My trip to Athens

My roommate Nicolai and I decided to take a trip to Athens and stay there for three nights. We were planning to visit some ancient ruins, explore popular tourist attractions, and meet up with the friends we had made during our Arrival Training.

We took the bus from our apartment at 6 am and then caught the bus to Athens at 7 am. We arrived in Athens at around 1 pm, I believe. We were exhausted, so we decided to take a taxi to the hotel Nicolai had booked. I looked up the hotel a little more and discovered that it was a two-star hotel in Omonia. 

The taxi driver also warned us several times that the area was known for mafia activity and that we shouldn't walk around with our phones or cash on display.

The hotel was in terrible condition. Everything seemed sketchy, you couldn't lock the door from the inside, and there were even bedbugs in the room. Nicolai and I had separate rooms, so I immediately called him and told him that I wasn't staying there another minute. I booked another hotel, which was more like an Airbnb, in a much safer area. We packed our things and headed there.

Two important things I learnt is that it's always good to have a backup plan. Things don't always go as expected when travelling, and sometimes you just have to adapt, think quickly and make the best of the situation. And also to never trust Nicolai with booking hotels ever again. He is very good at finding interesting destinations to visit and beautiful places to explore, but when it comes to finding hotels, that's a completely different story!

We took it easy on the first day. We rested for a while and then walked to Philopappos Hill, which was absolutely beautiful. We also visited Plaka, and to finish off the day, we went out for some gyros, the food was much more expensive in Athens, but we found some gyros for 4 euros. Compared to the gyros you get in Thessaloniki, these were very small and the ones in Thessaloniki is much better.

On the second day, we visited the Acropolis Museum and then the Acropolis itself. Unfortunately, I wasn't feeling very well that day and had really bad period cramps, so I decided to go back to the hotel afterwards. I spent the rest of the day resting, looking up information and learning more about Greek history, about Acropolis, Philopappos Hill, Olympus etc. .

On the third day, our friends from Xylokastro came to our hotel room. We spent some time chatting before heading out for a coffee. I was still feeling really unwell, especially when walking or standing up, but I really wanted to spend some time with them, so we went to a nearby coffee shop and sat there for a while.

After some time, I started feeling even worse, so I decided to go back to the hotel. That was probably the worst walk I have ever taken. What should have been a two-minute walk took me around ten minutes because I was in so much pain that I genuinely felt like I was dying. Eventually, I made it back to our hotel room and collapsed in the bathroom, where I ended up throwing up.

So, another important lesson I learnt: never, ever ignore period cramps. Take them seriously!

We were supposed to go out partying with all our friends that night, but I couldn't, for obvious reasons. Instead, all our friends decided to have the pre-party in our hotel room so that I could still be part of the evening. As long as I didn't have to stand up or walk around too much, I was feeling okay. They brought me pizza and stayed for several hours, hanging out with me. We had so much fun!

Then, at around 1 am, they headed off to the club. I was really sad that I couldn't join them, but I was also exhausted, so I went to bed and slept very well. Something else I learnt is how important good friends are. Even though I couldn't join them for a night out, they chose to spend the evening with me instead. It made me realise that you don't always have to do something exciting to have a good time. Sometimes, just having good people around you is enough.

The next day, I was feeling much better. I took a taxi to a café near the bus station, where I sat and read my book for a few hours before our bus departed. We arrived home at around 11 pm, and it felt so nice to be back again.

Overall, it was a very exciting trip, and I had a lot of fun, even though I ended up getting really sick. It was definitely a trip with both good memories and a few lessons learnt!