Athens, The Acropolis, Plaka and Greek food! Hello Greece!

I have been meaning to write about my trip to Athens for a while now. Each time I've approached it i had a bout of writers block. I don't intend that to reflect negatively on Athens, not at all, i quite enjoyed my time there. If fact i was utterly surprised by how cool it was given how many people told me it was a sh!thole. My first day there made such an impression that the idea of not seeing more and just heading off to Metora as i'd originally planned had to be reconsidered (though the idea of rushing around after the craziness of Italy may also have had something to do with it).

The Acropolis at night

Anyway, what should i share with you? What do you want to know? There is just so much i hardly know where to start. The open air cinema with a view of the Acropolis? Walking around the Plaka area, the vibe, shops and restaurants? The visit to the Acropolis itself and the gorgeous view? Eating my way through Athenian restaurants and their rooftop terraces? The walk around the Acropolis where the street is lined with handmade necklaces, leather bracelets, wallets, old records made into art and everything in between? The people, how friendly, helpful and cheeky they were? Take your pick, for three days, there were plenty of good experiences.

Yay! Made it to the Parthenon

The food

It is easy to eat yourself silly in Athens. The food is fresh, delicious, generous, and cheap. The restaurants and cafes, even in the "touristy" spots, are easy going and don't mind you taking your time and just sitting relaxing, chatting and enjoying yourself. Simple favourites were tzatziki, Greek salad and Dolmades. I did try several different mains and i wasn't disappointed, everything was good!

Drinks with friends before dinner

Taking a walk

One of the best free things i can recommend doing in Athens is simply taking a walk around the Plaka area and around the Acropolis.
From the Monastiraki metro just meander along whichever street takes your fancy before heading along the Andrianou. This will take you along a street that will have shops and restaurants on your right and a view of the Acropolis on your left.
Take the first left you come to and walk along Apostolou Pavlou and then Dionissiou Areopagitou. This route will take you around the Acropolis along a street lined with restaurants, cafes, bars and lots of vendors selling hand made jewellery, wallets and other crafts. I found a chocolate cafe here with a lovely view of the Acropolis as the sun set. It will also take you past the outdoor cinema.
The end of the walk will find you at the Akropolis metro station. Its a really nice walk to do day or night. Do the whole thing or in parts, either way you will enjoy it.

Cafe rooftop terrace with view of Acropolis

Not sure where or what this is, i just stumbled across it in my wanderings.

The history

There are a lot of archaeological sites in Athens, the Acropolis being the most famous. The stunning views out over Athens are worth the climb to the top. I'd downed my bottle of water on the climb up and was happy to find a bubbler (water fountain) to refill it and a cool breeze to cool me by the edge of the site while taking it all in. Sitting at the top, facing south-west, the sea was on my right and, on my left the entire city was laid out in front of me. I could spot all sorts of other sites from there and get a good look at my surroundings.

Almost to the top...

Erechtheion - one of the temples in the Acropolis

View from the top of the Acropolis - Looking out over the Odeum of Herodes Atticus (ruin) and Filopapou Hill

Has that inspired you to check out Athens? I hope so! Here are some tips for finding your way. If you have been already, what did you enjoy about the city?


Getting to Athens from the Airport
Both the metro and rail connected directly to the city. I hopped onto the metro line (8 Euros) and after an hour found myself at my hotel. Nice and simple.

Getting around Athens
The best way is via metro. It is cheap (4 Euros for a 24 hour pass) easy to use, reaches all the main attractions, is safe, clean (relatively- some lines are older and trains have graffiti on the outside) and reliable. For info on Athens transport have a look at this site.

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Buying a ticket home and what that means

I’m really nervous. I have butterflies wreaking havoc inside my chest. I’m scared to even breathe…my life will go off on an entirely new tangent in a couple of months, London will cease to be my adopted home and I’ll have to walk away from the life I’ve built here and friends I’ve made. It’s not that going home to Sydney scares me. Its leaving London. I have had a bit of a rocky ride but I have really enjoyed exploring this city. I have enjoyed seeing things become familiar yet still pinching myself when I see the grand icons of London.

