▂▃▅▇█▓▒░۩۞ GREECE ۞۩░▒▓█▇▅▃▂

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This summer I had an incredible opportunity to travel to Greece with my family. Since my youngest sister, Ally, has been kicking ass in school and life in general, my dad, software engineer/drone pilot, told her she could go anywhere in the world for a week. She chose Athens, Greece, and they brought the whole fam.

“Honestly, if just the flights were the entire trip, I would’ve been satisfied."
Andrea - Younger sister

Everyone but Mom caught a Lyft to the airport at 4am, DFW > NY.
Dad flew Mama, business class, straight to Greece later that day. (He likes to spoil her. They’re cute.)

A lil Brooklyn pizza and sight seein for the afternoon before our next connecting flight...

Andrea caught this intimate view of a New York homeless man. — Definitely NOT me....

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"Sir, red or white wine for your in-flight meal?"
"Umm, can I have both?"
"Literally no one has ever asked me that....... sure."
"So theres not a rule on that?... Good. Thank you SO much. And I can click the...
(points up) when I… yeah? Ok, thanks."

New York to London - Economy seating

in addition to many other free things: streamable movies, mini pillows, and blankets; the airline offered wine with dinner. And turns out, if you ask for more nicely, they'll give you more. AND MORE. And then if you "have trouble sleeping" or "have a condition” blah blah — bat your lashes, and next thing ya know, you're seven 6oz cabernets deep and it’s time to get off the plane. You’ve passed out, spilled the last half of bottle #8 on yourself, missed the end of “Arrival”, wake up and for some reason start inviting fellow disembarking plane guests to the after party in the jetway.....

"Ayyyyee, you comin?"
"To what?"
".....THE AFTER PARTY, WOOooOO!!. So yeah?"
"Whatever man."

"You comin??”
"Obviously..."
"Yeaaah!! Seeya there. After party, WOO!"
"Get away from me."

They all LOVED IT.
Most people chuckled, including my sisters. My Dad sighed.

Then, mayyybe I went a little too far.

Everyone is through security besides Ally, and I decided that it would be just hilarious if I went over to the security attendant and told him, "Make sure to check her reeal good..." I pointed, winked, turned around, and rejoined my clearly and understandably furious father.

"Cut the SHIT Austin!! Are you stupid? Our flight leaves in 30 minutes."
I quickly sobered up as I realized my dumbassery.

20 mins later, Ally passed the rigorous full body cavity search. We could finally go to Greece.

LOL jkjk.
Security dude ignored me completely. A moment later, she cleared and we were on our way.

No free wine this flight..... or incidents....

After a 4 hour flight and a small rental car journey, mopeds and motorcycles zippin around on all sides, finally we arrived at our dreamy little home for the next 7 days.

Dad took an awesome drone vid from the patio —

Chilled ouzo with a lil Sprite — our obsession, for the next few days. Has a cool reaction when mixed!

Ouzo is "Greek Liquor". Tastes like peppermint while sporting a solid 40% ABV. A common souvenir sold in all sorts of cute monument-shaped containers; or if you take time to talk to your local shop-keep, you'll find that most of the best ouzo comes in common looking bottles — for a fraction of the price.

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One of the more surprising things about Greece for us, was that just about everyone speaks a little English. We only had to pull out the trusty phrasebook a couple times. Most of the locals would light-up anytime we attempted to speak Greek, and then start speaking English. A simple "Ya ses” or "Efharisto" would always result in smiles, sometimes laughter, and usually spark up conversation.

“Ya ses!"
“Ahhh! Kali spera!! Are you American? California??”
“Texas!! Pow! pow! * imitates gunslingin’ * Ya know? Horses to school and such…. Who are you? How ya doin?"

We spent 17€ on our first Gyro on a gorgeous rooftop restaurant, but honestly — it wasn't that good. The next day we discovered a fantastic little hole-in-the-wall restaurant (further away from the touristy side of the neighborhood) that made DELICIOUS gyros for around 3€, and sold 16oz beers for less than 2€. It's called Koukaki Kalamaki, Meat Lovers Grill House. We went there almost every day moving forward, and made friends with most of the kind employee's, especially our homie Fotis. Later he would figuratively save my dad's life. But we'll get to that later.

Fotis - kindred spirit/life saver. We especially loved the sign in the background that reads "Don't grow up. It's Trap."

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Our first night in Athens, someone broke into our rental car!! They smashed out the back passenger window, unlocked the door, and went right for the trunk. Thank GOD the little bastard(s) didn't get any of our work computers, DSLR camera, or drone that were in there just a few hours before.

Before this trip we read that in Greek culture, stealing is extremely shameful — not to worry about it cause no one dare. So we were a little perplexed by our car attack. But after talking with locals, we learned the economic state and influx of immigrants have put a huge strain on their society. Every day, around 12, someone would drive up and down the streets of Athens with a megaphone yelling what we were pretty sure were obscenities about immigrants and that native Greeks should force them out.

LPT: Don't leave stuff in your car, and just leave the doors unlocked! No fees or lengthy insurance procedures. Boom. Prob solved.

One day we hiked from our place up to Philopappos Hill. It was hot, but the breathtaking views and monument made it so worth it.

Andrea, goin all yogi on us.

below the monument on a plaque is an inscription in Greek: Φιλόπαππος Επιφάνους Βησαιεύς ("Philopappos, son of Epiphanes of the deme of the Besa")

Andrea and I found a little marble hut, or “Little greek tepee” as Mom called it. Whatever it is, I hope it’s not built to scale. It’s really tiny, not much space for entertaining. But we made it work…

It was quickly became apparent to us that Greece is home to GIANT ASPARAGUS.

After a lil research I’m pretty sure they’re agave plants, but if any asparagus experts want to chime in, be my guest.

One of the most awe-striking moments of the trip was to experience the top of Epidaurus Theatre. It is said to have perfect acoustics. I have to agree, the effects were almost unreal. Was I in a simulation?? We looked on as people took turns whispering/singing/tearing paper/etc. at their friends sitting way up in the "bleachers", giving thumbs up when they could hear.

There were cats and and dogs EVERYWHERE. Almost in gangs. There are parts of town ran by the dogos, and other parts ran by the cat mafia..... or pawfia, whatever. One eccentric shopkeep talked with us about how they are like family and how many people put out food to feed them. Strays, that most in America would shew away, were welcomed and loved — maybe there’s some deep symbolism or something.

Beautiful landscapes, delicious food, delightful people, are just a few of the things that contribute to making this country so brilliant. Within a few days, when we walked through our neighborhood beside the Acropolis, to get food, go site seeing, hiking, shopping, etc. — we stopped in stores to see our friends, waved at familiar passerby’s;
It was quite an adventure, yet I couldn’t help but feel at home.

Of course, with a few perks ;) ...liiiike it's legal walk around with a beer while shopping....

So many things happened, so many places seen, people met — one post can’t contain it. Stay tuned for part 2. Hiking up to a mountainside fortress, more statues/architecture, museums, getting locked out of our apartment and climbing buildings, our crazy night in New York on the way back, an EVEN COOLER drone video, and more.

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This post was inspired by and is dedicated to the lovely and talented @sweetsssj <3 If you don’t already, follow her for more incredible adventures.