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Published: March 30th 2018
A few months ago, I received a message from my sister that she had an extra discounted ticket for a trip to Italy and Greece that she was organizing for students at her school. And she wanted to know if I was interested in going. Seriously? A trip to Italy and Greece for about 75% of original costs plus being a chaperone - of course I was interested. And I mentioned that my daughter would love to go if another opportunity became available for she has always wanted to go to Greece. And then it did - so both my daughter and I were able to attend this ‘once in a lifetime trip’ with my sister and her son and 33 other people. Happy Graduation to Shelby (my daughter).
The trip was planned through an agent who is specialized for school groups. Shelby and I were honorary school members for this trek and I was nice enough to allow her to skip 6 days of school for the trip. Since the school my sister works at is located in Huntsville, AL, that is where the trip would begin.
When we learned the flight would go through Atlanta, I tried
my best for the powers that be to allow me to board in Atlanta instead of Huntsville because I live right above Atlanta. But they would not budge. They stated that if I did not board in Huntsville, that I would forfeit my ticket. I could not allow that to happen. So we drove 4 hours from Atlanta to Huntsville, spent 3 hours going through security and checkin just to take a 45 minute flight back to Atlanta. I have an alternate plan for the trip back home. We changed to a larger plane in Atlanta and headed to Amsterdam for the next connecting flight.
That plane from ATL to AMS was packed, cramped, hot, and miserable. It was an 8 hour overnight flight and I do not think anyone got any sleep. I certainly did not. I did receive 2 meals and watched 3 movies. We had a long layover in AMS so the travel planner arranged for us to see part of the city before heading on to Athens.
Our tour guide met us at the airport and gave us a very informative tour into and around the city of Amsterdam. We walked and walked and
walked. The city is not vehicle friendly and pedestrians do NOT have the right of way. The city is very tight and has brick or cobblestone paths and roads. Most people get around by using a bicycle and the bicycles were everywhere. There were special areas just for them and they would ride right into to you without giving it a second thought. Though I do not think it is official, the bikes actually have the right of way and you had better get out of their way. Lots of horns beeping and scary moments throughout the whole day.
The city is actually below sea level and water canals were as prominent if not more so as roads and bike paths. The houses were constructed right on the canals and are very different from what we are use to in AL and GA. They are very narrow and tall, often consisting of several stories high. The people were taxed on the width of the house so they built them as narrow as possible but could go very deep and high to accommodate the space needed. There are no lawns there. It is canals, cobblestone roads and houses. The houses
sit on less than desirable soil or water so they are all actually sitting on poles around 45 feet into the ground. As a result of that type of landscape the houses are most often crooked - or as they call them, dancing houses. The houses are built with a large hook attached to the roof and a pulley and rope are used to load furniture and large items into the homes through their upper windows. The front of the houses are built on a slant to allow for the pressure of the heavy loads so that the pressure does not break the windows like they would if they were built straight. Many had unique characteristics and some were very ornate. It was quite interesting to see and understand how they adapted to the surroundings and have built such a large and prosperous city.
We saw the downtown square, central station, the palace, many museums and tons of people. People were everywhere. We saw Anne Frank’s house but were not able to tour the inside. We later took a cruise through the canals and got to see more of the various streets, houses, boat houses, etc up close. We
were able to grab a quick snack at a local bakery. I opted for a chocolate iced waffle and Shelby had a chocolate crepe. The waffle was ice cold, which was disappointing but the crepe was nice and warm and totally consumed.
It was then time to head back to the airport for the flight into Athens. So we rounded up the group (37 of us), which is not easily done in a city such as Amsterdam, but we did not lose anyone. We checked in using the kiosk, retrieved our boarding passes, went through screening and reached our gate. Not a single soul ever checked our tickets, looked at our passports, asked a single question - absolutely nothing. I found that quite surprising and unsettling. I was screened, x-rayed, patted down and swabbed in Huntsville but not as much as looking at my name in Amsterdam.
The flight was much more comfortable than the previous one and we were all ready to get to our hotel. We met our next tour guide after retrieving our luggage and went straight there. After leaving my house at 9 am on Friday, we arrived in Athens at 1:30 am on
Sunday - got to the hotel around 3am and daylight savings time kicked in for Greece. So it was 4:15 before I saw my pillow and had to set the alarm for 7:30. Makes you wonder if going to sleep is even worth it if you only can get a couple hours worth. Been traveling with 36 other people for 2 days with no sleep, 3 airports, 2 car shuttles, 2 travel buses, 2 tour guides and we lost a few hours in between with all the different time zones. I am glad Apple has programmed the phones to automatically change the time when arriving in a new zone - I would be lost without it.
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