When we left Greece in 2011, as we sailed out of Patras on the ferry we said goodbye to Greece as we thought there was very little chance that we would have the opportunity to return. How wrong we were!

We arrived in Athens after an 11 hour flight from Singapore to Istanbul and then another 1 1/2 hours to Athens. After collecting our baggage we caught the train from the airport into the city. Our stop - Syntagma - turned out to be about 100m from our hotel. After check in we went for a walk to shake off the flight. Wandered through the Plaka up and down little streets awash with tourists and locals alike. Our plan was to find somewhere to have dinner later in the day. As it was Sunday, there were people everywhere. We even saw our first protest march. We were a little concerned as we thought the march might be politically motivated but felt much better when Greg was told by a local that the protesters were demanding that more shops needed to stay open on a Sunday. We were not sure what the fuss was about because there were shops open all over the place.

After returning to the hotel we sought out Dave Milligan (Get Routed owner and guy who ships our bike) who was staying in the same hotel. His room is on the 8th floor with a spectacular view of the Parthenon- we are on the 5th floor because someone who Kerrie travels with is not keen on heights. Needless to say, the only view we have is of a little bit of the Acropolis (read tiny bit of the hill).

We decided to join Dave, his wife Maggie and some of the other travellers for dinner and a welcome drink. 13 of us gathered at a little local restaurant - we think the owner was Gepetto - for a delicious Greek meal washed down with several carafes of red wine - 10 Euro each! Absolutely exhausted we returned to the hotel and were sound asleep by 9pm.

Monday 6th April Happy 13th Wedding Anniversary to our daughter Stacey and her husband Brett.

As usual, we decided to utilise the Hop on Hop off bus for the next 2 days. We have always found these good value and an informative way to see a new city. We spent an hour or so just driving through the city and becoming re-familiarised with the lay of the land. After almost a full circuit
we got off and made our way to Monastiraki Square, an area we were reasonably familiar with from our 2011 visit. We spent a couple of hours wandering through the Flea market purchasing a leather wallet for Greg and a more secure handbag for Kerrie. We decided the purchases were essential spending as one of the ladies in our group had already had her phone and credit card taken from her bag on her first day in Athens.

On our return to the hotel, we had our nanny naps before heading back out for dinner in the Plaka area.

Tuesday 7th April. Happy 11th birthday to our eldest grandson, William.

We were off on the 2nd day of our Hop on Hop off bus. First stop was the Acropolis where we were going to change busses for Piraeus. As the bus was not due for 30 minutes we went up to explore this amazing piece of ancient history. The crowds were not as heavy as they had been on our last
visit and we managed to get a photo on the exact spot of the one we took in 2011. The preservation of this sight is amazing but heavily guarded by attendants who blow a whistle if anyone touches the marble or sits on one of the perimeter walls - reminiscent of playground duty when a student wanders in to an out of bounds area or plays too roughly! After spending about an hour wandering the site we made our way back to the bus stop only to find another of Milligan's mob waiting for the bus.

Off to Piraeus where we will pick up the bike (hopefully on Wednesday morning). We had planned on having lunch in Piraeus - the port for Athens - but did not see anything that took our fancy so we returned to Syntagma Square. We then caught our bus again and went to explore the Panathenaic Stadium, the sight of the first modern Olympics. This may well have been the best 6 Euro we spent in Athens. The site was also used for the opening ceremony for the 2004 Olympics as well as the finishing line for the marathon. The visit included the use of free audio guides and we thoroughly enjoyed it. On the walls inside the competitors area there is a display of the Olympic torches and posters from each Olympiad.

Before leaving for our tour this morning we dropped off some washing at the local laundry. After finishing our visit to the stadium, we went to collect the washing. Greg asked Alex, the young guy at the counter where he had learnt to speak such good English. He told us that he was born in Australia but had left Melbourne when he was 2 years old. We found this strange as he used the
term "no worries" when we had dropped off the clothes and we consider that a fairly Aussie saying. After talking to him for a few minutes we discovered that his sister lives on Mount Tamborine and that she is friends with Steve and Sandra Karametelios who we often meet at Canungra for breakfast. We also found out that he was Facebook friends with Steve and new all about Steve's new blue Yamaha R1. What a small world!

We had a meeting with Dave at 5 and were delighted to find out that all was well with the bikes – we would be picking them up at 9 on Wednesday morning. The group comprises about 45 people and would be travelling to Piraeus by bus to collect the bikes. After the meeting about 20 of us walked
down the street to have a few drinks and dinner – great food, Fix beer and good company, we rolled home about 9.

On Wednesday we arrived at Piraeus about 10am to unload the containers and collect the bikes. All but 2 started first time, the other 2 bikes took a bit of persuasion. Some people packed their bikes on the spot and headed off on the next leg of their travels. We were returning to Athens for 1 more night so we helped out with the unpacking. Empty suitcases and boxes went back in the container to be picked up in Felixstowe at the end of the trip.

Tonight we intended trying out a restaurant recommended by Cathy Bateup, Greg’s sister. It had better be good! To our disappointment when we got there it was closed for a private function.

Tomorrow it is off to Crete on the noon ferry out of Piraeus.