadia.

I was up at dawn this morning, packing my bag. After a quick breakfast I said my goodbyes to Dimitris and the family, and at 07:30 we loaded the car and headed for the railway station – a 15 minute drive away from the town itself. I took the 08:00 train – service 1511 – arriving in Athens shortly after 09:30 this morning.

I stayed around the railway station for a while; sitting in the cafe there for a drink, and a bougatsa (custard pie) – before heading for the hotel, just a 5 minute walk away. Check-in officially was not until midday, but the hotel receptionist, and his mother who works in the kitchen, remembered me from my first visit, and were more than happy to let me check-in to my room an hour and a half early. I told them that I would be leaving before breakfast tomorrow to travel to Syros, and he explained to me that he had just come from a trip to Syros!

This afternoon I spent a bit of time shopping; a 24 hour All-Athens Transport Pass costs €4, and once I’d got that I got the Underground to Agios Dimitrios (Άγιος Δημήτριος) – where (right next to the station) is Athens Metro Mall. There, I had a walk round looking at what shops they have there – and went in to Public.

Public is – if you can imagine this – a Greek chain store which is effectively PC World combined with Waterstone’s and WH Smiths. There I enjoyed browsing the book shelves, the DVDs, the CDs and the vinyls. I got myself a Greek CD – Christos Dantis (Χρήστος Δάντης) album Ένα Τραγούδι Ακόμα for €6,99.

At the same time I got some blank CD-Rs, which will mean I can burn some music from my laptop to CD to listen to in the car when my parents arrive next week: saving them from bringing all their CDs over. It’s not a good idea to rely on the radio in the car in Greece: being a mountainous country, you lose the signal with every turn!

I had lunch at the Metro Mall as well: there are a range of cafes and restaurants there including Greek chain stores Goody’s and Everest; there’s also Pita Plus, PizzaGR, an Asian restaurant… but I opted for KFC. I must say that ordering KFC in Greek is rather interesting!

I’ve managed to do some washing at the nearby laundrette too, so I’ve got lots of clean clothes to take with me to Syros.

I’m having a bit of a rest now. I’ll be heading for dinner at 9 – and then tomorrow I’m leaving at around 7am, for an 08:05 ferry to Syros.

Bye for now,

FH.