Hello from Athens! By now we are finally over our jet lag and had an amazing day and a half in Greece. We did have a scare in London that we were going to miss our connecting flight to Athens due to having to take a bus, a tram, and get 44 people through a LONG security check to get to our gate… but the plane waited for us! (To the disappointment of a few who were hoping to get stuck in London to add a 4th counyty to our itinerary!!).
When we arrived in Athens we were met by Michaela, our Delegation Manager who comes to us from Austria. We got checked into our hotel and had time to freshen up. We had a relaxing afternoon at the beach and then had dinner at our hotel. Bed checks were early tonight since everyone was exhausted from our long hours of travel.
We began our first full day in Greece with a buffet breakfast which gave us the energy we needed to climb up the Acropolis! We had an excellent tour guide who showed us around Athens. Our timing was perfect so we got to watch a changing of the guards ceremony for the tomb of the unknown soldier. The Acropolis was next and it was truly awe-inspiring! The students took great pictures for everyone to see when we get home. Notice I said the STUDENTS took great pictures. I had a traveler's worst nightmare come true…while switching it from one bag to another, I left my camera on my kitchen table in NY! I am extremely upset but Evelina has been nice enough to take pictures for me too. (See above!)
Lunch was had at a quaint open air restaurant that overlooked the city of Athens. The owner reminded many of us of a concerned grandparent…making sure we liked what she had prepared for us and then scolding us to wear hats and drink lots of water to avoid getting sick from the sun!
After a bit of shopping, we took a tram ride back to our hotel to freshen up for our Greek dance lesson at a school! This was A LOT of fun. Perhaps when the students are picked up on the 28th they’ll show off some of their new moves! After dinner we were treated to traditional Greece dancing by professionals, including our own dance teachers. We even got to join in and everyone danced. The night finished with a presentation of certificates of participation in the Greek Dance lesson.
It’s now nearly 11pm and everyone is getting some rest before an early wake up tomorrow of 5:45am to catch a ferry! I think I should join them!