I arrived in Athens about 7 PM from Paros and my US flight
did not leave until the next morning. I
booked a room on the out skirt of Athens on line well before I arrived and arranged
transportation to and from the airport.
Upon my arrival in Athens, Theo from Peri’s Hotel was not at the pre-arranged
meeting place where I exited baggage claim.
I waited a bit then asked the information desk to call but she pointed
me to a pay phone. In Greece back then
you could not just pop a coin into the phone to make a call, you had to buy a
phone card and the smallest denomination card was 4 Euro. I called, Theo answered, told him who I was
and he impatiently said, “I am waiting, where are you?” “I am at the phone by the information
desk.” “Oh, I see you.” And he walks toward me with no sign in his
hand, how was I supposed to find him with no sign? He had no idea what I looked like. Well that was an expensive phone call; in
hind sight I should have made him credit me for that call. He tells me to wait here and he walks toward
the info desk and comes back with a pretty and petite French lady. On the 15 minute drive to the hotel he and
the lady chit-chat and laugh all in French as if I was not in the car. At the hotel he carries her bags in and
checks her in quickly. I get my bags up
the stairs to the lobby and wait while he takes her to her room. When he comes to check me in I give him my
Visa and he looks at me as if I am an idiot, “I don’t take cards.” It would have been nice to know that up
front, most people leaving the country are trying to leave with as little local
cash as possible so I did not have enough to pay. He said I could go to the cash machine in the
morning. Sure, whatever! I was starving so I asked about the taverna
that is advertised to be only 3 blocks away, it closed for the season
yesterday, but there is a nice place near the beach that will pick me up and
bring me back, fine. Without asking if I
minded, he calls the French lady and asks if she wants to join me. UGH!!
I don’t really want to eat dinner with a stranger that I can barely talk
to. A quiet dinner, a book and bed was
more my plan. She comes along, is happy
and friendly, and insists we share a plate of fish. Not really high on my list but I just want to
eat and go back. We have a nice dinner,
the fish was good, lots of bones, but the salad and tatzeki was great. I learned that she is also in real estate, we
talked a lot, her English was good but the accent was thick so I really had to
listen closely. She kept ordering wine
which was tasty but I was so tired.
Finally the waiter brought the check and told us that the van lady who
brought us had gone home and he would take us back when his shift was over in
30 minutes. It is now 11:30 and we got
into his old, dirty, beat up hatchback with black and red vinyl seats. This was creepy!! He talked to the French lady in Greek and she
seemed to understand. He clearly did not
know where he was going; he turned around again and again. Finally she convinced him to call someone, he
calls, he talks, he drives, he turns around, he drives more, he turns around,
and he calls again. This happens three
times! Then he asks me, in English, for
the hotel phone, who was he talking to before??? I give him the hotel card that I thankfully
picked up at the front desk. He calls,
he talks, he drives, he turns around, and it is after midnight and I have to
pee so badly!! I just might pee in his
car if he does not find this place, too bad I could not say that in Greek. As we were driving I saw a mini-mart that we
had passed on the way there so I knew we were in the right area. After two more
calls to unidentified people I saw the hotel about two blocks away across an
open field. I pointed and said there,
THERE! The roads did not go through so
it was not clear how to get there without driving over the field. I should have just gotten out and walked
across the field. At this point he made
one more phone call and finally found an unmarked dirt road that took us to the
hotel.
This place is located in what looked to me like a rundown
neighborhood with many vacant lots surrounding it. It is built to look like a large house, not a
hotel, and there are no signs on the building at all. I am guessing it does not meet zoning, if
they have such a thing in Greece. The key
was in the door so we walked in and the French lady shut the door while I
sprinted to my room that was the first room on the first floor, just next to
the reception desk. It was now 12:30, so
much for a short quiet dinner. It was
really hot in the room so I opened the sliding door and partially closed the
roll shutters so I would get some air but it was not completely open. I fell asleep right away and what seemed like
seconds later I heard a loud knock. I
could not tell if it was at my door or down the hall, either way I was not
going to answer so I ignored it. The
knocking continues and then a man’s voice said, “Madam, I am the proprietor,
please open.” At this point I realized
he was on my balcony knocking on my roll shutters. I answered, “NO! GO AWAY!” “Please open the front door, someone has
locked it.” After a moment he said it
again. I told him to go around to the
front and I would open it, I heard him leave so I went out to the lobby in my
pajamas and opened the door. There was a
man and woman with luggage waiting on the steps. The key that had been on the outside when I
returned was now on the inside. The
people on the steps said thank you as I went back to my room, it was 1:30 AM. I tried to sleep, but tossed and turned all
night. About 4 am people started
stirring in their rooms and in the lobby.
I heard every movement, every toilet flush, every shower, and every hair
dryer. People in the lobby were speaking
loudly right outside my door. I was so
annoyed!! Finally the lady with
breakfast came to the door, she brought coffee, bread, cake, a slice of cheese
and juice that looked and tasted like colored water.
When I went out front to catch the van to the airport, Theo
approached me and began to complain about who ever moved the key and he sounded
like he was accusing me of doing it.
That was the straw that sent me over the edge!!
“I did not touch
your key!”
“I did not say you
did.”
“Some man banged
on my patio door at 1:30 in the morning”
“They had to, they
had to get inside.”
“I did not know
who it was and the man on the patio knew I was a woman in there by myself, it
scared me.”
“He had to and
since you did not answer he had to go to another balcony.”
“I DID ANSWER, I
opened the front door in my pajamas, you should be thanking me not yelling at
me, what if your wife was alone in New York City and some strange man asked her
to open her patio door and let him in.”
“Madam,” he said
very condescendingly, “this is Athens, not New York City, Athens basically has
no crime.”
He did not care one iota and proceeded to tell me how worried he was
when he received a call at 1:30 AM.
WHAT??? He was worried by a phone call?
And he could care less that his client was scared out of bed in the
middle of the night. I could not leave
it alone.
Again I forcefully said, “I am
the one who opened the door, you should be thanking me!!!” Pause…
“You opened the door?”
“Yes.”
“Oh I thank you 10 times, not once, I thank you, I am sorry for the trouble
but what else were they to do, someone moved the key and put it inside so no
one could put a key into the outside.”
Then he proceeded to rant about whoever moved the key. UGH, please just get me to the airport!! I have to admit that I thought about taking my bags and leaving him at the airport without paying. I did not do that, like a the good girl my mother raised, I went to the ATM and brought him 60 Euro. However I did not say thank you and neither did he.
I would have much rather stayed at the Airport Sofitel and paid 200
Euro for a comfortable bed, quiet room, restaurant on site and no patio with
some strange man banging on my roll shutters instead of paying 60 Euros (plus a
4 Euro phone call) for a hard bed, loud complex, no dinner without a painful
transfer, mediocre breakfast, rude owner and a stranger on my balcony.
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