First in Athens, we went to church at the local branch. I cannot even tell you how amazing going to church was in a different country. I didn't even make it past the first verse of the opening hymn. I started tearing up because it really is how they say: the church is true in every country. I loved that the members would sing in Greek and we would sing in english. The first speaker was a boy under the age of 18. He spoke on faith. His testimony of being converted was incredible. The other two speakers spoke in Greek and French, so I don't know what their topic was on. I was hoping for the gift of tongues, but I wasn't given it. Ha ha. I love church, just absolutely loved it.
Next we walked over to the new Acropolis Museum. It was neat. It had all the artifacts from the Acropolis we visited earlier.
We then had a few hours free time. Me, Kyra, Christy, and Mike walked around the flea market. Fun stuff.
So, here's where the adventure starts. We get to the airport to catch our flight to Rome. First off, do not use EasyJet Airlines. The tickets are way cheap, and you get what you pay for. They were super strict on security, carry on bag size and numbers, and it's one of those free for all flights where you get to pick your seat. I didn't have a problem, but lots of peeps in our group had stuff confiscated and searched. For example, Kyra had this pot they made her unwrap to prove it wasn't a bomb. I just hope it won't break while traveling now that it's been unwrapped.
Next, I just cannot stand the lack of class and courtesy Europe has. Constantly, people push our group out of they way and butt in line. Butting in line is one if the peeves, and I really couldn't stand it anymore. The agent lady was already giving our director a hard time because everyone (not just our group) was not forming a single line. The stingy agent lady made another line and had the back of the line go into the new line and they started boarding them first. Now, I had my intense tone, but all I said was, "Whoa whoa, we were in line first!" I said it with an angry tone, so naturally everyone in the back of the line started yelling at me. Whatever, it made it so they took our group first (because we were there first, camping out). But I was pretty riled up.
Not to mentioned they boarded us an hour late, made you pay for any food (water, peanuts, an ice cube), and made us wait 45 minutes for baggage claim to get our stuff. Do not use this airline, it's worth it to pay extra for service and to avoid the classless idiot people. (FYI: I wasn't mad that we couldn't be first in the plane, I'm mad that there is no respect or class for other people. They are just rude and I will not stand for this injustice any longer. )
Sorry about the rant.
So, going along with the adventure, we took a train to get to the metro to take a bus to our hotel. Turns out the metro was closed so we took shuttles in three different groups. I went in the second group because I felt like if I and my group got lost we could navigate ok. The third group happened on accident because two of the boys could fit onto the packed bus. So they got left behind. But they'll be ok. The shuttle bus was terrible because we were so squished. One couple missed their stop because they literally could not get with us and the other people who still got on when the bus was full. My back hurts pretty bad because I was being pushed and I have a heavy backpack. We had to tow our stuff around the closed metro, find the shuttle, and find our hotel. And to top it off, my luggage was slammed into my foot and I broke my big toe nail. Pretty bloody. Years of dance experience did not prepare me for the pain. It hurts pretty bad.
We have this joke. When we were taking the bus to the black sand beach in Santorini, this black guy (who spoke french) kept saying "tickets on the bus" in a thick accent. I'm pretty sure it was the one English phrase he knew. The bus people get tickets/payment while driving to the beach. It's super crowded on the bus, so it's really hard to collect the money. Anyways, he said that phrase 25 times during our ride (we counted). So, last night the bus we crowded on was ridiculously squished. So we kept saying "tickets on the bus" in a French accent. Ha ha
BUT something awesome happened. We got to our room at about 12:00 (I'm rooming with Kyra and Maren). And I realized it's August 1st and I'm in Rome! So I opened Tj's present and find all these nice friend cards from all my wonderful friends!!! I love you guys so much and could have not asked for better!!! Those notes came at just the right time. I love and miss you all so much!
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Location:Rome, Italy
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