Athens - Day 1

 13 July 2025

I arrive in Athens! The eternal city of marble and myth, where democracy was born beneath the shadow of the Acropolis, and the voices of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle still seem to echo through the stone-paved streets. A city where the ancient and the modern live side by side, where every crumbling column has a story, and every sunset bathes history in gold. This is where my journey began.

I took a taxi from the airport to my hotel – a small luxury I afford myself these days – after 7 ½ hours of flying to Doha, 3 hours wait, and another 4 ½ hours to Athens – I couldn’t be bothered to figure out the metro, the bus, or other cheaper alternatives.

I learned very quickly that the Greeks are very direct, but that’s just the way they are – they actually do not mean anything by it. For example, in response to a question of “where are you from?”, I attempted to explain the geographical location of Malaysia, only to be told bluntly: “I know exactly where it is!” Right.

Although I was early, my room was ready! Yay! I freshened up, unpacked a little, and then asked the front desk for directions to the conference venue. It was literally 5 minutes away, and quite easy to find. On the way back, I found a quaint little coffee shop, where I had a baguette filled with chicken slices, eggs, tomatoes and lettuce, and Greek coffee with lots of sugar. Over the years, I realise it is actually not the caffeine I need to get me going in the mornings, but the sugar rush.

I spent a little time here going through my first ever fiction that I wrote, to detect discrepancies (this is my fifth time reading it, and I can still find discrepancies 🙄. Then back to the hotel, a much needed shower and sleep – with calls in between back to Malaysia, and preparing for the conference tomorrow. Greece is 5 hours behind Malaysia, and I was still operating on Malaysia time so by 7 pm, I was out. And woke up at 3 am, staring into nothing.