Greece: What More Could Go Wrong?

After parting ways with my dad in Split, Croatia, my mom and I headed to Greece for what was supposed to only be one week, but ended up being almost two weeks. I really enjoy Greece, however after my time in Greece it feels as if the country does not like me.

My mom and I parted ways with my dad on Friday, September 16th, the day before my birthday. Since he had to be back to work on Monday he wasn’t able to stay for my birthday, but since my mom is retired she was able to be with me on my birthday which was a lot of fun. When planning our time together, my parents were the ones who suggested my mom and I go to Greece, more specifically Thessaloniki, since back in 2020 I studied abroad there until the pandemic sent me home early.

Our travel day getting to Thessaloniki ended up being long and chaotic. It all started well with us getting to the airport extra early since my dad's flight left before ours. When it was time for our first flight all was going well. Then, after looking at our tickets, we realized that we had less than an hour between exiting our first flight and boarding our connecting flight. We talked with a flight attendant who assured us we would have more than enough time and not to worry; he was wrong. By the time our plane landed and was deplaning onto buses in Stuttgart, Germany we had 40 minutes until boarding closed for our next flight. By the time we deplaned we were greeted with the unpleasant surprise of having to go through passport control. Luckily everyone let us skip to the front of the line and we were able to get through passport control pretty quick. We then realized that we would also have to go through security again, and by that time we had less than 30 minutes until boarding closed. As if this wasn’t stressful enough, after running through the airport and getting up to security we were greeted with lines that were easily over an hour long. After explaining that our plane was already boarding, everyone in the security line once again was friendly and understanding and let us pass to the front of the security line. However, we could only get so far and after having our tickets scanned and waiting in the final line to put our bags on the conveyor belt, everyone there was in the same position as we were with flights already boarding. Unfortunately, we got stuck behind a family with small children and the wait felt extra long. In the end, after extreme stress, panic, and running we were able to make it to our gate with five minutes to spare before boarding closed.

Our flight experience set our time in Greece off to a rough start, however, the next day was my birthday and that was reason enough for things to get better. On my birthday my mom and I went on a food market tour that we’d scheduled. The market tour was only supposed to be two hours but ended up being about three hours long. It took us around different areas of Thessaloniki where we were able to learn more about Greek cuisine and foods produced in the area. One thing we learned was that the island of Crete produces a lot of produce which is able to be grown year round and sent to other cities in Greece, such as Thessaloniki. We were also able to wander through the fish, meat, and produce market. One of the stops on the tour was for traditional Greek coffee which is very similar to traditional Turkish coffee. I really enjoyed learning about the history of the different markets and items being sold in each market. After the tour, we wandered around the city for a while before going back to our accommodation to rest before getting ready for dinner. For my birthday dinner my mom and I went to a traditional Greek taverna in the Ladadika neighborhood of Thessaloniki. The neighborhood really comes alive at night and it was a fun night with good food.

The next day and a half in Thessaloniki was relaxed and casual as we explored the city while also relaxing and resting after a busy last week. On Monday, we headed to the Greek island of Chios for what was supposed to be a fun, relaxing, short few days exploring the island. Our first day on the island was slow; since my mom was feeling under the weather we decided to take it easy and let her just rest and relax in the hotel room. Then that evening, once she developed a cough, it was decided that a Covid test was needed. Thankfully both of us packed rapid home tests and unfortunately the test quickly came back positive. Since I had just had Covid at the beginning of June, despite having been together 24/7, I was hoping that I would be fine. Unfortunately the next day I woke up with a slight scratch in my throat, which was the same first feeling I had the last time I had Covid. One more rapid Covid test later, we discovered I too had Covid. While this was unfortunate, one bright side was that my mom also had travel insurance for her trip after hearing me talk about getting it, so for insurance reasons, and with the help of our hotel owner, she and I headed to a local health care center for PCR tests, which both came back positive.

