Journey from Bangkok to Athens

I thought I would write a short post to let you all know that I made it safely to Athens, as well as to tell you about my long journey. Overall, it went as well as could be expected, since I knew going in that it was going to be kind of rough. I couldn't believe the airport in Bangkok - it was so modern and huge! Thankfully, I allowed a lot of time to make sure that I made my flight. I left my hostel at 6 a.m., and got to the airport at 7 a.m., found the Aeroflot (Russian airline that I flew the whole way) area, and got in line as I was told to. After awhile of not moving at all, I realized that they hadn't even opened the counters yet because it was still over 2 hours until the flight! Once they did open, things went pretty smoothly, and pretty soon I was on board for my 10-hour flight to Moscow, Russia. I thoroughly enjoyed the fact that I was getting to fly in a plane for once, as opposed to yet another bus journey! I had a pillow, blanket, and my own TV and remote! I think I watched 3 movies and some episodes of Friends. There were too many clouds coming into Moscow to actually see anything much of the city, which disappointed me. However, when we landed, it was snowing, which made me very happy! I haven't seen snow since I left Colorado. Again, the process of waiting in line at the passport checking area, and getting my boarding pass for the next flight printed, went well. Then I began to wander aimlessly around the Moscow airport, which really wasn't too interesting, especially knowing that I would be doing that for hours. It seemed like it took forever to get dark, and then even longer before I felt like I could make a bed for myself on the floor without being too observed or bothered. I was exhausted already that morning, as my last night in the dorm in Bangkok was not a very restful one. Most of the flights were gone by around 11 p.m., so then I put down my "bed" for the night, which consisted of my sarong, my thin sleeping bag, and a borrowed pillow and blanket from the nice people at Aeroflot - although of course they didn't know I did this, and they also didn't know that they were making me feel much more guilty about doing it by announcing twice in English that the pillows and blankets were their property, and to please leave them in our seats when we left the plane!

My bed for the night in Moscow

So, sleeping on the hard floor definitely made me feel like an old lady, as it was painful in a lot of places for a few days afterward! Also, there were bright florescent lights blaring in my face all night long, and some pretty loud announcements occasionally. Initially, I was the only person in my area, but when I woke up later, I realized that there were other "homeless" people sleeping around me as well, which made me feel a bit more safe. I was up around 6 a.m. for good, and so I still had 3 hours to kill before boarding. I think I forgot to say that my layover was 17.5 hours long! One other thing that was hard was the expense of staying for that long in an airport. I needed a bottle of water, and seriously could not believe that they wanted $2 for the smallest bottle in the world! It was probably 6 ounces?! It was the cheapest possible, so I bought it, grudgingly. Luckily, I had the sense to buy 2 donuts in the Bangkok airport at a fairly cheap price, so one was my breakfast in Bangkok, and the other was my dinner in Moscow. In the morning, I spent $6 on crepes with strawberry preserves, and it killed me to be paying so much for so little food! It is amazing how I think of prices and quantity whilst traveling! Eventually, the time came to board my flight to Athens, which was only a little over 3 hours long. This time, I didn't get my own TV, but at least I had my borrowed blanket and pillow!

World's smallest, and most expensive, bottle of water!

Touching down in Athens was pretty exciting - done with the first leg of my journey, and on to the second! This one is going to be a whirlwind of activity, getting from one country to the next. I figured out that I want to see 14 countries in 12 weeks! I may have to skip a couple of them, because I just don't know how that is possible! For instance, I really wanted to go to at least one area of Italy that I haven't been to, and also Italy is still one of my most favorite countries, so I would love to go back. I just don't know how it is going to work, but I guess I will just think of it as a brief look at a lot of countries, so that I can see where I want to go back to in the future. For now, I have really been enjoying taking my time in Athens, since I haven't started using my Eurail pass yet. Once I get it activated, it is good for 3 months, so then it will be GO GO GO! I will write a post on Athens soon. I am really excited to leave tomorrow (Saturday) for the island of Santorini! It is one of the places in the world that I have really always wanted to go to! I am bummed, though, that the weather isn't supposed to be very good, but hopefully I will make the most of it! I will take a ferry for 8 hours tomorrow afternoon, and arrive at 1 a.m., which should be interesting! Don't worry, I will take a lot of pictures! Hope to hear from you all soon!