Trip to Greece & Spain - Day 26

We packed and took the local bus into town to catch the Hop-on-hop-off, to go to the chemist for another RAT, then caught the same bus after it did the loop around the botanical gardens. Our test still came back +ve, so we got back on the bus to the Acropolis as this was the main interchange to the Port. Finally, the port bus took off and we arrived at terminal B, a little earlier than our 2pm boarding time.

They gave us another RAT, which was also +ve, so took us outside miles from anyone to sit on a bench to have a PCR, and wait 45mins for the result. We could see the ship in front of us. This was day 9 of our infection, so we should not be at all contagious.

We were put out in the heat and open for a few hours, (I got sunburned), with no water or food. Only at the beginning when I asked for water was I given a small glass. Once they came with our positive result we were told we could go into quarantine, (or not), or fly home. They had an arrangement with The Marriott where we could stay for 250 euros a night and they would come back for our decision.

So here's the Regal Priness...and most of the passengers getting on...except us! We tested +ve twice with RATs and once with a PCR test and they refused us boarding. 

I searched for accommodation, but everything I chose was unavailable, so we decided to take the Marriott option to at least give us time to get our bearings. A black van came, he gave us black nitrile gloves and dropped us at the Marriott. 

This is the 'black van' whisking us away from the Cruise terminal

There they took us in the side door and made us wait to check us in. Basically, it was a totally wasted day.

Here we are, masked and gloved at the Marriott where we were put for the first night

We decided we weren't going to eat there, (as it was too expensive), and found a grill place a short walk away. Darryl had Salmon and I had Black Chicken and both were excellent...the best meals we've had here. 

Had a really delicious dinner at a nearby Restaurant.

Back at the room I booked an Airbnb in the city, as I couldn't get any help from Singapore Airlines, or GoToGate, (I had to put money on my Skype to call Australia), as the guy could only look up a limited number of options in one call. I was trying to change our Barcelona -Brisbane flight to an earlier Athens-Brisbane one, but could not get any change in the next 3 days, so tried to get the Barcelona one moved earlier, but no go. Our only option seemed to be to 'cool our heels' in Athens for another 3 days, then fly directly to Barcelona, and spend extra days there. In hindsight, there definitely 'were' other options, but I was really 'over it' and wanted minimal fuss.