After getting positive tests we switched rooms in our hotel to one with a balcony so that we could have fresh air, and we hunkered down in the one room for the next five days of quarantine. The first two days of quarantine were stressful and went by the fastest because not only did I have to figure out rebooking and scheduling flights and hostels, but my mom also needed her international flight rebooked and the final part of her trip rescheduled. Having to do this at home would have already been a challenge, but another struggle we faced was that neither of us had the ability to make phone calls. Thankfully my dad was able to help on my mom’s and my behalf and make calls to the airlines and a hostel I had booked. Once we had navigated through the confusing and stressful chaos of the rebooking process, the next three days went by easier and uneventfully.

Once our five day quarantine was up, my mom and I both had one full day on the island to explore. On this day we were able to explore the towns of Pyrgi and Mesta, visit a black stone beach, see a lot of mastic trees and learn a little more about them. Chios is known for its mastic which is resin gum that comes from mastic trees. The specific type of mastic trees that grow on Chios can only be found on the island and specifically on the southern half. Uses for the harvested mastic gum are very diverse and range from use in making chewing gum, cooking, medicine, beauty and health products, and more.

After seeing the mastic trees and learning more about them, we headed to the town of Pyrgi. Pyrgi is a medieval village that is known for its buildings decorated with carved and painted designs. The design and facades of these houses are said to have started when Chios was ruled by Venetians. Next, we went to the town of Mesta, which is an old fishing and mastic village that was fortified with city walls. All of the buildings are close to each other and there is access across walkways and roofs to pass between buildings in the event of a pirate attack. Both Pyrgi and Mesta were charming small towns. Our next stop was at a black stones beach that was formed from a volcanic eruption. The weather on this day was not ideal for swimming, as it was overcast and the waves were large. Instead of swimming we opted to walk along the beach and take in the views and sound of the water rushing through the black rocks. To finish our day we stopped at a Greek Taverna on the water for a late lunch before heading back to the city of Chios, where we had been staying.

The next morning, Wednesday, my mom and I parted ways; she flew to Athens before flying home and I headed back to Thessaloniki. What was supposed to be an easy travel day back to Thessaloniki, took another turn. Getting to and from the island I went on a small 64 person propeller plane. Since the plane was so small there wasn’t overhead space for my bag, so I had to check it. This didn’t seem problematic at the time since it's a small airport and flight so I figured what could go wrong. While waiting for my bag in Thessaloniki I found out what could go wrong. It turns out they decided to not load anyone’s bags onto the flight and they were all left on the island of Chios. I was in Thessaloniki without my bag and wasn’t given any timeline or idea of when it would arrive. This left me in a weird limbo since I was originally planning on leaving Friday morning. Since I didn’t know when my bag would arrive I wasn’t able to plan anything until the very last minute.

If a stressful original travel day, getting Covid, and missing luggage, was where you thought my bad luck would end, then you would be wrong. Once I got to my hostel in Thessaloniki, I realized that I forgot my toothbrush and holder in my hotel room in Chios, then I learned that I messed up when getting cash out of the ATM in Chios for both my mom and I. For my travels, I got a Charles Schwab debit card, which has been amazing since it has no ATM fees, both foreign and domestic, and it refunds me if an ATM adds a fee. This card has worked out great, however, where I went wrong was by accidentally using my credit card to get cash out of the ATM instead of my Charles Schwab card so I was charged a $10 transaction fee for each withdrawal. While this isn’t a huge problem, it was one more thing added to my list of unfortunate events.

While these weren’t fun issues to deal with, I was able to end my time in Greece visiting a friend I made when I studied abroad. This was a great way to end my time in Greece and I enjoyed all the time I got to spend with her. Overall, my time in Greece had a lot of unfortunate turns of events, but there were also good moments scattered in between the bad. It is a great reminder that travel, and specifically long term travel, isn’t always picture perfect. There will always be challenges to navigate and figure out along the way.

“Travel isn’t always pretty. It isn’t always comfortable. Sometimes it hurts, it even breaks your heart. But that’s okay. The journey changes you; it should change you. It leaves marks on your memory, on your consciousness, on your heart, and on your body. You take something with you. Hopefully, you leave something good behind.”

- Anthony Bourdain