Greetings from Greece!
We landed in Athens on April 26, smack-dab in the middle of the Greek Orthodox Easter Holy Week. The Greeks take their holidays quite seriously (right, Zack?) and the entire country basically shuts down from Friday until Tuesday- except for family and church activities. Unfortunately, the holiday has made scavenging & travel coordination a bit challenging.
Our group gathered on Sat. evening for a festive and fun group dinner in the Athens plaka. Over souklaka and ouzo, we all bonded and ended up shattering several plates to shouts of “houpa!” After dinner, we got our challenges- the “mother” of them all.
We were charged with getting ourselves to a hotel in Bucharest, Romania by Wed. evening for our group meeting. Along the way, teams could pick up scavenge points by stopping at various towns along the train route or doing site routes to Macedonia, Bulgaria or the Balkan Sea.
Sounds easy? I think not. Remember, since it is a holiday here, no travel agents are open. No information booths at the local train station are manned. The train web site is in Greek. We are not allowed to use the concierge for these tasks. Very few cabs are working. We did as much online research as possible and visited the train station where we learned that through a series of local and overnight domestic and inter-country trains, we could ride for 22 hours by rail to get to Bucharest over the next two days. At this point, Jeff & I had a “come to Jesus” talk at the train station and decided that having a memorable and pleasant experience for the remainder of the trip was more important than maintaining our #2 position in the competition (I will admit, this was a more difficult concept for me to accept than Jeff.) But, we’ve decided to make lemondrops out of lemons and took our train fare money and applied it toward a cheap commuter flight (1 hour, 40 minutes). By doing so, we will not be eligible for points for this leg of the competition but will gain lots of time to enjoy Athens and Bucharest. In our typical ex-salesperson fashion, we shared our plan and now have a group of 8 taking the flight together today. We are connecting with others and are planning a trip to Transylvania- complete with Bloody Marys and plastic vampire teeth.
BTW- Holiday or not, we can’t say enough good about Athens. We’ve enjoyed strolling through the pedestrian-only plakas lined with sidewalk cafes as we enjoyed the strolling musicians. We walked to the top of Lycabettus Hill for sweeping views of Athens. We enjoyed the Acropolis- free of the tourist crowds and enjoyed sharing Easter with the Greek people. On to Romania!
We landed in Athens on April 26, smack-dab in the middle of the Greek Orthodox Easter Holy Week. The Greeks take their holidays quite seriously (right, Zack?) and the entire country basically shuts down from Friday until Tuesday- except for family and church activities. Unfortunately, the holiday has made scavenging & travel coordination a bit challenging.
Our group gathered on Sat. evening for a festive and fun group dinner in the Athens plaka. Over souklaka and ouzo, we all bonded and ended up shattering several plates to shouts of “houpa!” After dinner, we got our challenges- the “mother” of them all.
We were charged with getting ourselves to a hotel in Bucharest, Romania by Wed. evening for our group meeting. Along the way, teams could pick up scavenge points by stopping at various towns along the train route or doing site routes to Macedonia, Bulgaria or the Balkan Sea.
Sounds easy? I think not. Remember, since it is a holiday here, no travel agents are open. No information booths at the local train station are manned. The train web site is in Greek. We are not allowed to use the concierge for these tasks. Very few cabs are working. We did as much online research as possible and visited the train station where we learned that through a series of local and overnight domestic and inter-country trains, we could ride for 22 hours by rail to get to Bucharest over the next two days. At this point, Jeff & I had a “come to Jesus” talk at the train station and decided that having a memorable and pleasant experience for the remainder of the trip was more important than maintaining our #2 position in the competition (I will admit, this was a more difficult concept for me to accept than Jeff.) But, we’ve decided to make lemondrops out of lemons and took our train fare money and applied it toward a cheap commuter flight (1 hour, 40 minutes). By doing so, we will not be eligible for points for this leg of the competition but will gain lots of time to enjoy Athens and Bucharest. In our typical ex-salesperson fashion, we shared our plan and now have a group of 8 taking the flight together today. We are connecting with others and are planning a trip to Transylvania- complete with Bloody Marys and plastic vampire teeth.
BTW- Holiday or not, we can’t say enough good about Athens. We’ve enjoyed strolling through the pedestrian-only plakas lined with sidewalk cafes as we enjoyed the strolling musicians. We walked to the top of Lycabettus Hill for sweeping views of Athens. We enjoyed the Acropolis- free of the tourist crowds and enjoyed sharing Easter with the Greek people. On to Romania!
8 comments:
22 hours on a train!!!!!!! No way! I would have done the same. Great move.
Len
I have been to Greece during a "holiday" strike. Actually it was the World Cup in Italy and we couldn't get out of Greece and Back to Italy because nothing was running. Finally got on a boat then were stuck in the tip of the boot for an extra day. BUT we managed to have fun and it sounds like you are too! I'm loving this blog. Thank you for keeping it up!
Sam
You cannot imagine how jealous I am!! Though we had lamb on the spit, Greek music, and plenty of church the last few days, it pales to the actual experience in Greece. Today is St. George's day which is really big since half the population is named George or Georgia. Score points by telling a George you meet "Hronia Polla" or Many Years!
Zacki
Uhnbeeleevabal....dis here trip sounds too mee like ya'll are havin waaay too much fun. Yur biggest suprise iz dat ya'll are gonna end up at my house in Texas eating steaks, fahitas', and drinkin long necks. Continue too hav yurself sum fun and be SAFE.
Gary
I just love Greece--one of my favorites. You and Jeff are absolutely right--take time to enjoy the experience. You can come in first in a totally different way. You can be the ones who just had a ball instead of the ones that got a million tasks completed.
Mercy
Great move, and getting 8 others to join you will help in the points department too! Enjoy the bloody drinks.
Sandy
Having been to Greece, I can only imagine how easy it was to decide to take your time! One word of wisdom.. DO NOT take the Greece ferries.. Long story for later! So, are you still in 2nd place since you got so many to follow your path? You are born leaders! Can't wait to see what is next! Travel safely please... Regina and Muffin
Joanne- what are the cost of tennis ball in Romania going to be???????
Anthony
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