Our arrival at the airport was early enough in the AM that we even beat the workers there and had to wait about 15 minutes or so before someone could check us in for our flights to Zagreb (capital of Croatia – North of Dubrovnik), Vienna (capital of Austria – North of Zagreb) and Athens (south of Dubrovnik in Greece). I know…makes logical sense right to take two 1 hour flights north and then 1 two hour flight south to reach your destination, however it seems this is the only viable option we were presented as Dubrovnik airport is fairly small and didn’t appear to have many flights out each day.
After check in and passing through the standard security check point, we proceeded through our gate and instead of finding a plane on the other side of the door we found a bus. It appears it is such a small airport that they use buses to shuttle the passengers to the planes. The plane ride to Zagreb, Vienna and finally Athens were short and uneventful, with the attempts of sleep disrupted by the distribution of drinks and food items. However, 9 hours and 3 countries after boarding the shuttle at our hotel in Dubrovnik, we found ourselves boarding our shuttle to our hotel in Athens.
The ride into the city was interesting, it became immediately apparent that Athens is a huge sprawling city, bound to a huge cloud of pollution, one that turn the sky a grayish color day and night….this was not really what my mind had conjured when I first thought about the journey here. I guess I expected it to be all historical and such, when in fact it is extremely modern. Despite the difference in expectations and actuality, once off the bus and into the streets it was quite great. The city was bustling with people, shops, street vendors, and motorcycles – ready to mow down any pedestrian willing to tempt fate and step in their paths.
After checking in the Professor took us on a quick walk through the nearby streets and down to the end of the Plaka, the shopping district where every store is basically a one room shop selling anything from t-shirts to furniture. Once orientated, we were set loose into the city to look around, eat or do as we wanted. We found a nearby restaurant and were offered shots of Ouzo (the local drink, a liquor tasting of black licorice) and some fantastic bread and butter/cream cheese spread and olives. I ordered the Lamb skalvokia (spelling?), basically lamb kabob with a side of fried potato and veggies. The food was fantastic, as was the beer, Alfa, which seemed fitting, as Alpha was the term used to designate the President of the fraternity, which I was back in the glory days of Lambda Chi Alpha.
After dinner we walked through the Plaka, did some window shopping and then returned to the hotel to hang out for a little bit, check emails, contact loved ones and let them know we made it to Athens alright, before heading to bed and calling it an early night after a very long day of travel.
Tomorrow we will visit the Acropolis and Agora which I am very much looking forward to seeing up close.
Mike
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