First stop was the Greek Embassy in Holland Park where we had to get a Power of Attorney document saying that DF's Mother can act on our behalf in getting the Marriage Licence. We arrived at the Embassy where we had to add our name to a list and then wait. There was no indication of how the names on the list got passed on to the relevant person but, in true Greek fashion, it seemed to work by nods and shouts and general telepathy.
In fact the only people that couldn't cope with it all were an English family who ended up shouting at the guy responsible for the lists who then shouted back in true righteous Greek fashion.
Whilst we were in with the guy who was sorting out the legal papers we discovered that he came from the same area of Greece as DF (this is no coincidence, instead of six degrees of separation all Greeks are related by two degrees at most). This meant that when it came to pay the fee he said we should just give him a tenner and that'd be fine (it was supposed to cost £35). I couldn't help but feel that the English family that had caused so much fuss were going to be overcharged to make up the difference...
On to the British Consulate which, in true British fashion, were giving out numbered tickets as you arrived. However, the security guard that checked our bags gave me a ticket that someone had given to him when they left (probably as they'd lost the will to live seeing the size of the queue). Our official ticket was number 86, the guard gave us ticket 51 and they were currently seeing ticket 17...
We settled in for a long wait and the idea of trying to entertain Lia for god knows how long was daunting to say the least. Luckily there were people there with not very well behaved kids (running up and down and screaming) so there was a guy coming round each person with children and taking us to a free window to jump the queue. We did pay the full amount (I didn't get the chance to ask the morose assistant where they were from) but at least we were out of there in 25 minutes. Oh, and I gave the security guard back his 'queue-jump' tickets so he could help someone else.
So, Power of Attorney done and my official documents stamped to say they're real official documents. DF is posting them to Greece today so my docs can be officially translated and then his Mum can go and apply for the marriage licence. We have to do this as the official papers have to be handed in 8 days before the licence is issued and we're only in Greece 7 days before we want to get married.
Reading back there's an awful lot of 'officials' in that last paragraph, especially given the Greeks don't really work 'officially'. LOL. Still, I guess I'd rather it was all done properly as I don't want to find in however many years time that I'm not 'officially' married...
Only when the licence is issued can we book the wedding so we could be confirming the date just literally days before it happens. I must be the only bride in history who sent out her wedding invites with a disclaimer on the date and time saying they were subject to change!
Still, it's a big job done and we're a bit closer to getting it all organised which can only be a good thing.
Lia was totally unimpressed with her first train ride and visit to London. She coped remarkably well with being shunted up and down and in and out of tube trains as well as with the long waits in boring places. Unfortunately she had the beginnings of conjunctivitis (again) so we had to dash back home for a doctor's appointment at 5.30pm which meant no nice dinner in London.
We did have a good lunch though - DF found this place on the web and we tried it out. It was really good and he managed not to moan about anything which suggests it was almost as good as the real thing. Lia also seemed to enjoy her first taste of Greek food although the real test will be in a few weeks when that's all she has to choose from.
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