A Strike Downtown Leaving Many Stranded
The bus driver told everyone on the bus that the bus will not be able to drop its passengers off at Syntagma due to the ongoing strike. Thanks to the strike, the public transport in the city was crippled, leaving many locals and visitors stranded. The metro was temporarily down and only a handful of taxis were willing to ferry passengers into or out of the city centre.
Syntagma Square was literally closed and cut off from public access. My sister and I had no other options but to take the bus and drop off some 5 km away from our destination. From there, we were told that we can either travel to Syntagma Square on foot or if we are lucky, flag down a taxi that will take us there without being charged exorbitantly.
Many people were left frustrated by the situation especially visiting tourists. We were caught off guard, but felt lucky to be able to experience a Greek strike nonetheless. After all, it was not a life-threatening but an eye-opening experience. It is not often that we get to experience such an experience.
Friendly & Helpful Greeks in Athens
From where the bus dropped us off, my sister and I along with several tourists made our way to Syntagma Square on foot. We were being over confident that we could easily walk our way to the city centre.
The one thing we noticed about the people in Athens, Greece is they are very friendly and helpful. At one point, we looked lost and an elderly man who happens to walk by stopped in his track and asked us if we needed help.
Although he spoke little English, he pointed out the way and made sure that we understood his directions before bidding us goodbye. Halfway through the journey, we got tired, felt hungry and decided to stop for lunch at the first café that caught our attention.
Scrumptious Greek Lunch At Boston Café By Manoli & Wife
For some reason, we decided to stray off the main street and ventured into a smaller street (Pontoirakleias Street). At the end of the street, we came across a charming little café with a lemon tree named Boston Café. My sister and I agreed to have our light lunch at the café.
The café serves a variety of sandwiches, salads, pizzas, coffee, donuts and crepes at reasonable prices. We ordered our foods and drinks at the counter and seated comfortably in the café. The café has excellent free WiFi which we used to go online and stay connected.
My sister had the banana choco crepe with orange juice while I had Caesar salad and peach tea. Both were delicious! To our delight, the owners of the café, Mr. Manoli and wife treated us a traditional dessert – a huge serving of delectable Greek custard pie (Galaktoboureko) and even gave us two bottles of chilled mineral water. We were very thankful for their generosity and kindness. This further strengthens our observation that the Greeks in Athens are friendly, helpful and kind.
Up next: An exorbitant taxi ride and checking-in to our private room in a luxurious apartment booked via Airbnb