Embarkation day is here- feeling excited to get on board the Resilient Lady and start voyaging through the Greek Islands. We still had half the day to explore more of Athens as our Boarding time was scheduled at 16:00. Later than we would have liked but we spent the time well checking out in more detail the neighbourhood of Psiri and Monastiraki.
Morning in Athens
Psiri
We decided to go nearby for checking out bakeries and coffee. One thing about staying near the Psiri area is it has access to lots of cafes and bakeries too. We found very good coffee to go and also a bakery selling koulouri. In the process, we managed to explore more of the area – lots of small restaurants and cafes around. One interesting one is Little Kook where you are served by Alice in Wonderland inspired characters.
We had to check out by 11am – but could put our bags and come back later to pick it up. We explored the flea market in Monastiraki with lots of interesting goods on sale. We headed towards Plaka again to eat at the Indian Restaurant that we spotted the day before. The food is ok but expensive – so I am not giving my recommended seal here. Enroute I saw a nice shop selling nice skirts and ended up shopping. One thing I miss and really like is the ability to find fresh pressed fruit juices around Athens. They do differ in prices depending on the area you are in. Same rules apply – the more touristy areas , the more expensive.
Getting from Athens to Piraeus
We lucked out with our Hotel : as we were close to the Thissio Metro Station. After picking up our luggage we walked 3 mins to the metro and bought our tickets to take the train (Line1) to Piraeus. The entire ride was 15 minutes long. It is always good to check the frequency especially if you have a time urgency and it differs depending on the day and the hour. You can check it from this link.
After arriving at Piraeus Station, we were still about 3km away from Terminal C where we are to embark. 3km sounds not so far and you may decide to walk it but I didn’t want to sacrifice my luggage wheels for that. Exiting the Metro station we crossed the street as we spotted some taxis and enquired about the prices. One of the taxis quoted 10 Euros while another said 7 Euros. Guess which one we took ? It seems to be a usual thing for taxis to try and fleece passengers. I had the experience a few times in Athens. So what you can do here is Download the Uber or Freenow app to order a taxi. In my case I used it for haggling the prices down on taxis I am flagging down.
Embarkation to Resilient Lady at Piraeus
We arrived still an hour and a half too early and Virgin was pretty strict in the boarding timing. So we were directed to check in our luggage which was all done efficiently and then to a makeshift tent for waiting. The tent was air-conditioned (thank goodness) as it was a very hot day out. We were seated in the rows and advanced forward as group after group were called based on their boarding time. Finally it was our turn and we scanned our hand luggage and joined the queue to get our room key. I have to say this was efficiently handled by Virgin and was most likely due to them keeping with the actual boarding time. Before long we had our Virgin bracelets with us and made our way to our cabin with our bag already waiting for us!
Resilient Lady Cabin
This is not our first time on a Virgin Ship. We were on the Valiant Lady and very curious about the Resilient Lady. It turned out that it was a clone with minor differences in the decor. So the ship felt immediately familiar to us. Below is a quick look at the cabin.
We watched the safety briefing , a fun one: slightly different from the one in Valiant Lady. We then headed downstairs to the meeting place to get our confirmation of having attended said safety briefing. Within 5 minutes we were done and could explore the ship. We made reservations for a 6pm spot at one of our favourites – The Pink Agave. One of the earliest to arrive we were seated very soon and our orders came shortly after. I ordered the fish and it was very good. I followed up with my favourite dessert.
While we were dining, the ship departed from Piraeus and started its course towards Santorini. I have not yet been to this famous island – so I was looking forward to it. Stay tuned for my next post on Santorini.
-End of Embarkation Day : Athens-
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