Sunday 18th September

We planned to travel to Vouliagmeni to see where we lived in 1980/81, to swim at the Lido and to have lunch there.

The travel instructions seemed to be fairly straightforward but it transpired that this was not the case. The metro to Elleniki was fine and quick but we were due to catch a bus from there to Vouliagmeni and that was where it became problematical. We had forgotten to bring the sheet of paper with bus number on it and decided to catch the first bus that arrived which was heading for Varkiza, the logic being that since it was travelling along Vouliagmenis Avenue then it would probably be heading in the right direction. However, after a few stops there was no sign of the central areas of Glyfada that we knew quite well and having asked a passenger and the driver we were advised get off at the next stop. We were horrified that this appeared to be in the middle of an urban jungle with no shade and very little sign of any buses until eventually the right bus came along only to completely ignore our sign for him to stop! Lots of taxis were passing by and many of them were empty apart from the driver, but none seemed interested in our fare!

Another bus eventually did arrive and we hopped on this to move on a few stops where again we alighted at a slightly less isolated spot and after a relatively short time a taxi stopped and we were in Vouliagmeni in 10 mins. Phew!

The Lido at Vouliagment is now much, much larger that when we lived there and since it was Sunday and 33C, it seemed that most of Athens was there. 

In 80/81 we owned a Hobie Cat catamaran and kept it on the beach here. We have very fond memories of sailing here in the beautiful bay and at times, particularly in the Autumn, the winds were fierce and the sailing very exciting. Often on Saturday mornings, I sailed the Hobie cat on my own out to an island just outside of the bay and on one occasion encountered a whale which circled me for a few minutes before deciding that I was not particularly interesting and swam off. The LLW has never really believed the story, but I'm sure that you dear reader will know that I would not exaggerate about this.

After Ray had a swim we headed off to find the apartment where we lived at Dekelias, 17. This was successfully located and photos duly taken. The apartment block itself has not changed but is now surrounded by many new developments.

Off to seek a taverna for what was now to be a late lunch and we found two close to the lido, both of which were open but deserted. Slightly puzzled by this we took the plunge and selected the more traditional looking of the two and were rewarded with an excellent lunch albeit with somewhat eccentric service.

The restaurant ordered a taxi and off we went to Elleniko station and the metro back to Acropolis station and our apartment in Plaka.

A good walk around the city center and then an early night as we had a flight to Heraklion the next morning.