Nia's First Impressions

My first impressions—by Nia

Getting ready to board the plane from Boston to Madrid, I was nervous. I hadn’t been on a plane since 2012, and being older I can think of many scary plane scenarios that I’ll spare you readers the details. Luckily my worries drained away when we found our seats, and I was happily surprised to find that each seat had a personal screen with many movies, television shows, music, and plane facts.

I was so distracted by all the fun stuff on the plane, that I knew I would be just fine. Then the plane took off! By this time I was, of course, chewing a big wad of gum to help with the air pressure and my ears. I had forgotten how loud taking off was, and it did make me a bit nervous, especially the feeling of tipping back and going up higher and higher, but I loved watching through the window ( I got a window seat!) and seeing everything get smaller and smaller. Once we got over the clouds it was time to check out the movies! There were so many I was excited to watch and our plane trip was about 6-1/2 hours so there would only be enough time to watch maybe three movies. I ended up picking a movie, watching the first 15 to 20 minutes, then started another movie that looked good. Probably not what most people would do ( Mom watched a whole movie next to me with out switching) but I still had fun. Then the food. Ohhhhh the food.

The hardest part was that the flight attendents of course served dinner to the first class passengers first, then went down from there, torturing us hungry people towards the back of the plane. I’ve heard most people complain about plane food, and I’m not sure if my hunger just took over or if it was actually good, but when that food came I ate everything that was served and felt very content. We had a smooth landing in Madrid and I felt great thinking that this layover in the airport would be fine (little did I know that we would have an incredibly long check-in line awaiting us). Once we were finished doing all the check-in stuff and were near our gate, we just hung out and got a little snack. By the time we were ready to board the plane I was getting hungry (again), and tired, which usually adds up to a grumpy Nia. To top that off we boarded an extremly boring plane with no movies because it was was just a four-hour flight from Madrid to Athens.

We found our seats and disovered that we had to sit next a man. Sitting, waiting for takeoff, seemed like it was taking longer than usual, and they finally announced that there was a delay, then a few minutes later, another announcment said there was a water leak or malfunction on the plane, and we had to get off and go back inside to wait for another plane. After a brief wait we got on a new plane and safely took off. During this next leg of our trip, I listened to music and looked out the windows the whole time. Not a cloud in the sky and I got to look down at the beautiful world under us. Finally our plane travels were over when we arrived in Athenes, and we got picked up by our Greek friends, who we would be staying with for a day. 

With the Acropolis overhead

The first day they took us shopping all day and we walked in the streets and it was amazing. That night our friend’s daughter, Dionysia, took me out for a night on the town—just us two girls! She took me up on this hill that overlooked all of Athens. All the lights were beautiful. Finally it was time to say goodbye to Athens and make our way to Kalamata, where my Baba would pick us up. I was most sad about leaving our friends’ dog, but excited to see our house for the first time. The ride was comfortable and beautiful seeing all the mountains.

View from the bus ride, Athens to Kalamata

Waiting for our ride from the Kalamata bus station

Heels over head for our new home away from home!

We pulled in the driveway of our little house that I recongnized from many pictures. We unlocked the door and I was so excited to see the cute place I would be staying in. That night we unpacked and and went out for a yummy dinner with some friends. Walking downtown I recognized so many things from a long time ago, but also I saw all the changes that were made. I saw many familier faces, and got introduced to many new faces as well. I’ve had so many great first impressions.

I’m so excited to be back! Relaxing on the beach, eating amazing food, and exploring! I’m taking so many pictures for this blog, and will definitely have to make another post about our adventures in Spetses next week : )

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Finikounda harbor--with a few of its dozen restaurants, cafes, and sweet shops---Nis says YUMMM!