Greece- Land of Gods and Heroes Day 1 & Day 2

Saturday, November 6th and Sunday, November 7th, 2021

This was our first International trip since the first week of March, 2020. We had to rethink what we would need and what documents we would need to have for our flights and for the government of Greece. If you thought that flying was a hassle since 2001, then you really don’t know what a hassle is, thanks to COVID! First, check with the airlines that you will be flying on and also the country(or countries) that you will be visiting. This is a must. You don’t want to get to the airport and not have the documentation, forms, etc… that you will need to fly! It isn’t just your passport and boarding pass to get on a flight.

We felt confident traveling with the Hilliard Chamber of Commerce. This is our fifth trip with them! They prepare us and the travel company lets us know what we will need. They require everyone to be fully vaccinated which for us was an important requirement. To get on the plane we needed our passport, vaccination card, and our Passenger Locator Form that Greece required!

We ordered waterproof card holders for our vaccination cards. Also, have with you a supply of face masks because you will need them! The face masks are mandatory for the plane, in the airports, and also inside all establishments! Our best advice is to be organized and be prepared.

Forty two hours before our flight we took a COVID-19 test to make sure we were negative.

We left Columbus, OH Saturday afternoon and flew to Atlanta. Our connection was only a little over a couple of hours. In Atlanta we boarded a flight for Paris, France. This was our overnight flight where we were to try to sleep. There were six of us in our “sub group” of the full chamber group.

Sunday morning we arrived in Paris, France for a very quick layover to board our plane for Athens. Paris TSA was nasty to many passengers on our flight! We won’t go into details but many of us were lucky to make our flight. When you are tired from a long flight with little sleep, this was not a good experience!

The Air France pilot pointed out the Alps when we flew over them. It was majestic to see these snow-covered mountains.

We arrived in Athens and met our tour director. We all went through customs, gathered our luggage, and boarded our bus to take us to our hotel in Kinetta, Greece. The hotel was located about an hour from Athens. The check-in process for the hotel was easy and we went to our room. It was great to freshen up, change clothes and head for the beach at the hotel.

Kinetta Beach Hotel was our home away from home while we explored Athens and the surrounding areas. It was an all inclusive hotel and because it was the end of the season, almost all of the guests were with the three Chambers of Commerce that were on this trip.