Earlier this week I bought my ticket home. It wasn’t easy. I was riddled with nerves and could barely bring myself to click on the final point-of-no-return purchase button. Such a tiny button, so poingnant. And with that, and a flutter of cyberspace, i'd sealed my path to head home at the end of November. Eeep!

Now i have to get organised. There is so much to do! And i counted, i only have 10 weekends left. My list of things to do in London is *still* as long as my arm! Actually, i think its longer! 18 months in London and i still feel like i have barely scratched the surface. I really love this city.

From a practical perspective it should be relatively easy to pack up my life a second time round - fourth if you count leaving home twice and leaving my expat life as a flight attendant in the sandpit. Leaving people behind however, that never gets easy. I have bought my ticket back to Sydney and that means its real, i have to go and i have to say goodbye. BUT I plan on making the most of my last couple of months here so bring it on London, make me miss you even more when i go!

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Update: My Experience with Westpac

Following on from my last post detailing my experience with Westpac customer service as an Expat, below is the update I wanted to share with you all.

After my that post I called Westpac again and spoke with the Collections department. The lady there was surprisingly switched on and could confirm that there was a block on my account and that I could have my case reviewed (I was curious to see what their process was) by the manager who was unfortunately busy at the time. She said she would refer my case and that once a decision was made it would be noted against my account so I could find out when I called back. I asked her to have someone call me and she said she would ask their contact centre to do that. In the meantime, she said she would process the refund for the balance I had in credit.

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Unfortunately, I didn't hear a single thing for a week. I called a couple of days ago and while the refund was processed, my case was not reviewed and there was no decision. Needless to say I thought that was just very poor service. The lady was, again, surprisingly nice and suggested she bring my case to her manager once more at which point I said forget it. I did not want to wait for a call that wouldn't come, I didn't want to waste my time and I did not want the card anyway, I was just curious. She eventually offered to put me on hold to wait for the manager but I declined. She was in the middle of asking another question when my connection dropped out. I didn't bother calling back. I had my refund, I didn't want to continue being a Westpac customer.

One Tweet later and Karen Ganschow, Head of Customer Relationship Marketing and Digital at Westpac got in touch asking for my contact details which led me to speak with Matthew Weston located in London! Who knew there was even an office here? The Australian contact centre didn't!

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Matt was nice and very apologetic about my experience. He did ask if there was anything he could do to which I said no, the experience had left a bad taste in my mouth and I wanted nothing more than to prevent others having a similar experience. He was honest enough to say he understood. He went on to tell me that it was a known issue that the contact centres required further training, that there was a 24hr service desk for telephone banking and card services (nothing for collections) and how my account was now unblocked (even though I specifically asked for it not to be). I passed on my blog post, along with the 10 tips I believe Westpac could improve on, and he advised he would pass it on to a more senior level.
 
Matt also advised that there is a program in the works for expats due to start rolling out in 6-8 months time that will hopefully allow for more robust banking for Aussies in the UK. And if you want the 24hr contact number for Westpac its 0061 292 939 270 for telephone banking and 0061 363 451 058 for card services. Bear in mind that the card services number is the one I used and got nowhere with in my situation.

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My feedback does appear to have gotten some attention as yesterday, I heard from Spencer who runs Westpac's Twitter account. Spencer also apologised for not coming back to me and advised me that my feedback had been passed on to the appropriate teams. He also noted that their bankers do have the ability to send emails and that their Team Leaders can call overseas. Even Karen contacted me on Twitter yesterday to ask if I felt my issue was progressed.

I think Westpac has a long way to go in their customer service. At the moment, teams appear to be very siloed without much visibility over what other teams do. I do hope they improve, but for now, I made a call this morning to have my account cancelled. While I appreciate Karen, Matt and Spencer's efforts, I shouldn't have had to resort to that to begin with.
 

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