Landing, Athens, Santorini
Wow! It been quite a long time since we left York, PA around 1130 am on July 24. We have finally settled into our Airbnb in Santorini at 830pm Greek time on July 25. (which is 130pm PA time—if I did my math correctly).
We’ve had very little sleep as economy class isn’t conducive to getting comfortable. We had a lengthy layover in Athens before our flight to Santorini so we spent a few hours exploring the city. We got a peek at the Acropolis, some other ruins, lots of souvenirs including some strange ones that you can see in the pic, if you dare. We also had some pretty amazing food at a small lunch counter that had the best caramelized onions I’ve ever had. We had some Pilsner’s and I had a good mojito. (No Ouzo yet.)
We had a great taxi driver named Spiros who gave us some good hints avoid Santorini and our host Eirini who had some food and wine waiting when we arrived and was very friendly and accommodating. We then took a quick walk to the private beach across from our place to dip our toes in and just enjoy the solitude after being around too many people nonstop for too long. Now it’s time to hit the hay to start again tomorrow when our scooter arrives.
Here are some take aways from this trip so far:
1. Get TSA pre-check if you plan to travel a lot. It is so worth it.
2. The United airways club was so much better than sitting at the boarding gate. (Thanks, Dennis!)
3. Athens has baggage storage so that we didn’t have to lug everything around the city with us and it was very reasonable. Check airports for that amenity.
4. If you have a long lay over, get out of the airport, especially if you can utilize mass transit.
5. Walk the side streets to find the best food.
6. Don’t be afraid to ask for help. People are generally really nice and helpful.
7. Do NOT fly Voltero airline. We had so many issues with them. From changing our flight without our knowledge and then charging us to change it to a time that would actually work, to charging us 60 euros because they never informed us we needed to check in online, plus charging us for bags and then trying to charge us again.
8. DO ask your Airbnb host to help you book transport from the airport, if possible, or ask your travel agent to do it for you.
9. Enjoy every second and take lots of pics, especially of the oddities that you see! 🤣
10. Travel with someone who also likes to travel because it makes a big difference.
We had a great day!
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