We are in Athens Piraeus Port with the first light of Monday. While Piraeus used to be the port city of Athens, it is now united with Athens as one of the most important ports in the Mediterranean.. Zea and Mikrolimani, which are small parts of the port, are still referred to as Pasa Port and Turkish Port today.
The word for port in Greek is “port”.. So close to Athens city centre, Piraeus Port is home to the majority of tourists entering Athens.
To return to our ship, which arrived in Piraeus at 6 pm. only 4 hours and 15 minutes were given. So we had to be on board by 10:15 at the latest.. We got very tired after the disco entertainment and chats with friends on the ship the night before.
When I first opened my eyes in the morning it was 6 o’clock. When we were trying to sleep a little more, we left the ship without even having breakfast when it approached 7 o’clock.. It was a great luck for us that I came to Athens with a Greek friend the previous year.. At least, I had created a program in my head in a limited time and focused on moving accordingly and returning as soon as possible. bought a vehicle that looks like buses that carry it from the plane to the area. We ran through the customs section, running past the customs officers in green military uniforms.. Meanwhile, the new Greek passengers of our ship were preparing to board the ship.. They would start the tour again in the direction of Piraeus-Kusadasi.
Dozens of tour buses were waiting for tourists to join private tours everywhere.. We stood out from the crowd and waited at the nearest bus stop.. In order to ensure ourselves, we asked an old Greek woman who came first, “Where can we go to the Acropolis?”. He said we should go the opposite direction and take bus 843.
We didn’t have any bus tickets or coins with us.. After confirming the bus number with a girl waiting at the stop, we jumped on the bus.
When city buses stop at the stop in Greece, all doors open. Those who will get off get off first, then other passengers get on the buses from all doors.. At the front, middle and back of the bus, there are cash machines where you can read your tickets or ticket machines where you can buy tickets with coins.. Everyone buys their ticket or reads the ticket they have already bought and continues their journey.
Buses are stopped at regular intervals by the municipal police and the tickets of the passengers are checked.. If you are traveling without a ticket, you will pay a fine of 500 €, pasha.
Even though I know all this information based on my experience a year ago, we took the risk and took the bus to Piraeus Train Station 10 minutes later. We got off and left.
While we were getting on the first train from Piraeus, we had hesitations about whether to buy a ticket or not.. This time we chose not to take the train again.. While I was on the train with many immigrants for fear of being inspected at any moment, every time the train slowed down, everyone around me seemed to be the inspector.
After getting off at Omonya Station, this time we went to the Syntagma Square stop via the underground train on another floor of the same station.
Syntagma, home of the Greek National Assembly. The front of the parliament, where the famous pompous soldiers are on watch, attracts great attention every hour of the day.. I was very excited when I witnessed the changing of the guard duty in this place I came to the previous year.. This time it’s cold and it’s early. Due to the fact that the President of Lithuania will visit, everywhere is decorated with the flags of Lithuania and Greece.
The inscriptions representing Greek cities still persist in the historical column inscriptions in front of the parliament.. Let me list a few of the cities written in the historical area in front of the Greek National Assembly…
Afyonkarahisar, Kaş , Kütahya…
Yes, you heard right. This is the administrative center of Greece. Our cities are written in letters specific to the Greek Alphabet, it is very easy to distinguish them.
To suppress our hunger, we take a piece of salted sesame bagel, which is similar to Izmir cereal, from the buffet located just around the corner.. Street dogs are walking around the bagel eaters in order to have breakfast.. In terms of the number of stray animals in Europe, Greece and Turkey hold the undisputed first place.
Since we spared the rest of our limited time to the historical Acropolis, we took the underground train again, this time to the Acropolis. we are getting down. We are going to the entrance of the Acropolis with fast steps. A few people from the Turkish caravan are waiting at the entrance.. We despair, thinking it hasn’t opened yet. We have no time to waste.
We go to the sales office at the entrance of the museum to buy tickets. The Greek State does not charge entrance fees for visitors under the age of 19 within the framework of European Union agreements.. Students can enter by paying €6 and adults €12.. Even though I am 19 years old, at the mercy of the museum staff, I am at the historical Parthenon again without paying the re-entry fee.
This historical site, which has been my dream since I was little, gives me goosebumps, This temple, which is very important for the representation of Greek democracy, was used by the Ottomans as a mosque for a while and an arsenal for a while.. The renovation works that have been going on for years continue in the Parthenon, which was destroyed as a result of the bombing of the Venetians.. Many important historical monuments in the region were somehow transported to the United Kingdom.
We spend the last seconds of our time in this magical atmosphere by breathing in the air, photographing and watching the environment.
The last stage of the program in my mind is to take a short tour of the bazaar by descending from the Parthenon Temple to the bazaar through the narrow and rugged slopes of Athens.
We are coming to the bazaar again half running half walking. It’s Monday and it’s 9am, most of the shops are closed. We enter the gift shop we found open. We’re buying some fridge decorations and postcards. The man is happy when he tells the owner of the shop that we are Turkish.. “Governments create the apparent problems.. He says we love each other very much.” I wish we had time to talk more.
Omonya by underground train and then by train The return to Piraeus Port begins.
The train is moving so slow that everything is getting out of hand.
We do not tolerate loss of time; but everything is starting to turn negative. The slowness at every station triggers both the fear of being inspected and the fear of being late to the port.. Finally we are at Piraeus Train Station. While we are trying to cross, we cannot reach the stop due to heavy traffic.
The 843 that will take us to the port at the stop is blatantly running away.. When we are wondering if we should wait for the next bus, it’s 10:05!
The last boarding time is 10:15, raising concerns. At that moment, we notice two Turks trying to run past the bus stop.. They are also from our ship. at least we’re not alone. we start running. Let’s see how many minutes we will go by running this road, which we took in 10 minutes by bus?
Each of the taxis is full.. We are willing to give our last money. let’s just catch up. We get on the 843 screaming until we get to the next bus stop.. Sweat begins to flow.
When we arrive at the port, it’s 10:15 am.. We tell the crew of the ship waiting at customs that there are two people left behind.. It’s okay, we’re here for half an hour, we won’t rush; we are breaking threads. Otherwise, the ship will leave at 11 o’clock; we could have boarded the ship for at least half an hour more comfortably!
While returning to the ship for a breather, our next port will be Mykonos, this time the last stop before Turkey!
Thank you Municipality of Athens; we really exploited your public transport!
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