I didn’t really finish what happened Friday. I think we last left me standing in a room filled with people who all run around for 26.2 miles and then try to figure out where to put the medals we get at the end of it.
The reception is going strong when I head upstairs to the lobby to meet Laura. She had posted on my fb wall that she was going to be in Athens for one night while she waited to board a ship for her next contract and, as luck would have it, I would be there too. The universe gave me a night with a friend I haven’t seen in over 5 years. We chatted a few times via fb and phone calls and finally agreed to meet at 7p in the lobby of my hotel on Friday night.
So I get there. And wait. And wait. I start to get worried, but figure it was probably more that she was tired and had fallen asleep after the long flight. So I go downstairs and have another glass of wine and some baklava. I head upstairs at around 9 and se I have a message. Laura had called and said that everyone ate so late anyway and we should head out around 9 instead. A minute after I hang up my phone she calls and I pick up, shocked at the perfect timing. She says she’s going to get on a bus and head over, meeting at my place around 10p. Great. We hang up and I lie down, set my alarm and fall asleep.
Well, I sleep through the alarm. No surprise there after four glasses of wine and severe jet lag. I awake at 10:45 in a panic that I had missed her. I run downstairs to see if she’s in the lobby. Nope. I head back upstairs and try to think of what to do. Five minutes later my phone rings and it’s her. She had gotten lost on the way to my hotel and had just arrived. Hooray!
We walk around the Plaka for a while, taking side streets and trying to find a good place where we can talk but still feel the vibe of the city. We wander for probably 45 minutes, talking and laughing and catching up on everything. This is what I love about women. We can talk for hours and still enjoy each other’s company and still have something to say. We find a cute little organic restaurant on a side street and head in. Laura orders some wine, I get water and order a salad and a plate of meat and cheese. Very European. We about relationships, cute boys, clothes, careers, starting families and what we each want in life. It’s so nice to talk with someone about everything. And there is no long talk of the past, considering we went to college together I imagine there might be more to talk about there. But we both look to the future and talk about what we want and where we’re going. It’s a wonderful evening and I can’t stop smiling.
At 1a we head out for Laura to catch her bus back to her hotel. I’m sad to see her go. Such a nice piece of the USA on my Greek trip and I’m so thankful. I put her in the bus with her hot chocolate and, with the Acropolis on my right, head back to my hotel, certain of where I’m going. Certain that, if nothing else, I will at least be able to find signs that will lead me to The Temple of Olympia Zeus and then I can find home from there. I walk with a purpose for 20 minutes, always looking for the Acropolis to get my bearings. I turn and walk up a very steep hill, certain I’m going the right way, only to turn full around and see the Acropolis directly in front of me. Crap. So down the hill I walk, desperate to find something that looks familiar. (And hoping to not walk past someone I have already passed, showing my foreign confusion about streets and directions.)
I finally do. 45 minutes after leaving Laura on the bus I find myself back where I had left Laura, taking a left this time instead of a right. I feel slightly panicked as I search for clues to my path home. I know I can’t just sit down on a stoop and sleep (as I want to do) and there is this strange feeling of determined resignation I feel as I know I have to get myself back to the hotel. Not finding it is not an option. Soon streets start to look familiar and slowly I put the pieces of where I am together in my head.
At around 2a I come upon a set of ruins I recognize from my tour book and it just makes me laugh. I love being in a city where you can drink a coffee made 5 minutes ago, carry a purse made 50 years ago, walk on streets paved 100 years ago and “stumble” across a set of ruins from 1000 years ago. The ruins I in front of me at 2a is the Roman Agora- the central meeting place of ancient Athens. I can’t go into it, but it’s lit with floodlights to give it a regal glow. I walk slowly around it, taking in all the shadows and history.
Then, with my bearings once more and the Acropolis on my right, I head to the hotel. I know where I am now (this is where Joel and I got lost yesterday) and I am ready to be back in my room. I have to pee, I’m thirsty and exhausted. 20 minutes later I cross the street to my hotel and walk into the lobby.
I never felt unsafe in Athens during my late night walk. There were people out eating and drinking and dancing and laughing. I never felt threatened or scared or out of place (other than when I was lost. But even then I knew where I was headed and that made it okay.) It is a very nice city with really nice people. I feel very proud of myself for finding my way home and getting myself into bed safely. Tomorrow begins another adventure
No comments:
Post a Comment