Athens

ARRIVAL: Hello Athens! I survived the flight. To my surprise everyone I encountered spoke English and most of the signs were also translated to English. It made me realize how unhelpful New York is to tourists that don’t speak the language. Athens airport is much smaller than JFK, is only two floors one for arrivals and one for departures. Pretty simple! I followed the signs to the train and got on it. The train was very different from what I am used to. It was clean, quiet and modern. I took a look at the map and immediately recognized where I needed to get off at “Acropolis” it even had a drawing of the Parthenon in case you were still confused. In case you STILL don’t get it the train announces the name of the stop in Greek and English. Why on earth did I think I was going to get lost? This was easy.

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ACROPOLIS: I get off the underground train and as soon as I look up I see the Parthenon on top of a hill. It didn’t look like a big deal. It looked small to me. I bought a ticket and walked pass the gate then continued walking down the path. There was no one around just dirt and sun. It must’ve been 90 degrees at least and barely any shade. Now I am searching for an elevator. It must be an elevator to take me to the top I thought; this was supposed to be fun. Isn’t exploring all about fun? well that was my first lesson as an explorer. Exploring is not always comfortable, in fact now I know is the opposite. I continued to walk the path up the hill (no elevator in sight) and it felt like an eternity, I was tired and cranky. All of a sudden I stepped on what it looked like limestone floor covered in dirt. I turned the corner and saw the most beautiful and amazing sight I have ever seen so far. It was a magnificent limestone staircase with columns at each side and more at the top. It blew my mind how beautiful this structure was. It completely exceeded my expectations. No words can express the joy I felt at that moment. My mood completely changed. What a beautiful sight! I can’t believe my luck.

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PARTHENON: I walked up the staircase to explore the rest of the Parthenon. There was nothing small about this place. I made the mistake of judging the Parthenon before actually being in its presence and man was I wrong. Unfortunately some parts are broken down but when you consider how old it is, is incredible how is still standing. From up there you can see the beautiful city of Athens. It felt so surreal. I MADE IT! After facetiming everyone who pick up (NY is 7hrs behind) and absorbing the amazing view I headed down to explore the neighborhood and headed back to the airport for my midnight flight to Thessaloniki.    

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Side Note: Athens until this date is still finding ruins underneath the earth every time they brake the concrete to build more subway lines. Amazing!