At the tail end of my flight from London, I got my first view of Greece and it was breathtaking. The first thing I saw was the ocean – just vast blue stretches of ocean. Then came the mountains. And the islands. And more mountains. And then the rural country area of Greece, dotted with multiple shades of green. By the time we flew over the city center, I couldn’t pick my jaw up off the floor of the plane! Even from that height, I was struck by the charm and the character in the architecture and the magic of the landscape. Unfortunately, it was at that point that my phone died, so I don’t have anything other than my memory to preserve those images 
After landing in Greece and flying through the passport checkpoint (pun intended), I was met by Joy, the mother of the family I’m staying with for this trip, who presented me with a beautiful bunch of tulips that are now in my bedroom. I adore flowers and rarely ever get them (other than the few occasions when I buy them for myself!), so this was such a special surprise!
On the drive back from the airport, I got my first glimpses of Athens from the ground. One of the first things we passed was the old airport in Greece, which was abandoned in favor of a larger, newly constructed one right before Greece hosted the Olympics in 2004. The old airport, as well as the abandoned Olympic stadiums, now house large numbers of homeless Greeks and international refugees. Coincidentally, talking through global refugee crisis and issues of immigration in my Debating Global Issues class last semester gave me a clearer idea the situation, but it was still different to see it in person.
After getting back to the apartment, I enjoyed catching up on some rest as well as catching up with our family friends, who I’m staying with for the week. They’ve really welcomed me into their home with open arms, and both they and their children are so sweet and fun to be around! Another cherry-on-top feature of their place is the incredible panoramic view it offers from nearly every vantage point.
Towards the end of the day, Joy and I went down for a walk and dinner by the marina a short car ride away. The sea wall at the end of the marina had a great view of the ocean and the waterfront towns, and we even saw a few locals fishing off the wall. For dinner, we went to Νήσος (Nisos), a seafood restaurant on the waterfront that served mostly fresh, locally sourced food. The restaurant was relatively small, but had a cozy, relaxed feel to it. Our server gave us some additional info about the menu, and then took us to the back of the restaurant to show us all of the different fresh fish options. According to Joy, restaurants really take pride in their offerings of fresh food, so this is actually pretty common! We ordered an amazing salad with pomegranates, pine nuts, and sun dried tomatoes topped with cheese and a sweet balsamic vinaigrette, fried feta cheese with honey and sesame, tzatziki, potato fries, a smoked eggplant dip, whole fried shrimp, and anchovies with vinegar (which I’m really glad I tried!). A sweet white wine and some great conversation topped off the meal and the experience!
By the time we got back to the apartment, I was full and happy, but struggling to stay awake until my 9pm bedtime to avoid jet lag. Thankfully, my host family’s adorable little boy came to my rescue and kept me awake by showing me old pictures of himself and his family until both of our bedtimes!
Twenty-One Travels 