April 26

Last night, I arrived in Athens after my flight from Istanbul. I went to a hostel that was far too expensive and difficult to find (but only €10/night). Because of this, I lost what daylight there was left. But the only other occupant in the 12-bunk room was an Australian who was beginning a 6-month trip through Europe that day. He had just flown in a few hours before. So we saw some of Athens at night for an hour or two before he jet-lagged and we returned. I was going to stay another night in Athens, but that would have meant an extra day or two before I reach Southern France, and I'm tired of waiting for that. So I woke up at 8 AM and set out to find my way to the train station that would take me to the port. 

If anyone with a Eurail pass is reading this (doubtful, I guess), here is the current route from Athens to Patras in Greece, from which you can take a ferry to Italy (current as of April 26, 2014). It was similar for the trip back as well. In Athens, you take the metro to Larissa Station. From that station, there are trains leaving hourly (or that's what it seemed like) from Athens to the stop S.K.A. (It's the 4th stop, pronounced "skah"). Then you get off the train, go to the other side of the tracks, and walk back in the direction of Athens. There's a little walkway, and you go down some stairs and it takes you to the correct station. You take the train to Kiato. That's the final destination for the train so you don't have to be super attentive after you get on. Then in Kiato, you exit the train #duh and go downstairs. Just outside and to the left is a bus to Patras. And it's the TRAIN station the bus takes you to in Patras, not the bus station. I don't think Eurail passes work at the bus station. All of these are free with the Eurail pass, and for those of us with limited travel days, it doesn't use up any of those. They didn't even look at mine, just asked if I had a valid one. From Patras, you have to take either a shuttle (€1) or a taxi (a few euros, I think) to reach the port. It's a few minutes away. The whole journey from Athens-Patras is around 3 hours and 45 minutes. 

I ended up visiting the Acropolis, which is kinda THE thing to see in Athens. Unfortunately, to make my train, I only had half an hour there. Still, I took some pictures that will hopefully turn out nicely. And I realized that despite my deep love for Greek mythology, there isn't too much to get out of it without paying for a tour guide or visiting the museum.