I definitely would take the Metro, although you will have to change trains at Syntagma Square to take a different line south to the Akropolis station.

The bus terminates at Syntagma Square, which means either you have to catch a train anyway or find the right bus or walk. It's not a bad walk, maybe 3/4 mile -- we did it quite a few times the last time we were here.

We are here in room 603 @ the Aristoteles.

If you are staying at the Parthenon, I recommend taking the Metro (train) to Syntagma Square, then connecting south to the Akropolis station. When you exit from the Akropolis station, look up (at the Acropolis :) ), start walking towards the Acropolis, & about 1 block & 2 right turns later you should be at the Parthenon.

If you are staying at the Aristoteles, the Metro is not running between the Monostiraki & Omonia stations. Get off at Syntagma & connect to Omonia from Syntagma. Archonon (street) heads north from another square ~5 blocks NW of Omonia Square. The Aristoteles is about 1.5 blocks north from the square on the left sign, tall verticle blue sign on the outside of the building.

I don't have all my maps handy, will try to post Metro directions for the IC tomorrow.

It was a fun trip here. :D We spent Saturday at the Bloomington, MN, Embassy Suites after the airport was closed & flew here Sun-Mon via Houston & Frankfurt.

Reading through the recent posts, it appears we arrived between the public service strike :) on the 12th & the ATC strike on the 15th :) . Such is Greece. :D

I'm arriving tomorrow and I hope that ATC strike does not affect me (my flight is ok for now). I'll be staying in Glyfada, so I'll be a bit further out than the rest of you, but I'll make the meetings anyway. See you all there!

gentle warning
 

Hi,

I am in Larisa now and unfortunately I can not make it down to Athens due to family matters as I am taking care of my mother. I need to warn you all that this is a HOT week as far as strikes go! Even in Greece where strikes are part of life, the numbers of strikes that are happening this week is something that has not been done before! I think by Friday it should all die down. The majority of the strikes concern govt workers (nothing new), transportation and banks. Today the parliament is voting another tough law that will mean cuts in salaries and, as usual, the affected ones are not going down without fighting! So, keep a low profile, don't spend much time around the Parliament at Syntagma Square and, for god's sake, do not wear anything with IMF on it:D

I wish I could join you guys but I can't...Besides, I probably would not be able to make it down there anyway in time as trains and buses will be affected this week.

Enjoy, Athens is still beautiful this time of the year and this country needs your money now more than ever;)

can't make it :(
 

hi,

unfortunately i cannot make it this weekend. enjoy your time in greece!

CHris

gpapadop,

Thanks for the words of wisdom and I hope that your mother is doing well.

Reading Kathimerini's online english edition has been interesting lately. This article lays out some of the scheduled strikes. Usually I look forward to the conversations that take place at the tavernas in the evenings. Might just have to gauge the level of discussions carefully.

Delta has canceled ATH flights for today and tomorrow in preparation for the ATC strike.

Guess I'll leave my "I'm with the IMF" t-shirts at home for this trip.

See base post for restaurant updates!

If it's Athens, somebody must be on strike. ;)

Today (Tuesday) there is a 24-hour public transportation strike.

Tomorrow (Wednesday) is the Greek ATC strike -- Greek air space will be closed.

Thursday there will be another 24-hour public tranportation strike. If you are arriving on Thursday, you probably will need a cab to get in.

Restaurant updates in base post.

Definitely looks that way as there are no private shuttle companies. Assuming there will be some at the airport.

Well I'll be coming in 3 hours behind you on KL1581. Leave a trail of bread crumbs! Here's hoping that the X95 is running after midnight.

8 p.m. Thursday dinner for those who are here (probably just LiftedFog, lili & us): O Tzitzikas ki o Mermigkas (The Ant & the Cricket), Mitropoleos 12-14 near Syntagma Square.

Note to those who are staying at the IC: You're a bit off the central city map -- I don't have detailed street & transit info for that area.

>>>>>>>>Guess I'll leave my "I'm with the IMF" t-shirts at home for this trip.

Good move. If anyone has Merkel fan T shirts please leave them behind too:D

Deep down, Greeks know they created this mess themselves over many decades so they know next year will be a very tough one, please be kind to them!

On the positive side, prices across the board are lower! Nothing to write home about, just lower than ridiculously high like they have been for many years now.

Enjoy yourselves!

Good timing! Bus should be running, but if not you may want to sleep in the airport. The already high taxi rates are double from midnight to 5 am.

The preliminary trip to Piraeus was a bust. Due to limitations of time (public transit ending at 6 p.m. tonight) & map (I didn't realize one place I was looking for was off my already-poor map), we returned to the central city without having done the complete dry run that we intended to.

However, if I can find a better map & if others are adventuresome, we'll do this again Sunday. :) The plan for Piraeus is to check out the Sunday flea market, have lunch at Margaro. walk around the Zea harbor (where Athens used to parked its triremes), coffee at Cafe Freddo, then take the Metro back to Central Athens.

We have been to Athens 3 times and there has been a strike every time. Only once were we able to get to the Plaka. That city is off my list.

Heck yeah lets go for it. In JFK Oasis lounge now heading for AMS for the day.