3/12/2023 0 Comments Missed Tour - ProtestCrazy story. So I had a scheduled tour for the Temple of Poseidon. To get to the tour, I had to travel to a separate location where the bus was that would take us to the coast with the temple. It was easier they said for us to just meet them there instead of trying to navigate a large tour bus through the Acropolis area to all the hotels to pick people up, simple enough. I gave myself 2 hours to make it to the place where the meetup was. To start I called an Uber...this took about 20 minutes and then they cancelled. So I was like well there are tons of yellow taxis around, I'll just go grab one. I walk up the street to get a taxi, but they're all full. I finally find one and the guy told to just go take the metro because the pick up location was right where the station was. So I'm like okay fine lemme run over to the station outside the Acropolis, I looked up the route, I had 3 minutes until the metro I needed was coming and then I would have to switch trains. So then I run down, buy a ticket, and just make it onto the metro, but there were ones that were going two different ways and I wasn't sure if I got on the right one. Turns out, I got onto the right one, but it skipped the station I needed to go to. Well shit. So I get off at the next one, figuring I was at least closer and could try to get a taxi from here to the meetup spot. I had about 30 minutes until the meeting time and was 20 minutes away. When I walk up out of the station, I am greeted by a massive group of very angry looking protestors all in black with skulls shirts and huge gas masks. And they're walking right towards where I am. There's tons of police so I walk hastily in the other direction and duck into this fancy looking hotel. I ask them to get me a taxi but they said that because of the protests there were no taxis in the area. I go back outside to see if they're still there, but the protestors were gone. So I decide to go back to the metro to find another way to get there. As I start walking down the steps, my senses are hit with stinging and my eyes start watering. Turns out the protestors went to the metros to protest an accident that happened a week prior. I quickly ran back out as I couldn't handle the pepper spray they did to the station. At this point, I'm not making the tour. I go back to the hotel and ask them to order me a taxi, they told me to wait about 20 minutes for the protests to calm down. So I go wait in their cafe and try to relax and deal with the disappointment of missing my trip. The guide was kind enough understanding the protests and gave me a full refund. It was a very stressful situation, scary seeing protestors in a place I didn't know where I was, but I handled the situation well and got to a safe space. This was the greatest sign for myself that I am ready to be a solo traveler.
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