What had happened was... | Wandering Travel Tours

When I tell you this was an interesting trip in more than one way. Believe me. Just believe me. If not, here's a brief recap. Video telling coming soon and a more detailed blog on sites seen and tips for Athens from both of our perspectives.

Weather..

Let's start with the Nor'easter that popped up the night before we were scheduled to depart or rather Amber was scheduled to depart. She was flying out of Raleigh to NYC and then on ward to Greece. I was departing from Atlanta with nothing but cloudy skies to contend with. To be honest Delta sent an email saying hey you guys you just might wanna reschedule this trip. We debated and thought that lady luck would be on our side and she would depart before the storm hit. We were wrong. So very wrong. BUT persistence (hold time was 3hrs) paid off on Wednesday when I spoke with Delta and switched her to a flight on the next day. Customer Service was amazing. Shout out to Delta.

Reading is fundamental...unless it's in Greek

After hours in the air and being crushed by the jolly southern gent next to me (man spreading is real) in the too small for human seats on Air France, I made it to Athens. I decided at the last minute to take the bus to our apartment instead of the Metro...cause I'm slow. That has to be the only reason because we had researched and decided that the Metro was the easiest and cheapest option. Anyway I jump on the bus and slowly wind my way through Athens and attempt to read Greek to determine my stop. Logical.

Yea. I got off on the wrong stop. A good mile or so away. Figured it out only because it just didn't make sense....and I stopped a kind bearded stranger to confirm I was lost. Hopped onto the metro (yes the metro) and got to my stop. 20 mins later I'm home ( to include walk from metro). Here's a video of home. Loved it by the way.

Solo for 24hrs...

I explored after quite possibly the best shower and sleep I've had all year. Exhaustion makes you appreciate hot water and a firm mattress. We ended up staying about a block from Plaka in one direction and block from Syntagma in another direction. In essence, the perfect location. Seriously. I was ambling along looking for a grocery store because two rolls of toilet paper and no coffee was not the way of life and lo and behold there was the Acropolis. Just sitting there. Beautiful. Majestic. And 50,000 thousand steps up. They really should tell you that. I am. Cause you know, that fear of height thing. I'm working on that. Slowly.

Pickpockets are not your friend...

I mean that's pretty simple right? I was pick-pocketed the last day of what was a fantastic trip despite the bumps mentioned above. I didn't let it overshadow my trip or bring me down honestly. Two hours after it happened we were at dinner. Life happens how you tackle it counts more sometimes. A call to the U.S. Embassy solved the problem of my stolen passport, the only thing taken, although I am missing a vanilla chapstick. Cause chapstick is life. Another call to Delta and a quick switch of my flight without a second thought and no additional cost. Another day in Athens equated to more touristy stuff in my bag. I have Greek Coffee. Lots of it.

And that is "what happened was" in a nutshell. Go to Athens. Watch your pockets. Take the metro.

Kat