When we arrived to Piraeus (Athens) the Louis Cristal terminated its service. That was a problem, since we needed to start and end in Istanbul. As a result, Louis Cruise Lines graciously offered to transfer us to another ship and take us back to our starting point. The transfer would happen at 8:00 AM to the Orient Queen, a much smaller liner. We were escorted over where nothing seemed to be waiting or ready for us. We also had been assured that we would have plenty of time in Athens to tour around and that we would be left with explicit directions how to get downtown. to the Acropolis, etc. All of the most important information. But, as I am sure you have guessed, THAT did not happen. We were left on the Orient Queen, much like the redheaded step child is left on alternate Sundays and at the end of summer vacation: feeling sad, alone and basically a burden.
We went to the excursion desk after going to our new cabin (#6051) A.K.A. the smallest coffin on the face of the earth... "How does one get into Athens from here?" And, I swear to God this was her reply: "You just go out the door and start walking." I didn't even know what to do with that comment. Maureen, who clearly was more on top of things than I was, quickly retorted: "Is it better to take a taxi or the subway or is there a better way?" "Oh yes, a taxi is best." "Ok. how much, about, will a taxi cost?" "I do not know. But there is list on the wall with the places and costs."
I was, actually, rather impressed that there would be a list of approximate taxi charges posted anywhere, because, in all of my travels, I have never encountered such a list. We came out of the port terminal and began looking for this glorious list. SURPRISE. No such list exists. Yet another lie we were told by the staff of Louis Cruise Lines.
However, within seconds, a man approached us. "You need taxi?" "Weeeelll, yesssss. We need a taxi. But, first, about how much will it cost to go to the Acropolis?" And, ladies and gentlemen, this is where it gets unbelieveable: (this was in pretty broken English)
"OK: how this sound? When you need be back? By one o'clock? OK. You see Acropolis, Parliment, Olympic Stadio, Plaka you be back here at one. That is 4 hour. You like I take you." I was a little wary of this... so I asked: "How much for that?" "One million... hahaha.... I just kidding... One hundred euro. Four hour." I looked at Maureen and I thought, 50 each not to have to fuss, hassle, navigate a strange city on my own... I was down with that. "What do you think, I think it is a good idea not to have to deal with the headache..." Thankfully, she agreed and the next thing we knew, we were getting into a cab. Costas, our private driver for the morning, began telling us in very limited English about how many people lived in Piraeus and Athens, a little history and pointed out things along the way. He even pulled the cab over so we could take pictures of Athens across the marina. At one point, he swerved into a side street that looked like at any time, a hoarde of criminals could ambush the car, drag us out and shoot us up with heroin and shove us into the sex slave trade... "It only just now occurred to me what we have done... My father would have a heart attack if he knew we just got into a non-descript cab in the port of Athens, never to be heard from again..." "Yeah, well you just won't tell him..." "Until he reads the blog..." So, Daddy, calm down now, this is the way it works in Greece, apparently... We met another group (that blog will follow, where we tell you about the typical 'cruiser' we met along the way...) and they did the same thing with their cabbie. It is totally value for the price: if you figure, we were spending 65 euro for the tour organized by the ship, and then we get left behind. At least with this, we were sure to see what we needed. But, I digress...
We got to the Acropolis and he pulls into a parking lot and says: "OK. You go there. One hour and a half. Come right back here at 10:30. OK. Bye." I looked at Maureen, shrugged my shoulders and we crossed the street. I said, "DO you not think it is weird that he didn't want us to pay him now something? I mean, we could totally ditch him, and have gotten a free ride in to the city. I mean, of course we are not going to ditch him, but HE doesn't know that..." Maureen figured that this wasn't his first rodeo and he was probably a good judge of character. We wouldn't be the types that would do that sort of thing. So, we headed up the very steep incline to the ticket office and then up further throught the Propylaea (the gateway into the temple complex). We spend the hour and now fifteen minutes walking around, taking pictures and basically admiring the spectacular views of the city from the highest point in the city. It was amazing, unlike anything I had ever seen before. And exactly the right amount of time to have spent. Clearly, Costas knew what he was doing.
We exited the Acropolis and went back to the cab. ANd, sure enough, Costas was there waiting for us. We hopped in the cab and we were off to the next stop: the Temple of Zeus. "You get out here: come back in 15 minutes. You no pay ticket. Use acropolis ticket. No pay. Ok?." And, like obedient school children, we went on our way. Sure enough, 15 minutes was the perfect amount of time to spend. We returned and Costas announced we would see parliment and then the presidential palace and the changing of the guard. And sure enough, we drove slowly enough past the parliment building to get some snaps and then we stopped at the palace. Costas pulled the cab over and we all got out. Sure enough, the guard was changing. It was like they saw Costas' yellow cab turn the corner and they started the drill. It took about 5 minutes and then Costas says: "You go stand there. I take picture." And, sure enough, we took a picture of the three of us: me, Maureen and the guard. The amount of time the whole thing took was exactly the same amount of time it took to smoke a cigarette. I personally think that Costas has timed this so perfectly over the years that he can build in breaks approrpriately.
Next, we whizzed our way past the Olympic Stadium (stopping quickly to take a picture) and then to the shopping area called the Plaka, where there was apparently another site (I think it was the Roman Agora, but I could be wrong, as we opted to have a coffee instead of going into the site). Costas gave us our marching orders: "You go there. Just walk. Plaka... 100 meters.... come here one hour. 12:30 here Alpha Bank. OK? Ok." And with that, he was off. We meandered through the shop-lined pedestrian walkway until Maureen squeals: "OH MY GOD! THERE'S A STARBUCKS!" And, with that, we declared that this had been the perfect day, by anyone's standards: sight seeing, beautiful weather, private driver, and now a grande skinny sugarfree vanilla latte. We ordered, hooked onto the free wifi and enjoyed a lovely coffee outside under the cloudlessly blue Greek sky. When our time in the Plaka was up, we went back to the agreed upon rendezvous point. And, sure enough, Costas was there waiting for us. We climbed into the cab and headed back to the port. When we got back, we paid him his 100 euros and exchanged hand shakes and hugs all around and we all parted company, us to the Orient Queen and him to his next victims, I mean, passengers. All kidding aside, I'd bet that he makes a pretty good living doing that: if he has 2 of these "situations" a day, 20 days a month, cash (i.e. tax free). You do the math! Costas is bring in some good drachma!
We returned to our new digs on the Orient Queen to get ready to get underway, and to relax after our whirlwind tour of Athens. It was a great day, totally unexpected on so many different levels. It was refreshing to see that somewhere in this world there is still someone (apparently an entire culture of 'someones') who is so unjaded by everyday life that he trusts complete strangers to do the honest thing. This sort of thing would NEVER happen back home. We are the land of "pay before you pump." I am probably the most untrusting person out there, and this experience would have shaken me had it happened under any other circumstances. I would have tried to pay before, or pay half now, half later. But, because there was a language barrier, I just went with it, trusting that the cabbie knew what he was doing. If only we could get back to that level of mutual trust. But, then again, Greece is a mess... maybe they need to trust less and be more jaded. Then, they wouldn't have to strike as much and they economy would not be a drag on the rest of Europe. Maybe we do have the right idea, afteralll, in the USA...
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