Destination number two on spring break was Athens, Greece! After a short flight from Istanbul to Athens (with no one sitting next to me), I entered customs (no problems). Our private transfer was waiting for us in arrivals. In about 45 minutes, we were at our Airbnb. After sending a message to the host about our arrival, he came and gave us a tour of the apartment. The apartment is beautiful, big, and modern. This is such a contrast to what one sees outside the apartment. I felt as though I was in the ghetto. There is so much graffiti everywhere, rundown buildings, tons of sketchy people, and it smells. After settling in, we went in search for dinner. Not wanting to roam these streets for too long, we ate at one of the first places we saw. The restaurant served traditional Greek food, where I ordered bread, a chicken gyro, and a chicken fillet sandwich. I was absolutely starving. The chicken gyro was so tasty. I have never had a gyro before so I was happy to have tried a new food. On our way back from dinner, we stopped at a store next to our Airbnb to get breakfast for the next day (bananas, shortbread cookies, and biscuits). Interestingly, they do not flush their toilet paper in Greece, but place it in the trash can. I have never done this before so this was definitely a cultural adjustment.
7:30 the next morning, I ate my lovely breakfast and headed to the Acropolis and Parthenon with Alyssa. The walk from the Airbnb was only 30 minutes. Along the way, we met a ton of stray cats. I was surprised to learn that with my Student ID, entrance to the Acropolis and Parthenon were free! Of course part of the Parthenon was under construction. These landmarks were still really cool to see. They sit on top of a giant hill so the views of Athens are fantastic. There were so many school groups there. I always get jealous how Europeans take school trips to other countries and I just went to the zoo when I was in little :( I am glad we visited when we did because the lines were quite long when we left. We headed back to our Airbnb, as we had to check out at 10:00. After checkout, we headed to the offices of the Airbnb host to drop off our bags for the day. We had a bit of trouble finding the office but we eventually found it. It was soon lunch time and I had a chicken and bacon gyro at a Greek restaurant near the Acropolis.
If I did not have enough to eat, I walked a bit down the street to get lukmadas. I had Lokmada in Istanbul, but the lukmada that I had in Athens was 100 times better. I got milk chocolate filled lukmada covered in white chocolate. I am not sure why, but they tasted amazing.
To pass some time, we went into some clothing stores to check out prices and Greek fashion. Later on, we went to Ancient Agora and the Temple of Zeus which both had interesting ruins. Again, these were both free with my Student ID. A thunderstorm hit Athens while at the Temple of Zeus. Taking refuge, we got ice cream for an hour, then hopped into several clothing stores. I was happy to get a big sugar donut from a street vendor on our way to dinner. I had a large Caesar salad at a Greek restaurant near the office where we needed to pick up our bags. At 10:00, we were picked up at the office and were then driven to the airport to board our 11:15 PM flight to Santorini.
50 minutes later, we landed on the Greek island of Santorini. As I pre-arranged with our Airbnb host, we were greeted at arrivals with a sign and were led to a giant mini bus that would take us to our Airbnb. The bus was gigantic, the biggest in the parking lot. It could probably fit 20 people but there were only three of us. Our host was waiting in the bus. I was highly impressed that she came to the airport as well, especially since it was so late. Only a ten minute drive from the airport and we were at the apartment. The host let us in and not to brag, but I picked quite a beautiful place. She gave us some information and then we went straight to bed (it was 2:00 AM by then). I woke up a short four hours later and with Alyssa, caught the 8:30 AM bus to Oia. Oia is famous for these picturesque views of the white churches with blue roofs. I am glad that we went to Oia when we did. There were barely any tourists which meant we got to enjoy the sights in peace and were able to get great pictures without much disruption. There were many couples doing professional photo shoots but this did not get in the way that much. The entrances to many stairwells were blocked off. But to get the best pictures, one would have to go down these stairs. No one was around so I lifted up the rope to this private entrance and climbed under another rope. I know this probably wasn't right but these are where I got my best pictures.
After a short 2 hours in Oia, we took the bus back to Thira where our apartment was. I thought that we would have to check out of the Airbnb at 12:00 but there was a misunderstanding between myself and the Airbnb host about my flight time. She thought that it was 12 as in noon instead of 12 at night so she let us check out at 16:00 instead. This was super nice because then we did not have to drag our bags around Santorini the whole day. At 12:00, we ate lunch in Thira, where I had a margarita pizza. We then explored more of Thira and stumbled across more beautiful views and white churches with blue roofs.
