Back in Athens and how we did it

It's great to be back in Greece again after 3 years. This time, because it's getting close to Easter, the prices were higher, driving my personal assistant to spend many hours on the Internet finding a cost effective way to get us all here. She is really good at this kind of thing, and only requires a quick back rub at the tensest moments.
So on Wednesday morning we set out from Brighton to Stanstead in our car - 2 hours instead of only 1/2 hour to Gatwick - checked into our long term parking 74 pounds and caught our cheap Ryanair flight to Thessaloniki. 225 Euros for all of us. No movie, no food and upright seats. As we approached the city I read Thessalonians on my ipod while the guy next to me read over my shoulder. We landed at 9pm and we took a city bus across town to the TrainO station. 2,80 Euros. Got some Euros from a machine and waited till midnight when the train drivers strike finished and our train departed for Athens. First class carriage with reclining seats and a sandwich and drink included for only 52,80 euros for all of us!
Patchy sleep with very loud announcements cutting in on speaker as we approached each station. At about 6 am Grayson and I lugged our selves and our bags out of the train in Athens but the doors close on my assistant and Gabriel. Despite me yelling "dont worry, its going to be OK" and punching the button to open it, the train moved off and I figured I was in for a long wait till they found the next train back. At that point my enterprising assistant found out exactly what happens to you if you pull the big red emergency handle. The train stops pretty quick and a man with a walkie talkie runs up and.... apologizes! Reunited we munched on one if the free sandwiches in the first class waiting room and then made our way down into the Metro to cross the city at rush hour. 4,20 Euros. Later Fotis told me there was a bomb threat at Syntagma (where below ground we were changing lines)! It was planted by political extremists, they gave notice so nobody was hurt. At Koropi, out near the airport, we got off the train and found a taxi, 7 Euros, for the five minutes drive to the apartment at Comovision center where we ate some breakfast and took a nap. (When I woke up and showered I plugged in the laptop and worked 9 hours finishing a project I started in Brighton on Tuesday and made back most of the expense of the trip. Praise God, our provider!)