{"id":32711,"date":"2018-07-10T18:18:38","date_gmt":"2018-07-10T22:18:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.therockysafari.com\/?p=32711"},"modified":"2021-03-25T22:06:44","modified_gmt":"2021-03-26T02:06:44","slug":"i-made-it-to-greece-alive-in-one-piece","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.therockysafari.com\/2018\/07\/10\/i-made-it-to-greece-alive-in-one-piece\/","title":{"rendered":"I Made It To Greece Alive & In One Piece"},"content":{"rendered":"

I MADE IT TO GREECE! \ud83d\ude00<\/p>\n

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It feels good to breathe the fresh air in Europe following my travels overseas. My journey to Greece took nearly a full 24 hours from start to finish.<\/strong> It wasn’t supposed to take so long but between flight delays and figuring out how to navigate… it did.<\/p>\n

My flight itinerary to Greece included a layover in Italy. I was excited to return to my Motherland – even if it was capped at three or four hours. That quick taste of Rome was enough to make me realize one thing: I need to go back.<\/strong> I visited Italy once before as a kid and I think I would have a totally different appreciation for it nowadays.<\/p>\n

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For the cross-Atlantic flight to Italy, I flew with Norwegian Airlines. They are a newer, small-budget airline. I was a bit apprehensive to fly with them given my lack of history flying with them but between the positive reviews online and the affordable price tag for the ticket to Greece, I decided to give them a chance. Norwegian Airlines offers amazing value for what you pay.<\/strong> (My ticket was cheap and I had so much space since the seats beside me were all empty! The seats were padded and so comfy!)<\/p>\n

Naturally, there are certain things we come to expect with budget airlines. Things like: paying extra to check a bag and for food. (Throw back to when I paid to check my backpack but waited forever for it to register. Fear not: it finally processed with time to spare.<\/a>) Though I did pay for a checked bag,\u00a0I did not want to pay for airline food<\/strong> so I purchased a small bag of trail mix before my plane left.<\/p>\n

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Then Magic Happened<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This one very sweet flight attendant started walking around with her seating chart taking note of who ordered food and distributing the respective meals to everyone who paid. After reaching the end of the plane, the flight attendant makes her way back up the aisle and taps me on the shoulder before asking, “Sir. Do you like beef?”<\/p>\n

“I do,” I answered while nodding.<\/p>\n

She secretly reveals a meal box and offers it to me.<\/strong><\/p>\n

“Can I?” I asked, looking at the meal box she’s holding.<\/p>\n

“Go ahead, sir.” Just like that, I scored a free meal! Best flight attendant ever!<\/p>\n

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Salad with Extra Virgin Olive Oil. *Molto bene*<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After opening my meal box, I found a mini salad with a baby bottle of olive oil. So cute! I found it so fitting to be served the salad with Extra Virgin Olive Oil on a flight to Italy.<\/strong> My Italian grandfather would have approved.<\/p>\n

It was at the Leonardo da Vinci Fiumicino Airport that I passed through the European Union customs area and got my passport stamped. I definitely did something wrong because I went through customs not once, not twice, not three times, but four times<\/strong>. Don’t ask me how. But yeah, I literally used up an entire page of my passport in a country I’m not even staying in.<\/p>\n