It was then time to check out of the Airbnb. We went 50 meters down the road and paid 5 Euros to store our bags for the rest of the day. I was hungry for a snack so we went to a cafe where I ordered a waffle covered in chocolate and crunched up biscuits. Shortly after, Alyssa and I decided to take this windy and long stairwell down to the shore. It took us about 10 minutes to go down but we had to pass tons of donkeys. These donkeys are to ride people up to the top who are too lazy to walk. I honestly feel so bad for these donkeys. They look so miserable carrying these people up the cliff. There is donkey poop everywhere so you must look where you are walking. Honestly, this walk was miserable. When we got down to the shore, there was nothing even worth seeing. We shortly made the climb (557 steps) up to the top of the cliff. I was dying inside. At 6:30, all three of us took the bus to Oia to watch the sun set. I really enjoyed this, as the views were beautiful.
Now it is time for my horror story of Santorini. As we were sitting at dinner, I asked Michaela what seat she was on the plane. As she logged onto her Ryan Air account, she realized that the flight she booked was in her past flights. Alyssa and I already had our boarding passes so we all thought that Michaela had booked the wrong flight. To make the story short, we all booked the wrong flight! I guess we mixed up our AM's and PM's because our flight left ten minutes after our flight which landed that morning. This was a major freak out moment for us. We needed to get to Athens tomorrow morning because we had a 7:50 AM flight to Malta. We looked at flights to Athens but all airlines were sold out. There was a travel agent right across the street so we went in and asked if she could help us. She tried looking at flights for us but everything was booked on her end too. She told us that these Santorini to Athens, Athens to Santorini flights from Ryan Air always have errors with people since of the late times. This made me feel less bad. She recommended that we go to the airport immediately to try to get on a standby flight. There were still two flights leaving that night to Athens. I quickly messaged my Airbnb host to cancel my private transfer, picked up my bags, and got a taxi to the airport. I arrived at the airport and asked the lady at the help desk if there was any way that I could get to Athens. She put all three of us on standby for a flight at 10:55 PM. After 20 minutes of waiting, we got a standby ticket but had to pay a hefty price (201.77 Euros). However, this meant that I would not miss my flight to Malta at 7:50. The flight to Athens was quite nice and they even gave me a snack. Ryan Air never gives snacks so that is one positive. I also did not have to wait around to board. I got my boarding pass right when the other passengers were boarding. I got to sit in the second row as well. This mistake was one of the biggest mistakes I have ever made while traveling. It could have been avoided if I would have paid more attention to the times. I am glad that I found a solution and everything worked out.
After spending an uncomfortable night in the Athens airport. I flew to the lovely island country of Malta. I was in Malta last May and I fell in love with the country. After landing, we could not find our driver to take us to our hotel. I thought this would be a repeat of Istanbul but he did eventually come. He was a crazy crazy driver but we got to our hotel safely. We could not check into the hotel until 2:00 so Alyssa and I went to the main square in St. Paul's Bay to find breakfast. We ate and walked around until it was time to check in. We napped for a few hours in the hotel since we did not sleep well in Athens airport. At 7:00 we went to dinner in the main square and then went straight back to the hotel to sleep more. We had a long day and night yesterday.
The next day, Alyssa and I went to the bay at 9:30 to buy tickets for an island cruise. I went on this cruise last year and absolutely loved it. At 11:00, the cruise boat picked us up from St. Paul's Bay and in 45 minutes, were were on the island of Gozo. I did not find Gozo as exciting as I did the first time. In my opinion, we spent too much time on Gozo (2.5 hours) and not enough time on Comino (1 hour). Comino has a population of 5 people. The island of Comino is beautiful and is surrounded by crystal blue waters. I was excited to explore Comino more than I had last time. I absolutely love hiking and especially hiking with a view. We took the cruise boat back to St. Paul's Bay, had dinner and then went to bed. Honestly, I preferred the first time I was in Malta to this time.
April 21st was the last day of our spring break. Michaela left the hotel at 5:00 in the morning for her early flight. Alyssa and I were able to eat breakfast at the hotel since or flight was not until 3:00. We checked out of the hotel, got a last minute waffle at the Thirsty Cow in the main Square and headed to the airport. While trying to board the plane, I got pulled aside for a Visa check. Apparently since I am not an EU citizen, I need to have my passport examined before boarding. This is dumb in my opinion. I have flown with Ryan Air plenty of times and never had to do this. Also while boarding, these two airport workers were walking around examining everyone's hand luggage to make sure no one had more than one bag. I had a backpack and a drawstring bag so I was afraid I was going to get caught. They caught and charged the guy standing in front of me but I held my drawstring bag over my shoulder and made it through safely. None of the other airlines or the other Ryan Air flights that I have taken have had had a problem with my two bags so why should they on this flight? The flight was taking off and then we got pulled back into the gate for a safety check. There was no one sitting next to me on this flight. In 3 hours, I was back in Aberdeen.
In conclusion, I had a really good spring break! I do not think I would go back to Athens but I would certainly go back to Santorini. I would also like to go to some of the other Greek islands. Malta was not as exciting my second time around but I still love this country. That is all for Spring Break Part I. Stay tuned for Spring Break Part II in May!