Kiwis call it “The Big OE”. That’s short for The Big Overseas Experience - which means: “If I’m gonna fly halfway around the world, I might as well stay awhile…” Normally, we Kiwis do our Big OE before we get married – or at least before we have kids. And usually it’s a low-budget, back-packers style of trip.
Tania and I never got around to it. We’d blow all our vacation money on short (or local) trips and never have enough time or money left for the Big OE. But we love travelling and knew we’d get around to it one day. We realised it’d have to be when the kids were old enough to remember, but young enough not to impact schooling too much – so, 2005 at the earliest, 2009 at the latest. In early 2005 we put some money aside and started planning…In 2006 we – James, Tania, Sam (10) and Blake (7) headed off on The Big Trip.
Long-haul flight (Auckland – Singapore – Athens in our case)
Be sure you book a flight that has TV screens in the seat in front of you, and use the airline website to find out what the in-flight TV system software is like. You can watch movies or TV programs, listen to music, or play games. Make sure you can pause, rewind, fast forward or stop what you are watching. Very important for when the kids want to talk or during the food service, or during announcements.
Athens airport arrivals
We landed at 7am. It was 24 degrees (Celsius – about 75 F) already. So, be sure that you have light clothing on before you start the descent into Athens, as it’s a nightmare trying to get a family in and out of the restrooms to change clothes once you land. Trust me, it’s easier onboard!
Athens train system
It took us about 15 mins to work out what to do and which platform we wanted, so allow yourself plenty of time. If you are rushed you’ll get horribly flustered. Take it easy! All the signs are in Greek and English and the station announcements are as well.
The National Historical Museum
The National Historical Museum in Athens, focuses on the last couple of centuries, it has lots of ancient weapons – canons, guns and such like. It was €6 each in 2006 and the kids were free. Surprisingly, our kids had a good time, plus the aircon was excellent.
Smoking
The worst thing about Athens, for non-smokers, is all the smoking. They smoke everywhere. If you’re lucky the restaurants have a no smoking area but it’s not separate! The only place we went to where there was no smoking was McDonald’s.
We discovered that a bottle of water was 0.50c and a large 1lt one was €1. You’ll be grateful that water is reasonably cheap as you’ll go through it really quick.
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