Day 10 – Speed Run real Life
October 24 -- Athens, Greece
So…I said we already did our last day of archaeological sites… Completely forgetting about the grandest of them…but we’ll get to that.
The ship was in utter chaos as they tried to disembark passengers, let other passengers take themselves off, let the other passengers who are staying on later get breakfast… Absolutely wild. I don’t know how the logistics would have worked on that. So we had breakfast in the chaotic and hectic buffet area before leisurely walking off of the boat, grabbing our stuff and looking what to do next.
Another boat had also arrived, so the port was absolutely packed. They were taxis everywhere, people everywhere, buses everywhere…everyone everywhere.
We showed Carol and Ryan where the taxi stand was and then made our way to the bus stand. As Ibought our tickets, the bus pulled up… Absolutely full. A guy jumped in front of me online.. he wasn’t buying a ticket, he assured me, he just wanted to ask a quick question. “Are all the buses going to be this full? “The ticket seller just shrugged and said they come every 30-40 minutes. Next guy asked if he could get his money back. Ticket guy said no. Sell your ticket to someone else. I was next. You want to buy that guy’s ticket? For once, I was speechless but he brushed it off and then sold me my 24-hour ticket.
Once I had the tickets in hand, I headed back over to the boys and said hey. Let’s just hoof it to the previous stop. So we did. We got on with only six people ahead of us and managed to organize ourselves in an empty bus. And sure enough, the bus pulled back around back to the port where we were. There were still people waiting but the 10-minute walk saved us a 50-minute wait.
The drive was long and tight, and uncomfortable but… But… It was also cheap.
We made it to our hotel that was built over ancient ruins.
Needless to say, I was thrilled. Obviously, we were WAY too early to check in, so while they checked out the previous guests, we wandered around, looking at the art and the ruins that lay below us (glass floors) Absolutely stinkin’ sweet. I had booked a massage for later on that afternoon at 3 :30that would take place downstairs in those ruins and I was EXCITED.
Once we got our claim checks, we headed out. We originally planned to take the bus to our next stop, but really? It was only ten minutes away and bus would take at least twenty minutes to arrive.
So, we hoofed this one too. Found a lot of cool shops along the way (but we were absolutely shopped out) and finally turned the corner to behold…
The Acropolis
I’ll never forget rounding that bend. It as just so surreal to be in a modern city, with modern people and turn into a scetchy-ajacent alley and BAM! Thousands of years of history, right there in front of our eyes.
So, these guys’ website is pretty bad. Like bad enough I couldn’t get tickets. So we searched for physical tickets at the back of the line..and searched…and searched…and found it. Several meters back. There was a line, to wait in line. Great. It’s not like I planned a 3:30 massage or anything for that afternoon…
1 hours of waiting and we wouldn’t be able to go inside for another 3 hours. What the heck are we supposed to do in that time? Go to the museum!
Yes! To the museum. Their website is much better so I was able to book admission tickets with no problems at all…we still had an hour wait. No matter; the museum had a cafe. So while Carole stopped to take pictures (like, I say that flippantly, but it was absolutely like every 10 feet) the rest of us pushed ahead.
Ruins, Ruins everywhere. If I had been by myself, I would have gotten a full audio guide and spent days in there…and we hadn’t even gotten inside yet. Hog. Heaven.
So we sat, sipping on Espresso’s and eating cheese pancake and enjoying the mid morning awaken. Once Carole arrived, we got a few more minutes to shoot the breeze. Once time came, we headed to the museum and up the escalator. From what little I did read, the pieces we found everywhere did at one point, live on top of the Acropolis. There was so much…so overwhelming. we naturally drifted apart to do personal exploration, read signs or take pictures.
Elijah and I eventually found our way upstairs. They had a huge exhibit up there, displaying the slabs from the Parthenon. “Why such a big, empty room?” Elijah wondered. And after a few minutes, I realized it was because the room was to scale with the Parthenon. So we could see how the slabs would have looked if they were still attached. So we could appreciate the size of the statues. The design of the museum was intentional.
We had no idea where anyone was, so we sat and waited. Along that particular wall was a story of centaurs (horse people) battling Lapiths (people fond of horses) We became quite invested in the battles portrayed by the time Nate found us So we went together into the movie room to learn about the history of the building.
Bad idea. We were all way too tired to sit in a dark room. So we stood, found Ryan and proceeded to look for Carole. I only went to the bathroom and when I got back, everyone was heated. Carole did not want to come with us back to the Acropolis, and her sons did not want to wait. So I gave her directions and a map link, and we took off to make our time. (Because…it’s not like I had a 3:30 massage time booked or something.)
We would make it. All we would have to do is enter, climb the Acropolis, touch the history, taste the age and head back down to make the 3:30 PM massage time. I was such a carefully planner but didn’t plan on the timed entry. But this would work.
