The Mrs dropped off at the airport I venture into Athens alone for a few days of peaceful work, doorstepping Globo (GBO) and relaxation. I always stay at the same hotel but cannot for the life of me remember its name or what street it is on.
However the taxi driver dropped me off somewhere in Placa, the ghastly tourist district next to the Acropolis and I trot along streets that seem vaguely familiar, resisting the urge to buy assorted tourist tat which is sold in every shop. Like a homing pigeon it takes me just a few minutes to arrive at the hotel Adonis, a modest three star establishment but it has a hidden gem.
I haggle on price with the man and get a room for two nights for 80 Euro, a 20% discount and then just about squeeze myself and my rucksack into its tiny life. This is the first bad news for Evil Knievil, the son of a distinguished classical scholar who has himself never been to Greece. I am urging him to make a trip but fear that the lift in the hotel Adonis is er….too small for him.
The internet works, my room is quiet and cool. And so to the highlight of a day at the hotel Adonis…breakfast. Bad news again for Evil, there is no “Dublin fry up” it is all healthy rabbit food or bread, cheese and ham. And worse still the old boy would have to walk up 12 steps to the roof terrace for breakfast. But it is worth it….
As you munched your cornflakes this morning what was your view? This was mine. For the utterly ignorant among you it is the Acropolis which stands tall and proud directly ahead of me as I ate, drank coffee and – as one can do here – had a cigarette with my caffeine. This is my perfect way to start the day.
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