Greece

 A SOUVENIR POST CARD POSTED HOME FROM GREECE...LOVE THE PUSY CAT ON THE ROOF.

POST BOXES MAIN POST OFFICE   ATHENS.

 LOCALS READING THE DAILY" BAD NEWS".   ATHENS

Athens : GREECE.:
The days were really hot as I expected when in Athens..Like most places I always like to go out on foot the first day and explore as much as possible..checking out the locals...coffee shops what people are doing.. I guess due to money restrictions so many people doing not a lot.. but enjoying the summer days..Being a foreign visitor with a foreign credit card I was not affected by money transactions and could withdraw what I wished.. Also,  like I have done in a few other cities I decided to get a "hop on" hop off" bus to see what sights were to see and found by previous trips that this is a good way to do it.. I stay on the first trip looking at all the places to visit..also how long it would take to do it with ease and also the photo ops..Then go around again and get off at a couple of the places on my "must see" list  as the tickets were valid for the next day as well this was a great opportunity to see quite a bit and also very good value..This I found was such a great way to see Athens.My accomodation was fair and the location was not too far to walk to and  from my Metro station...This made things easy also as the Metro was free due to industrial actions, like were the busses,  so ..with free transportation this was another way to get around to see what I wanted.

ATHENS MAIN RAILWAY STATION.

THE "MIDNIGHT FLYER " OUT OF ATHENS.

"GREETINGS FROM"   GREECE"

 I traveled to the Main Railway Station to book my ticket out of Athens..Here I was once again confronted with just hundreds and hundreds of people lined up for ticket with just two windows open for buisiness.The station was packed with people...I talked to some people after some hours and wondered what was the story and if worthwhile to stay...I got many conflicting answers as is usual so many people know nothing about where they live..
I lost patience and realised that it that it would be better to return early the next   morning as this was going nowhere..Having once again returned to The Station and waiting in line .. I was told finally that I could NOT book my ticket there as Main railway stations DON"T book international tickets..only tickets within the country and as I wanted to travel to Sofia in Bulgaria this was not possible..I could only travel to Thessalonika....HMMMMMMM...so I found out that to book International train journies I would have to go to a Special Railway booking office near the City..now I'm getting somewhere...This I did,  and found the International Railway Booking Office reasonably easily and The Man in charge that was looking after my booking was the MOST HELPFUL person that I could have wished for and was so apologetic for my extreme inconvenience and lost time in the Main Station.  I couldn't believe that he was just so nice and helpful...here he sold me a "Balkans Pass" available for about seven different countries valid for a month and explained to me all its and was cheaper than the bus ride to Sofia..The train left at midnight that evening..The train Station was a nightmare with hundreds and hundreds of illegal immigrants vying for a seat on the train.. I was happy that I had a recognised seat number and had little hassles with the overnight trip to Thessalonika although hugely overcrowded and noisey....These large  crowds of immigrants,  illegal or refugees, were in all the towns main squares and  train stations on my journey through Eastern Europe..