So much has happened since my last post – travel, Olympics, running – and I keep putting off my goal of chronicling my Olympic travels. The next few posts will be catch up posts, then looking forward to upcoming travel to Paris, home of the 1900 and 1924 Olympics (and maybe 2024 Olympics!).

Travel to Athens went pretty smoothly. Starting in Denver, Colorado, I traveled to Minneapolis, Minnesota. The flight was uneventful, and I arrived with just enough time to make it to the next flight – to Amsterdam. Literally, JUST enough time to walk on the plane and get ready for the long flight across the ocean.

I had been to Amsterdam once before. About 10 years ago, it had been the layover on my way to Istanbul, Turkey. I remember it being colder and overcast. Arriving in Amsterdam this time, it was no different – cold and overcast. The Amsterdam airport seems large, or maybe I just always have the luck of having connecting flights on what seems like the opposite side of the airport. Anyhow, I arrived to my connecting flight with plenty of time. Because I had been to Amsterdam before, it seemed “safe.” Now, boarding the plane to Athens, I was finally entering new territory! Exciting – this is what I had been waiting for, for such a long time. Bring on the Olympics!

The flight to Athens was much shorter. Having been to Istanbul before, I felt more prepared to enter a world where the native language was not English, and not even close to something I could comprehend. I remember being overwhelmed while in Turkey. The Turkish alphabet I had no idea what signs said, and couldn’t even try to make sense of them. Greece was no different, but it was okay this time.

Because Athens had been host to such an international event as the Olympics, it seemed that many people did understand English and could speak it as well. Upon arrival in Athens, I was surprised to not find any sort of customs. Since I had carryon baggage only, I pretty much walked out of the terminal to figure out how to get to my hotel. Having read all the news stories ahead of time, I wasn’t sure what kind of environment I would find in Athens. Was I going to be safe? Was the economy as terrible as reports had said? I would soon find out.