Athens, Greece was the perfect city to visit with friends. It was full of life. Its densely-packed streets teemed with locals and tourists, and its markets overflowed with fresh olives, fish, and produce. It goes without saying that the history of the place was also a draw. Even though I do not believe in Greek Mythology, I do love the character of Athena, after whom this beautiful place is named.
Athens was not originally on my list of places to go, because I could not found any flights from Vienna under 100 Euros. I had two cities planned for November: Berlin and Barcelona. Both tickets were under 60 Euros (I had to book a 60 Euro round-trip train ticket to get to the airport, but that is still much cheaper than flying out of Klagenfurt's modest port with only three gates).
One of my friends is studying abroad in Barcelona this fall, so I texted him after I bought the ticket to his city and asked if he would be around and wanted to hang out that weekend.
"You're got to be kidding me!" He exclaimed. "I'm going to be in Vienna that weekend!"
Classic. We were both abroad, and just so happened to be in each other's countries on the same weekend. I asked if he had any other trips planned, suggesting that we could meet up somewhere else, and he mentioned that he was going to see Marina - one of our mutual favorite artists - in Athens the weekend before the country swap.
"You got tickets? No way," I gasped. "I knew Marina was having a Europe tour while I was here, so I looked up tickets back in July, but they were all sold out."
He said that he had found his General Admission tickets just recently. I looked online and found that they were still available - when I had looked before, that had just been the first round of tickets. Now, the second round was opened, and I could go. EEE!
I excitedly searched for flights to Athens that weekend, and it must have been fate, because there was a round-trip flight for under 100 Euros. Unbelievable! I told my friend that I would be joining him and his two friends from university on the trip to the ancient capital and a modern artist's concert.
I landed a couple hours after they arrived, and I took the metro into the city. The metro was a bit awkward to find; it is attached to the airport by a hallway situated over the highway next to it, but there are no clear signs that get you there unless you exit the airport from the exact place where the sign is. I used Google Maps, which told me I had to go a roundabout way to get to the metro that would take me 18 minutes. I decided to cut straight across and jogged over a couple roads and spun in some circles trying to figure out how to get there directly. I stumbled upon a set of escalators in the median between two main roads, which had signs that said "Airport." I did not want the airport, but I went up them because I saw they connected to that overhead hallway that just so happened to be pointing in the direction of the metro. Lo and behold, the airport was to the left and the metro was to the right.
While I was standing waiting for the train, two people at the station asked me which train would take them to the city. I gave them directions, and asked the second lady if she thought I looked Greek or something, because it was unusual to have been asked questions like that as another tourist. She said I looked like a local (I thought, Do Greeks wear Puma workout gear from head to toe and carry around backpacks? Hmm). She was very talkative and started telling me about the retirement trip around the world that she and her husband had been on for quite some time. They were from Singapore, and had traveled everywhere from Southeast Asia to the Northern Lights in whatever northern place you can go to see them.
The train's route took me directly to the center of the main square from which you can see the Acropolis. I walked to Hawks Hostel to meet my friend, speed walking through hordes of locals in that particular sector that happened to be only men standing around, staring and doing seemingly nothing. My friend had told me that the reviews for the hostel mentioned that the location was such that "one wouldn't recommend going alone." Except for that first time, every time I was walking to or from the hostel that weekend, I got countless stares and a few unpleasant comments, but since I was with others, it was not an issue.
Once I met up with my friends at the hotel, we walked around and explored the city together. Athens is small, so using public transportation within the city is not necessary. We headed up toward the Acropolis, which we discovered was closed after 4PM, but we still managed to climb atop a popular rock and get a lovely view of the ancient city during Golden Hour.
The next day, we went back up the hill to the Acropolis when it was open, to walk around the ancient ruins. There was so much history there, and it was a beautiful sight to see. After that, we went back home for a pre-concert nap. We then ate dinner and hiked over to the venue, Piraeus 117. The line to the entrance wrapped around two blocks, but it moved quickly, and soon we were inside just before the opener. None of us had heard of Allie X before, but due to her performance the four of us decided to look her up on Spotify after the show. Marina was even more incredible, naturally, and we sang along as she danced under bright lights and screens. The concert was perfect: we arrived only an hour early, the opener played a couple great songs, and then Marina came onstage soon after. She played for about two hours, which was ideal timing. It was short enough to leave us wanting more, but without our legs getting too tired.
I left early the next morning around 4AM, winding through empty streets to catch the bus back to the airport for my 7:30 flight. I did not get back home to Maria Saal until around 6:30PM, which was the typical travel time for all of my train-to-plane and back weekend trips. It is a bit exhausting, and although I have appreciated and loved my trips so far, I will be doing less like this one to Athens, where I have 24+ hours of travel time for only a 36-hour stay.
I loved Athens. It had an eclectic energy with its habitually packed streets, open markets, and hordes of people. This was coupled with an ancient past that overlooked the city from its position atop the hill. I am excited to visit some other places in Greece someday, like one of those picturesque islands with blue and white buildings tumbling down the coast. But for now, I need to catch up on some sleep.
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