Weds, June 30--Athens, again

This was an eventful. day. We got up bright and early to see our colleagues off to the airport at 7:30. Ron and Sharon--our California couple--had left in the wee hours of the morning. Hal and I went to get tickets for a concert that night and planned to join Wendy at Herodes theatre at the foot of the Acropolis for the performance. Then we came back to pack up our things and move to a less expensive hotel, the Parthenon, which was just off the Plaka. The pictures make it look quite a bit more luxurious than it was, but the room was pleasant (another airshaft view) and the desk staff were really helpful. We would definitely recommend a stay there. We basically puttered around and did some shopping, had lunch at a nice outdoor cafe, where a little of young cats kept us entertained.

When we headed out for the evening we stopped at a sandwich shop on our way to the symphony concern and that was when my purse was stolen. The rest of the evening was taken up with calling credit card companies, going online to try and stop activity on my debit card, and filing a police report. It took forever to find this hole in the wall of a police station--no signs, nothing to indicate that it was tucked away in a dingy office on the 4th floor of a dark office building. And there we filled out a piece of paper with our names and they stamped it and made a copy for their files. And that, I'm sure was the last bit of activity the police ever took on our behalf. The hotel staff, on the other hand, couldn't have been kinder. They found phone numbers, let us use the reception desk phone, the computer (with no charge) and then bought us a drink in the bar. They even checked the embassy schedule so we knew when we could go the next morning to try and get a passport replacement. Needless to say, I was just distraught. We had gone to the cash machine that morning so they got a lot of money and apparently tried to use my credit card for a cash withdrawal within the hour. In addition to my money, credit cards, driver's license, and passport, I lost my new travel purse, our symphony tickets, my makeup kit and my prescription sunglasses. Ugh. Normally, all our valuables would be carried in a money belt, but since we were going out, I had on a dress and transferred everything to my purse. The man--I know exactly who it was and when it happened--just slid my purse off the back of my chair when he leaned over my shoulder to put out a cigarette in the ashtray on our table. I hope he rots in a hot place.