This morning began #RayRaysEuroVacay3 and I couldn’t have been more pumped. I haven’t been to Europe in three years and it feels damn good to be back. This time though, I’m not rolling solo, I’m here with a friend, J. When she heard that I had wanted to go to Europe this summer she asked if she could join since she’d never been. Although I do love traveling alone and have basically only done it this way in the past, I knew it would be nice to have some company this time around so J and I decided upon Greece, Turkey, and Croatia and the planning begun. When the day finally came, there was a mix of nerves and excitement as to be expected.
We had a flight to Montreal with a three hour layover until our flight to Athens. Randomly enough, on our flight to Montreal, we ran into one of my college best friends/roommate. I hadn’t seen her since we met up last summer, so not only was it nice to see a friendly face, it was fun to catch each other up on what’s been going on in our lives. She spent the entire layover with us (which included an order of poutine, because of course, when in Canada, do as the Canadians do) until her flight and then we boarded our 9-hour flight to Athens.
Little did we know, our flight to Athens (did I mention it was nine hours?) didn’t have TV’s in each seat. Our Air Canada flight to Montreal was spacious and had them, along with a solid selection of TV shows and movies, but not this one. The seats were smaller, there was less leg room, and NO TV’s. I repeat, none. We were panicked. Then someone asked us if we had the Air Canada apps on our phones because if we did, we’d have access to all the movies and shows. BUT since we didn’t think a flight that long wouldn’t have TV’s, we didn’t know this and were left without WiFi on the plane to download the app. After having 3 hours of free WiFi in the airport where we could have easily done this, we were clearly left very frustrated and upset. We were told once in the air we could access the Air Canada website and watch a limited amount of TV shows through that. I guess that was better than nothing. After all, I thought with the help of Tylenol PM and an early morning wake up and workout, I’d be tired. Also, no dice. I slept about one hour total on the flight (but spent a solid 7 trying) and was so uncomfortable the entire time. But again, nothing I could do and had to make the best out of it. If this was going to be the worst part of the trip, then I could handle that.
Once we arrived in Athens, it was time to catch our ride to the hotel and get this party started. We sat down with someone from the hotel and a map and worked out our route and destinations for the day. Obviously the big draw here in Athens is the Acropolis and Parthenon, but we have a scheduled tour there Sunday so would do everything else we could before then. Our first stop was Panathenaic (Olympic) stadium, which we knew we’d also hit tomorrow morning on our run. We knew then we could go inside and run the actual track where the very first Olympics were held and of course get better (read: less crowded) photo opps. We then made our way to the Temple of Zues, as well as Handrian’s Arch. We had to pay to enter and lucky for us, I remembered that so many places abroad give student discounts so we both had our grad school ID’s for half-price admission. Such a score. We walked those grounds for a bit, but embarrassingly enough didn’t really know the history or significance of what we were seeing. After that, we were on our way to Ancient Agora and the Temple of Hephaestus. We had a VERY hard time finding the entrance initially and it was super hot and we had walked a lot so decided it was time to sit down and get some lunch. Of course our first meal in Greece had to be...wait for it...gyros. DUH. Shockingly enough to us, it was made with pork here and not lamb like we assumed, but was nonetheless delicious and hit the spot. We got directions there to the Ancient Agora entrance which was like less than five minutes away (cause of course it was) and again got our student admission fee and walked those grounds as well. We stopped someone who we had heard speaking English that seemed to know some of the history of it and learned a little from him.
Next up, it was a stop in the Monisteraki Square and flea market to check that out. The narrow and graffitied streets were cool to walk through, but it was mostly tourist trap shops and not anything worthwhile to buy, although I did get tempted to buy a bootleg Greek Freak Jersey. There was also an excessive amount of NWA and Wu Tang gear, which was quite random to see. We made our way through the square and then passed some more chain clothing stores in kind of what seemed like a Herald Square type-area-equivalent. At this point, we were getting tired and thirsty and still very hot so popped in a McDonalds for a drink and quick refresh before our final spot, which was Syntagma Square to see the fountain and the Parliament. With our timing, we didn’t see the changing of the guard this time, but plan to go back to see this happen. There also happened to be a subway stop there and we decided it would not only be fun to try it out to ride back near our hotel, but also save our legs a little. The system was pretty easy to navigate and I felt super proud of myself for getting us around and back to the hotel afterwards.
Finally, it was time to relax a little and check out the rooftop pool and view. The view certainly did not disappoint with an amazing panoramic of the entire city including the Acropolis. I’m sure it’s gorgeous at sunset so we’ll have to check it out as well at that time of day. But jumping into a pool had never felt so good. After walking around in 95 degrees all day, it was perfect.
We stayed and relaxed and swam on the roof for a while before coming in to relax and shower before it was off to the Plaka area for dinner. We had heard it was super cute and had tons of options and it definitely did. Tzatziki, Greek salad, Feta, and Lamb Souvlaki for dinner was more than enough for us and was so so good. There also happened to be a live band playing super Greek music which added to the already great ambiance. Plus, I had a friend who was also in Athens today so he quickly met up for with us for a quick hello which was awesome. Finally to cap off the night, we walked more around Plaka before catching a cab back to the hotel. It was a long and productive and hot and amazing first day in Greece. I’m sure I’ll sleep like a baby tonight (I better) and am already planned and exited for tomorrow.
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