Sunday, August 25, 2024

July 29th, 2024 Delphi and Athens, Greece

4:45AM I woke up and started driving toward Delphi.

8:30AM I arrived at Delphi and began my tour, starting with the Tholos of Athena Pronaia. The Temple of Apollo was impressive, and I took some aerial videos before leaving for Athens around 1:00 PM. On the way, I picked up a couple of hitchhikers who offered 10 EUR, which I used for gas. Since I was tired, I let one of them take over the driving.


Delphi

Delphi Musuem

3PM The temperature outside was at least 38 degrees Celsius, according to the car's display. I visited the Parthenon and the Acropolis, finishing around 5PM. The tour took much longer than expected, so I had to skip the museum. I managed to capture some aerial videos of the Acropolis before leaving at 6:15 PM.






7:15PM I added gas twice during the drive. Despite using the toll road, I was still 45 minutes late to my next destination, only to find the gates closed. I ordered an Uber, but just as I did, the call went through, and the staff informed me that the driver would arrive in 10 minutes. He reached me around 7:35 PM.

7:45PM We arrived at the airport, and I rushed to security with only 3% battery left on my phone. Unfortunately, the boarding pass didn’t work, so I ran to a check-in kiosk, but it didn’t work either. I realized I had mistakenly gone to Hall A instead of Hall B. I cut through the line to screen my luggage and reached gate B7 just in time—they hadn’t begun boarding yet. The staff assured me it was safe to visit the Goldair Handling Lounge for 15 minutes before boarding. The flight was disappointing; although I thought I had booked a business class ticket, it turned out to be just an economy seat with an empty middle seat, offering limited legroom.

11PM I arrived at Charles de Gaulle, only to find that the customer service office was closed. A staff member informed me that all the lounges were also closed, and I wouldn’t be getting a complimentary hotel stay. Stranded at Terminal 2G, I attempted to reach Yotel, but I couldn’t access Terminal 2E. Even after exiting, I was unable to get to 2E until 5AM. Eventually, I made it to the K gates, but Yotel was located in the L section and turned out to be just a lobby with single rooms priced at nearly 300 EUR per night. After clearing security again to return to the K gates, I waited in the lounge until 9AM. Thankfully, the flight back to SFO in business class was pleasant.





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