36902BRF

So good news my non-proctored COVID test was clean. Bad news the two proctored eMed tests I bought from Optum were duds. The reagent bottles were empty. Glad I started testing three day before so I have plenty of time to now find a local test.

ExpatSomchai

Headed to Rhodes end of this week so would be interested where you decide for a test. Also and recommendations appreciated.

KLouis

Nothing curious about that, the ferry was following custom: A courtesy flag, smaller than the national ensign has to be flown on a different mast while a vessel visits foreign waters during daylight. Some countries (I don't know about Turkey) make this an obligatory rule.

nk15

The greek rapid test works well with the Verifly app by the way, when I uploaded it it was accepted within 5 minutes. They are really happy to see the Verifly app at the airport, it makes their life easier.

36902BRF

Thanks I am not up on my nautical practices and had never noticed this before but likely wouldn't have noticed this time either except I saw them hoist it.

36902BRF

Not sure I can be a lot of help the vast majority of my time was spent on Symi and a little on Kos. I have only been in Rhodes for 24 hours now and will be leaving in another eight to head to Athens. For the testing I just went ahead and pre-paid/scheduled a test for today at the Athens airport after my flight lands from Rhodes. Given the increased requirements for testing generally in Greece the airport option may not be so bad and since I was going to be there anyway. My flight to the US is on Friday so still plenty of time.

As for my whistle-stop tour of Rhodes. I found the archeology museum very interesting, the Grand Master Palace seemed to be largely a fascist Italian fantasy of what a castle should be. They have a lot of Roman mosaics from Kos installed almost like carpets on the floors here. I really like ancient Greek, Roman and Byzantine history and I had been to some of the places in Kos these came from so I found the mosaics interesting. There was also a decent Byzantine museum on the lower floor here. There is a combo ticket for both of these sites and two others (which I am going to go to this morning). So get the combo ticket and save a few Euros if you are going to see two or more of them.

The Acropolis was about a 30 minute walk from old town and, again I found it interesting, but I like ancient history. There isn't a lot here and what is here is mostly reconstruction but the stadium is impressive. The one ruined partial temple is behind scaffolding. There is no context given on any of the stuff here so read up before hand. Walking around old town is wonderful. I like to walk around places to get their feel and old town is great for this. I also really enjoyed walking the former moat around the old town. The entry points (at least the ones I used are not well signposted) but it is not crowded and I often went 10-15 mins in some parts without seeing another human being. You get some impressive views of the walls from down there.

Edited to add: Try to get out say around 8 or even 9-ish in the morning. The tourists don't start coming out in droves until 10 or so and it is really nice to wander the streets of old town nearly empty.

Edit 2: There does appear to be COVID testing at RHO over in the terminal NOT used by Aegean.

36902BRF

I am flying United and they use their "Travel-Ready" website but I am sure it will work similarly so good to know. I uploaded my PLF and COVID vaccine card prior to departure from US and they were accepted and I didn't have to show anything at the airport. United also will scan you passport via their app and accept it that way so, and I have never seen this before, when I left the US I didn't have my passport inspected at the airport (I only do carry on so I was able to just walk to the gate and board).

36902BRF

After the dud EMed tests I got my Covid test (negative yeah!) at ATH airport today. Honestly, it was totally painless and just as fast as the self-test (given I was at the airport anyway) though of course it is highly dependent on their customer volume at the time. I preregistered and prepaid here: https://payments.iatriko.gr/ . There are two lines when you arrive and the prepaid one is much faster because most of your relevant information is already entered. I walked right up signed a couple of forms and was sent for a swab (she was more gentle doing it than I am on myself). They said I could get a print out in 20 mins and would get an email in 40 mins. So I went off to get my metro card. Within about 15-20 mins I had my email and I walked back to get a print out (you go back to the cashier line). There was a non-prepaid person in front of me even in the prepaid line this time and they took about 10 mins to process. I got my printout and headed back to Metro to catch train. I was probably all done in 30 mins (honestly I probably don't need a printout and could have been done in 5 mins). The form they email you is password protected (the code is on your receipt they give you and they also email it to you when you prepay) so in my Android phone I just "printed" it from the PDF viewer to the PDF printer to create a clear text copy. I uploaded this to United app as the metro train was leaving the airport station and I got notification before the third stop that United had accepted it. If the timing works for you the ATH airport testing is a great option.

allset2travel

36902BRF,
Thanks for sharing your interesting adventures.

Appreciate the details regarding getting Covid Testing at ATH. Your account concurred with several other FTers' own experience as well. All said how quickly it got done!
Can you confirm what price did you pay for your test? Online payment with credit card ok?

nk15

Speaking of credit cards most vendors in Greece do not take AMEX, only major stores or supermarkets, so just bring MC and Visa...

36902BRF

It was 20 Euro and they took CC. I believe it is only 10 Euro outside of their airport location but I quickly Googled and it looked like their non-airport location was not particularly close to downtown so it was worth the extra to get it done at airport since I was there. They do also take cash in person.

36902BRF

Yeah and the big difference I have noticed since my last time in Europe prior to Covid is how big tap to pay is. Get some cards with this feature or setup your phone before you leave. I have had issues try to add cards to Google Tap to Pay on my phone while in country. You can generally use insert the chip but it confused cashiers. Though the chip failed on the Athens metro machines for me though it might have been user error my phone worked fine with them though.

estnet

But there are many other testing sites besides theirs, and now all are 10e - and they are all equally fast.

36902BRF

Yeah I know I paid a premium but was happy to do so. If I had been in Athens longer than 36 hours I would have spent the time to find an alternative. As it is I am happy to pay the 10 extra euro to knock it out since I was in the airport already vs losing some time today figuring where to get one in Athens.

rankourabu

We ve been in Greece for a while now, and it's been great. I remember in the summer a few years back it was just too crowded.
Even Oia at sunset was not too bad this time around.

On the 13th on the ferry out they were checking vax certs and boat forms. But it was only a quick glance. Havent been asked for them anywhere else since but we've been eating outdoors.

In Paros now, feels good to be out of Santorini, and not to hear American everywhere, and the beach is gorgeous, even if the water is not exactly super warm.