My kind of weekend trip...
Most people take weekend trips to nice little cities or parks within a few hours of driving. Me? I jetset off to Greece for the weekend. It's a privilege that I am lucky enough to have as the daughter of a pilot. Sure, my dad is away from home for days at a time and it can sometimes be weeks between when I see him if he's working weekends, but I get to fly for free. Don't get me wrong, flying without a confirmed seat is stressful, but it's opened up so many more travel opportunities for me. This time, I met up with my family in Athens, Greece for a few days. It was not an easy travel experience. To start, I had a huge test on Wednesday evening, when I wanted to leave, so I rushed through it and drove straight to the airport after to catch an 11pm flight to Europe. The entire time I was flying, I couldn't stop thinking "I can't believe I'm doing this." I'm glad I did though, because it was a nice way to reset and spend some time with my family.
Day 1
The first day of our trip was the only day that our entire family was in Greece. My parents and sisters had already been there for a couple of days, so they'd done some of the big things like the Acropolis. We honestly started the morning with no clue what to do, but we ended up going to the National Archaeological Museum and then walking around the Plaka.
We ended the night watching the sunset outside of our airbnb, and as an avid lover of sunsets, it was the perfect way to end my day.
Day 2
My dad and sister left early in the morning on my second day. Meanwhile, my mom, my sister, and I headed to the beautiful island of Hydra. I'm not gonna lie, travel can be stressful, especially when nobody has had any sleep since they arrived. We didn't have the best day on Hydra, but that was nobody's fault but our own with tempers running short and energy low. Despite this, the island itself was absolutely beautiful and definitely somewhere I'd love to spend longer on. Part of Hydra's charm is that there are absolutely no cars, instead donkeys and walking are the main forms of transportation. There's also a large cat population roaming the quaint streets which always manages to put a smile on a passerby's face.
We ended our day with yet another sunset. I'd really like to know if the locals appreciate the beautiful sunsets as much as we did since it's their normal.
Day 3
Our last day in Greece almost didn't happen. We'd considered just calling it a day and heading home Sunday rather than Monday, like we'd originally planned. But in the end we decided to take the last day and ended up at the Temple of Zeus and then doing a bit of shopping/wandering. It's incredible to think about how old the temples of Athens are, but ultimately it made me kinda sad. The Temple of Zeus must have been incredibly grand when it was built, but today it is essentially a pile of rubble with just a couple of columns still standing.
We, of course, finished up our stay in Greece with one last sunset and a walk along the beach. We collected a few rocks to bring back home and make bracelets out of and got dinner from a bakery not too far from our airbnb.
I wouldn't say Athens is my favorite city, or that this was my favorite trip, but I still had an amazing time. It was the perfect way to escape the pressures of class and spend a little time with the people I love the most in this world, even if it was just for a weekend.
