Nous sommes partis d'Athen ce matin, vol avec Alitalia à Rome, train de l'aéroport à la gare Termini, 3 heures d'attentes, train de Rome à Bologne, transfert à train de Bolongne à Padue et taxi de la gare à notre chez nous... la même hôtesse Airbnb qu'en 2013.

Update...

This is one of the events of the Documenta, a public kitchen where 120 free meals are served each day... it is aimed at refugees, but everyone is welcome.

In the same square as the above is this archeological site with roads and a cemetery that dates to the 9th century BC!.

Wednesday May 17

No strikers at the station... we walked around our neighbourhood to Victoria Square where the economic crisis is noticeably more visible than where we are staying, although it is not far. 

We walked towards the Omonia subway station past the Polytechnic and just missed a demonstration of striking workers and their supporters. 

 This is the entrance to the Polytechnic, I believe the rusted and bent metal on the right dates from the attack on the school by the armed forces from the time of the dictatorship in the 1970s. This attack which led to several deaths created a reaction that lead to the end of the dictatorship.

Poster announcing the strike and demonstration... I think...

Thursday May 18

A long day dedicated to travel. We said goodbye to our Athens home and took the subway to the airport, in the rain. No problems all was working and on time. 

We got a picture of this billboard near the airport that we had seen on our arrival, "Immigrants welcome, Tourists go home" we found it hilarious and touching.

Our flight was at 12h30 arriving at the Rome airport at 13h35 (with 1 hour time zone adjustment). Train from the airport to the Rome station Termini where we had a few hours wait before leaving for Padua.

We found a sidewalk café near Termini where we had a drink and a pizza then found a quiet place in front of the station (between an ancient wall and 2 military vehicles with several heavily armed solders that are permanently stationed there) to read.

The high-speed train took us to Bologna where we had to transfer. The Bologna station was an adventure... we arrived in the new underground section, built under the original station, and went looking for our departure platform which was platform 1. All the indications were for 1 East or 1 West and so we were a bit confused. We finally made our way to the surface (and the original old style station) through the labyrinth of underground access tunnels and, after some enquiries, found that there is only one platform 1, but that it is so long that there are references east and west. We were able to find our loading point as the train pulled in and board without problem. The stop-start time is impressive, they take about 5 minutes to unload and load passengers and get moving again. No time to run the length of the platform if you are not at the right place!

We arrived at Padua at 23h10 and took a taxi to Airbnb where our host Luana was waiting at the gate. We stayed with her in 2013 when we were here, this time we have her self-contained apartment rather than the room with bathroom we had last time. Our own kitchen and a garden with a table and chairs for eating outside.