Corinne CrawfordMy flight was at 6:00am the following morning and I had worked most of the day and thought I would go to bed early in order to get up and walk to the airport (under 10 minutes) to be there at 4am. It was a small airport but I was somewhat concerned that maybe my bags were heavier than the small European flights allowed. Not only did I not actually know how much my bags weighed, I absolutely did not really grasp the limits as stated in kilograms. I must have been anxious about all of this because I could not sleep to save my life. I think I clocked in perhaps 35 minutes the entire night and finally just got up at 2:45 and made sure my bags were packed and I headed out the door. It was a quick easy walk but I was exhausted and now I had to wait 2 hours for the flight. My bags were no problem and at the appointed time, all of the passengers lined up to be let on the flight. It seemed like a somewhat inefficient system because we lined up to present our boarding passes to then only line up again before letting us out the door down to the plane. It was a smallish airport and smallish plane so there was no gangway, we went outside and then just up the outside stairs into the plane. It was packed, I guess lots of people were going to Greece and I immediately fell asleep for the 2 hour plane ride into Athens. The airport in Athens is way outside of the city so I knew I would have to take a long subway ride to get to the hotel I was staying at for a few days until Jodi and Debbie arrived and we were staying at an Airbnb apartment. But even with my slightly foggy unrested brain I found the metro station adjacent to the airport and managed to figure out how to buy my ticket and get to the metro where I rode the M3 line for 15 stops before exiting at Monastiraki square and walking the 15 minutes to my hotel.
My hotel, Acropolis Vision, turned out to be nicer than I expected with an incredible view of the Acropolis, which is lit at night, from the rooftop terrace.
I had arrived at about noon and could not check in until 3pm but they allowed me to drop my bags and I went to find lunch before heading back to check in. The room was very nice, even including a tiny bottle of complementary wine. I would highly recommend this place for the neighborhood, the room and the staff. As soon as I was able to check in, I took a 5 hour nap then wandered out for dinner. I also loved the area my hotel was in. It was in the central area within walking distance of just about everything interesting including the famous Monastiraki flea market– a maze of streets with restaurants, antiques, stores and everything in between. I had to wait to do the true sightseeing until Jodi and Debbie arrived so I just spent the next several days putting in some hours working, reading my book on the roof top terrace and wandering the lively streets – I even found two shirts to supplement my wardrobe which I was very sick of at this point. Wearing basically the same 6 outfits for 6 weeks became predictably boring and all of a sudden everything I had I thought looked awful. We shall see if two new shirts make me feel better about it. It is still warm during the day but the evenings are getting chillier. I really wanted to find a skirt to jazz up my options but could not find anything that seemed suitable to me.
I had thought that I really was wanting to stay in and visit smaller towns on this trip but as soon as I started walking around Athens, I really started to vibe with the energy of this city. Right now, I am in love with Athens. Some may say it is too crowded and dirty and touristy but I have found myself with good energy and a smile on my face most of the time. I am excited for Jodi and Debbie to arrive not only to start my official site seeing but to share my joy at being in Athens. I have been to Athens before but it was 10 years ago and I don’t have any hesitation to see the ancient sites again. This kind of history is both inspiring and humbling. To feel like I could connect with the history of this place, I abandoned my crime fiction book I was reading and downloaded a quick history of Greece on my kindle and have been absolutely drinking in the stories and history of this place, the seat of the birth of democracy and philosophy. There is something about being around ancient history for me that fills me with wonder and energy. You can be walking down a modern crowded street and then to your left is an archeological site from 2000 years ago.. just sitting there like time has stood still. Time goes on, life goes on.
