Friday Night: Catching Up
Jun. 2nd, 2007 12:32 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
deirdreA few miscellaneous things to catch up.
Taxis in Athens are incredibly cheap, as long as you make sure you've gotten one that has a working meter. Our transfer to Piraeus ran about 10 euros. From the National Archeological Museum to our hotel, €2.80. I think that trip would have run at least $15 in New York City. Taxis can pick up other passengers, so they'll tend to pick up only the ones going in the direction of the other passengers, so you may have to call several before you'll get one that will take your fare. We never shared a cab, except when someone from our hotel also happened to be going to the National Archeological Museum at the same time.
Food. We ate in the hotel restaurant for breakfast (which was included with our room rate) and once for lunch, but other than that, we ate at local places. One of the scams in Athens (which you're far more likely to experience as a man traveling alone) is the urge by someone that you come in and have a drink.
Acupuncture. Had my first on-board acupuncture treatment tonight. I told her about my problems with my sartorius and my weak right side. When I went in, I really really hurt due to all the walking -- my lower back was in agony (though somewhat less than earlier in the day). When I left, that pain was gone, though I do ache in certain areas of my body.
Cruise ships have a truly international crew -- our waitstaff this morning came from Turkey (always nice to get suggestions from a native of Istanbul) and Romania. The acupuncturist has a doctorate in Chinese Medicine and hails from Brazil.
With spa services, there's always an upsell; this time was no different. However, she did such a good job on me, especially for someone coming into my situation cold, that I went with her recommendations. My usual anti-pain methods (especially the bath with epsom salts) don't all work on a ship.
It's a good thing I got a good nap today, because it's 12:30 in the morning and my alarm is set for 6 a.m.
Next stop: Corfu. We have a relatively long stop there, so it should be fun.
Taxis in Athens are incredibly cheap, as long as you make sure you've gotten one that has a working meter. Our transfer to Piraeus ran about 10 euros. From the National Archeological Museum to our hotel, €2.80. I think that trip would have run at least $15 in New York City. Taxis can pick up other passengers, so they'll tend to pick up only the ones going in the direction of the other passengers, so you may have to call several before you'll get one that will take your fare. We never shared a cab, except when someone from our hotel also happened to be going to the National Archeological Museum at the same time.
Food. We ate in the hotel restaurant for breakfast (which was included with our room rate) and once for lunch, but other than that, we ate at local places. One of the scams in Athens (which you're far more likely to experience as a man traveling alone) is the urge by someone that you come in and have a drink.
Acupuncture. Had my first on-board acupuncture treatment tonight. I told her about my problems with my sartorius and my weak right side. When I went in, I really really hurt due to all the walking -- my lower back was in agony (though somewhat less than earlier in the day). When I left, that pain was gone, though I do ache in certain areas of my body.
Cruise ships have a truly international crew -- our waitstaff this morning came from Turkey (always nice to get suggestions from a native of Istanbul) and Romania. The acupuncturist has a doctorate in Chinese Medicine and hails from Brazil.
With spa services, there's always an upsell; this time was no different. However, she did such a good job on me, especially for someone coming into my situation cold, that I went with her recommendations. My usual anti-pain methods (especially the bath with epsom salts) don't all work on a ship.
It's a good thing I got a good nap today, because it's 12:30 in the morning and my alarm is set for 6 a.m.
Next stop: Corfu. We have a relatively long stop there, so it should be fun.