Delta Airline service exceeded my expectation, cos I came with zero expectation in the first place. Hehehe..
Upon arrival at Athens Airport, it was flooded with tourists. The wait in the queue was long and the custom officers seem to take their time. That was when I started to form an impression of relax Greek culture before I even officially entered the country. In a way, I wanted to remind myself to slow down.
We came without a single cent of euros, cos we had planned to withdraw our Euros from Citibank ATM right at the arrival hall. How clever. There was this uncle was at the ATM and we queued behind him. He took unusually long. We peeped over his shoulder and were shocked to know he was withdrawing from 5 different cards! Uncle, don’t take all the cash. Leave some for us.
With that delay, we missed the train to SYNTAGMA and had to wait for 30mins for the next one. When we finally met Clarence, it was about 11plus and was quite warm. So glad to see him!
(Clarence: The next day I checked out from the hostel and took the metro to Syntagma station. I’m supposed to meet the 2 of them there. They were flying in from US, so that’s why we can only meet up on my second day. Tamade I waited 2 hours for them ok? Then they slowly stroll towards me…aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh. Luckily got alot of meimeis to watch during my waiting time…hurhurhur…but it’s good to see them again lar, hehe. )
We walked to 26 Nikis street to deposit our luggage at Pacific Travel Luggage service. Each piece for 2euro. Not much of security though, cos the luggage were left at an open rack in the back room.
We took the metro to Akropolis station, and then walked to Acropolis. Entrance fee 12euro per pax. Guess what? It was under restoration! It was crowded and quite a challenge to snap a shot of the ruins without any stranger inside.
( Clarence: It was 12 days later, on our way back to the airport, that we realised we could actually walk to the Acropolis from Syntagma station! Tio pian! Hahah. )
Lunch was in Plaka. We had Greek cuisine and first try of Greek coca cola, which I was told (by LS), taste better than those we usually drink at home. I totally agreed after a sip 
( Clarence: The lunch damn ex! My gyros cost like 9 Euros? That’s like 18 SGD! 18 SGD can eat like 6 bowls of prawn noodles u know? Boh bian, I’m prepared for the cost liao…did I mentioned this trip’s supposed to be budget? Hahaha. )
Dinner was at MacDonald’s at Pireaus before we boarded our 9pm ferry to Hania, Crete. We booked an AB3 cabin. The difference between AB3 and AB4 is price as well as privacy. AB3 means 3 of us will not expect a 4th person sharing the cabin with us.
The cabin has 2 double deck beds with white sheets and blue blankets. A small dressing table with a chair. A tiny WC, which would be flooded after you showered. Towels and a few bars of soaps were also provided. You could hear the next door’s conversation quite clearly at wee hours. You could even hear their alarm clocks buzzing in the morning.
None of us printed out the address for Pension Eva. To use the internet on the ferry, it cost 4euro for 3omins. While we were using the terminal, a girl came to ask me where we got our internet access card. Eric recognized her! We met her earlier in the train to Pireaus. That was when we began to tease Clarence about her. As we had finished our business on the internet, we decided we might as well let her use it our remaining minutes. So, I was tasked to chase after her to let her use our remaining minutes. She was very grateful. ButI forgot to introduce myself and ask for her name!
( Clarence: This is the place to board the ferries to the other islands in Greece, or most of them I think. Anyway, our dinner is at Mac’s! Come all the way to Greece and eat Mac’s! Hahaha…And not cheap some more! Okay lar actually we were already tired and needed to rest our legs, so we somehow ended up there. Since already there, might as well eat dinner there lor.
The ferry to Hania, Crete is an overnight ride. This saves us on 1 night of accommodation you know? We very clever hor? Hurhurhur…The ferry’s really huge! Like a cruise! It’s really cool, with about 7 levels in all. ‘Cos it’s so huge, it didn’t really feel like being in a ship. But how come the ferry so big, but the bunk so small leh? )
