Day Two: Welcome to Athens

 

The Sun setting on a beautiful day!

My view tonight, as I write this blog, is surreal. The sun is setting on the Aegean Sea.  I am at a poolside bar with my laptop open and a swarm of mosquitoes buzzing about, but it is worth it.  It reminds me of a late night blog entry I composed in the hills of Belize. Except, tonight, my Wifi is exceptional and back then, I had to use the hotel's computer, lol.  We had a long travel day and walked a bit this afternoon, but generally everyone seems to be in good spirits.  

Most of us could count the number of hours we slept on one hand.  That's unfortunate.  The flights were fine, just a little bumpy at small intervals, but sleep was hard to come by.  A bunch of the kids watched movies to help the time pass, others played games, and even others chatted into the wee hours. As the dawn broke though some open windows, Greece started to appear below. Air Canada served us a small cup of yogurt and a piece of cake for breakfast. I ate it before I realized I should take a picture of it.  

We landed on time and de-planed in good order. This passport check was more successful than our last time and we started towards the customs and immigration checkpoint. By this point, I had heard from Laertis and my suspicions were correct. He was picking us up for a quick visit to downtown while the other group was coming in late and would head to the hotel.  This came with mixed emotions from some of us who just wanted to lay down for a bit, lol. We went through the passport control, grabbed our luggage, and some changed for the day outside. 

Laertis giving his safety instructions

Our view from the road

My view from the road as half of these kids are asleep

Laertis brought us to the backside of the Acropolis. There is a small shopping district there with lots of places to eat.  Everyone found a place to sit and ordered a variety of foods. Everyone told me it was delicious.  I couldn't sit and needed to walk so I asked Laertis where I could get the best local Gyro.  He showed me the spot on Google Maps and I was off. It was only 6 minutes away and it was so delicious. Freshly grilled pita bread topped with shaved chicken, some fries, salad, and sauces.  There was an even better surprise waiting for me...

Bloggers Edit: I am transferring my location because of the mosquitoes. I'm now in the lobby.

To my surprise, Diet Coke!!!

Little did I know that the ban on Diet Coke has not hit Greece yet. I may have even bought a one liter to take on the bus ride with me tomorrow.  What a great day!

After our meal, we headed back to the bus. Some kids got a kick out of a risque museum that we passed. You'll have to ask them about it because I don't want o be censored. 

It was roughly an hour's drive south to the hotel and mostly everyone caught some Zzzs.  The drive was partly through an urban neighborhood and also on stunning coastline. I image you will see more pictures of the scenery over the next few days. 

The Alexander Beach Hotel is out of season, but I am sure when it is a little warmer here, that the place is packed.  It has a really nice pool and a beachfront too.  

The view from my room

The game room

The pool before the kids found it

The beachfront

The pool after the kids found it

My reward for not sleeping at all

The Hotel Alexander Beach

We arrived to the hotel at approximately 4pm.  Dinner would be served at 7:30 so it gave plenty of time to explore the grounds and take advantage of many of the perks of this hotel. Not everyone was adventurous as many tried to sneak in a quick nap.  The other group, from Canada, arrived just as we were eating dinner. We haven't really met them yet, but the kids seemed nice and their adult travelers looked as weary as ours. I am sure kids will start interacting soon.

It was near the end of dinner when the sun started to set. A bunch of people went to get their golden hour shots. I went off and grabbed my laptop.  This is a relatively early post for me while on tour, but I am so good with that.  We are all going to try and get a good night's sleep, but it might be hard. Another student group is arriving, as I type, and there are so many of them. They are also European. I can't pick up the language yet, but I don't think it is Greek. Regardless, they probably haven't been up for 20+ hours. Maybe they will be quiet. 

Tomorrow is supposed to be a pretty relaxing day too. Laertis has informed me that the next few days are mostly in small villages with not many tourists. He also said four EF groups are here running the same itinerary so the chance of bumping into them along the way is pretty high.  Besides when I am tired and cranky, I love seeing kids from all over seeing the world first hand. It reminds me of my motto.  One must travel to learn isn't just something that I believe, it is something that lots of educators from all over the world believe. This crowd of children is begrudgingly reminding me of this at this exact moment...I think it might be two busses full of kids, lol. Amidst it all, four of our kids are in the lobby with me. They are just scrolling on their phones kind of talking to each other from time to time. Kids being kids in 2026.

Mr. Lavoie, sitting here shocked at how loud and crowded this lobby just got and thinking he'd fare better with the skeeters!