Greece - Day 7

On our last day in Greece, I woke up early to get some sprints in before breakfast. We enjoyed the breakfast at the Central Hotel and headed off for a short day of sightseeing before our evening flights.

Our main stop for the day was the National Archeological Museum, home to many of the artifacts from ancient Greece. I used the Rick Steves audio tour and it led me through the museum in chronological order, starting with the Neolithic era (6800 B.C.) and ending with the Roman Era (500 A.D.). In between, we saw the development of Greek art and culture over time. It was incredible to see figurines and carvings that are older than the Pyramids!

After the museum, we briefly walked through the Athens Market, a modern-day version of the Agora. There were rows of hanging animal carcasses with butchers carving and selling all the cuts. The smell didn’t hit me until we got to the fish section, at which point I had to turn around. Christina enjoyed seeing all the varieties of meats and vegetables that you can’t find in the States.

After the marker, we snacked on classic Greek doughnuts. We then headed back to the hotel to grab our bags and check out. We had lunch at a teriyaki restaurant because that is one thing that I definitely cannot get in Foggia. After some last-minute shopping in the Plaka, we headed for the airport.

The train to the airport took a little longer than expected because we had to transfer trains, but we made it with plenty of time to spare. We both checked in for our flights and headed through security. We said our goodbyes and Christina headed off for Paris while I waited for my flight to Rome.

My flights were relatively uneventful, but I ended up arriving in Bari at 11:00 (3 minutes late). While in Athens, I had gotten several calls from Hertz asking about the insurance on my rental car. I stopped by the Hertz desk in Bari and was told that my insurance had expired 13 days ago. And I couldn’t renew the insurance at that time because the central computers in Rome were down. After some negotiation, we determined that it would be easier for me to just exchange my old car for a brand new one. So I bid adieu to Mercedes A160 and traded it in for a Ford Fiesta. It definitely worked out in my favor, as the Ford drives much better and handles better than the Mercedes. After all the logistics, I didn’t leave Bari until midnight, which put me in Foggia a little after 1:00 am. From there I jumped right into my normal schedule, waking up at 6:30 to go for a run before work.

We certainly had a whirlwind adventure in Greece. It was great to see Christina for a week! We saw some amazing sights and ate incredibly delicious food. Someday I would like to go back and explore the islands of Santorini and Mykonos, but that will have to wait for another time.