No it wouldn’t. Lines on lines on lines. It wasn’t time for us to get in yet.. But there was a line waiting for us. A Long line. a trialing line. Whatever, we’ll get in, it’s just going to take a while. We got this. Its fine. Everything is fine.
But the time ticked by.
We wouldn’t have enough time. 30 minutes? To get through the line, up the acropolis, through the Parthenon and back down? No way.
Seconds ticked by. The line opened and the masses started flowing through. Slowly, but steadily. Enough people were confused about their start time near the halfway point, that we got to jump up quickly. Still. 2:46.
We would have to speed run it. An Archaeological site? Sure…we all played Assassin’s creed, we know how i’s done.
We made it inside at 2:59. And we bolted. Up the Acropolis. We’re from Colorado; we’re at sea level. Only a difference in wha? 600 feet in elevation? That’s my driveway. we laughed and quipped and hustled, phones in hand and ready.
Finally, we reached the top. Deep breath. Camera ready. Go!
And go we did. Took pictures of all the sites. Selfies, groupie (that’s not right, but I’m tired, so I’m leaving it) Singles. We went around the whole thing in 3 minutes. Even had enough time to taste history (what? hahah, I totally didn’t lick a column, that would be weird)
Did it.
We made it back just in time and formally checked into the hotel. Elijah and Ryan took the keys and headed to our respective rooms, while Nate and I went downstairs. They were very confused to see us. Like four people walked past with no one saying a word. Finally, the bell boy came downstairs and looked up our reservation. After a confused face, he promised he’d call after he calls his colleuges. weird, hbut okay. I checked my phone as we went up the stairs. The Spa was called Niche 300 BC and our reservation time was FOUR thirty, not 3. I saw the 300 and got it confused. So we literally speed-ran the Parthenon. FOR. NOTHING.
But it was okay. Elijah wanted to chill, Ryan wanted to shop and really, I needed to repack our bags. Nate and I made our way upstairs and opened the door. WOW. Our room had a huge glass wall overlooking the balcony. The street noise was insanely loud, but these windows muffled most of it. It was shaded and had a cute little olive tree. Wow, just wow.(my card paid for the hotel, so I didn’t know what room style we were getting)
We headed back down at 3:14. Can’t believe we just speed-ran the Parthenon. We headed back to the hotel but I got a call.
Carole was on the other side of the park. She finally made it out of the museum, but just couldn’t manage the massive hill to get up. A lovely Greek dude was helping her and just wanted to check in. So we started back to the hotel.
Except he didn’t want to “check in…” he wanted Carole to be picked up and I call a cab. Weird, considering I don’t speak Greek. Carole wanted to leave and go shopping, but he didn’t think she would be able to, and wouldn’t let her go. Finally, after a bit of back and forth, another worker just getting off, offered to take her to the cab stand. Cool
So we chill until it’s time for our appointment. Elijah sat glued to his phone, Ryan went out to hit the town, and Nate and I went down the stairs. It was everything I wanted. Soft music, soft smells and hard, ancient rocks everywhere. We were ushered into a changing room before being offered warm tea (no rugs this time) They anticipated people would want pictures, and so, the robes had cell pockets in them.
I decided to check in with Carole one more time…and was met with screaming. Some lady with a Greek accent was talking loudly and I could hear Carole in the background, wailing. Screaming? No, laughing. They were both laughing hysterically. Apparently, Carole had found a new best friend. She said two words before brushing me off like a teenage and hanging up…kinda. At least my teenager says bye.. Whatever. She’s having fun.
So, we finished sipping our tea and sent into the treatment room, surrounded by old stones.
Like all massages, it was too short. But we were relaxed and ready for the evening. We headed back upstairs. Carole’s buddy absolutely wore her out, so instead, the four of us went out on the town.
And what a town it was. Tucked in back allies of the streets were shops on shops, rrestaraunts out in the street and gelato every other block…all hustle and bustle underneath the glow of the Parthenon. Nate was determined to find a shield (and by golly, he did. Along with a sword and a breastplate)
We wandered through the evening until it was time to go back to the hotel to make our rooftop dinner reservation, with a nice view of the Acropolis. Wow. And the food..oh my goodness. The Restaraunt did shared plates style meals so we ordered a flatbread, octopus and lamb risotto. Nothing bad. Everything good and perfect. I’ve eaten a lot of octopus in my time and never had it so tender. It was incredible.
Elijah is apparently going on a growth spurt and wanted more food. Nate wanted to go back to the store and get a die that Ryan found for D&D, and there was a specific arch I wanted to see (dedicated to our boy Hadrian!) so we headed back out. The night was cool but not too much and the buzz of the late–night people was just so nice.
We completed our tasks and headed back to the hotel once more. We debriefed in our room before it was time for bed.
