Today we leave Athens and head for our chosen island in the Saronic Gulf, Aegina. It seems that it is pronounced like "egg in a basket" only without the basket bit.
We have to leave the apartment by 11am to give us enough time to get to the ferry terminal for 12-30 which is the requested one hour before sailing. We close the door on the flat at 10-50 and make for the metro station.
The Athens Metro system is modern clean and efficient. The same cannot be said for the railway network. The Hellenic Railway network runs on a loss of about $3.8 million per day. It has an accumulated debt of over $13 billion or about 5% of Greek GDP. Many lines no longer run. The average salary of railway staff is $78000 per year. We are waiting on the platform of Athens main railway station Larissa. As the world over the trains suffer from a graffiti problem. Despite all the problems our train arrived and departed on time. The fare at sixty cents seemed a little modest for a twenty minutes journey albeit for pensioners.
I'm not sure what Helen is quite so happy about, maybe it's the fare or maybe the handsome young soldier sitting across the carriage.
I spotted this ancient train parked up on a defunct platform that looked like it had been there since 1955. I wondered if anyone has thought of its tourist potential rusting away
Having lugged our luggage from the station to our ferry gate, we discovered that the boat was still there. In fact we weren't allowed to board it yet as we were too early.
So I took this picture just to prove the point.
Not our first glimpse of Aegina, you can easily see it from the mainland, but I have taken this from the ferry because I reckon it's about where our accommodation is. In fact we later realised that the little white church that you can see in the left quarter is less than half a mile away from our place.
Bandits at 5 o'clock, a Supermarine Seagull attempts a low sortie.
I won't be doing a daily blog from the island because I will be too busy sunbathing, but will try to give you a flavour of the place. We intend to hire a car for 3 or 4 days so I also hope to capture the highlights of Aegina.
We have to leave the apartment by 11am to give us enough time to get to the ferry terminal for 12-30 which is the requested one hour before sailing. We close the door on the flat at 10-50 and make for the metro station.
The Athens Metro system is modern clean and efficient. The same cannot be said for the railway network. The Hellenic Railway network runs on a loss of about $3.8 million per day. It has an accumulated debt of over $13 billion or about 5% of Greek GDP. Many lines no longer run. The average salary of railway staff is $78000 per year. We are waiting on the platform of Athens main railway station Larissa. As the world over the trains suffer from a graffiti problem. Despite all the problems our train arrived and departed on time. The fare at sixty cents seemed a little modest for a twenty minutes journey albeit for pensioners.
I'm not sure what Helen is quite so happy about, maybe it's the fare or maybe the handsome young soldier sitting across the carriage.
I spotted this ancient train parked up on a defunct platform that looked like it had been there since 1955. I wondered if anyone has thought of its tourist potential rusting away
Having lugged our luggage from the station to our ferry gate, we discovered that the boat was still there. In fact we weren't allowed to board it yet as we were too early.
So I took this picture just to prove the point.
Piraeus as well as being a major ferry terminal is also the main commercial port for Greece
This is the pilot boat returning home. He is splashing through the waves of our wash.
Not our first glimpse of Aegina, you can easily see it from the mainland, but I have taken this from the ferry because I reckon it's about where our accommodation is. In fact we later realised that the little white church that you can see in the left quarter is less than half a mile away from our place.
Bandits at 5 o'clock, a Supermarine Seagull attempts a low sortie.
I won't be doing a daily blog from the island because I will be too busy sunbathing, but will try to give you a flavour of the place. We intend to hire a car for 3 or 4 days so I also hope to capture the highlights of Aegina.
Superb enjoy your rest. Athens doesn't look as though it has all that foggy look or am I wrong?
ReplyDeleteAthens now has very clean air. The days of air pollution and acid rain are now a thing of the past.
ReplyDelete