Athens | Todd and Ziqin's Travels

A lot has happened since the last time I posted here. Now I am finally physically in the US with my husband after a two-year-green-card-application process, unlike previously I could only imagine myself being in the States, spending all the important days with him. Guess we just had our luck in the whole thing. First off, the US government shut down twice during the two-year period, then the online payment system upgraded and our payment did not go through which took us another four months to figure it out and resubmitted the fee; last but not least, after I passed my interview at the US consulate in Guangzhou, I thought there was nothing in between my husband and me. Nope, I was so wrong! The US global visa printing system had some glitch and it took me another three weeks to wait for my visa to arrive rather than the regular five business days.

But everything is worthwhile!

Anyway, no more complaining after I am physically sit in our US home, typing this blog. After all, I finally made my way here at the expense of 4,000 USD.

We went to Europe for our one-year-anniversary last September. Todd said we could have just bought the tickets and hopped in the next flight to Greece, only that I was not a US passport holder. To be fair, I did hold him back. As a Chinese passport holder, I had to take care of my schengen visa for the six countries (Greece, Italy, France, Switzerland, Portugal and Spain) we planned to visit. But it only took me two trips to the embassy to get it taken care of, a few extra paperworks and a week to actually receive my schengen visa, no big deal. We booked all our air tickets to and from Europe and the ones within the continent as well as all the hotels. All we had for luggage were only two backpacks and a suitcase, for a couple who were about to be in Europe for a month, this is not bad at all. Our flights to Athens, Greece were consisted of two lags, Beijing to Moscow and Moscow to Athens. We arrived at the international airport in Athens at around midnight. Since we were budget travelers, we tried to take the public transportation as much as possible. I had to say Todd really is the best spouse I could ever ask for, he dragged the bulky suitcase in between different terminals in one hand and looked up the directions on his Nexus 5 in the other and had to hold my hand simultaneously. Let alone 3/4 of of the stuff in the suitcase was my clothes. We caught the last train from the airport to downtown Athens to locate our hotel. After 11 hours on the plane, 1 hour on the train and about some 30 minutes wandering around we finally found the twenty-something-euro hotel, or hostel to be exact, in downtown Athens. The city Athens was nothing close to what I had imaged, not even close. There were trash along the sidewalks, ugly graffiti everywhere, the sewer system did not add up to any pleasant impression.

It was dark, we were tired and the heavily powdered lady waiting for her client at the lobby was the last straw. I heard the sound of Athens collapsing in my head. Well, if the city fails you, at least give a shot to the food. That’s the last voice I heard before I fell asleep that night.

The next day, despite of only 5 hours of sleep, we woke up early and headed out to the Acropolis. One advantage of the hostel we stayed at was its convenient location to all the major tourist attractions. Athens is not a mega city and all the tourist spots are pretty centered together. On our way to the Acropolis, we stopped by a shop to get a phone card that hopefully could work in all the six countries we would stay at. But we agreed later that we were ripped off because the sim card and the activation of it costed us 50 euros, and turned out that for each nation we went to later on, we had to buy a new sim card instead.

The financial crisis really hit this nation hard. The city was what you read in all the headlines of mainstream newspapers, only 10 times worse. Shops were closed, streets were quiet, and unemployed young people protested on the streets.

We passed the ghost district and arrived at the Acropolis. There are six major places to visit, you can get a pass for 12 euros and visit them all in one day. We stopped by the first place at the foot of the hill. It used to be some sort of temple for sacred ceremonies. Apology if I am not being helpful in explaining the place. I’ll post more pictures.

The ancient Athens was built in a hill. As one ascends to the top, you will see temples, a church, a museum, a theater and the unparalleled Acropolis. It is not a tall hill, i was able to climb all the way up with my flat shoes in 10 minutes. Standing at the peak of the Acropolis, one can have a bird-view of the entire Athens, from the downtown area to the port. Thousands years of history has been extracted to the few pillars under the blue sky.

We spent half an hour at the Acropolis before we headed to the nearby museum.

Oh some ad time for the selfie stick we bought prior to our trip. It is so convenient and we can take as many selfies of us as we want, under the attention of people pass by. It works better than PDA. Precious!

You want to know what good foods I had in Greece? I will write them in a separate blog.

Last but not least, here comes my multi-functional husband.