This weekend was certainly an interesting one. A friend and were planning to go to Budapest for the weekend as it is quite close to Prague and still on our list of things to do. Searching for a cheap flight to the city we discovered the most cost efficient way to get to Budapest was to take a flight into Athens, and after a night there catch a flight from Athens to Budapest, spending a day at each city. This was by no means a convenient path to reach Budapest (flying hundreds of miles past the city only to return the next day), but the more we thought about it the more we welcomed this unexpected journey to Greece. So we booked our flights and the next morning were off to Athens.

My time in Athens really put my experience of trying to explore a city as much as possible to the test. With our one night we went to the Acropolis which was truly amazing. unfortunately only reconstructed ruins stand on the landmark now due to multiple sieges throughout the thousands of years the city existed. I kept repeating to myself, “it’s a shame they blew it up”. I realize “they” could mean any number of foreign invaders, but the reason I was repeating this was that being atop that hill looking upon the city and the surrounding small mountains felt quite surreal, I can only imagine how it would feel being with the original constructions of the first democracy. It was a sober reminder that nothing lasts forever.

I think Athens is the ideal city to visit for a day, because truthfully there is not a ton to see besides the Acropolis and the surrounding ruins/landmarks. Athens is simply an impoverished city, and it only takes a few blocks walk away from the Acropolis to leave the touristy destinations. I imagine the cost is lovely but I was satisfied with seeing what I saw.

The next morning I was off to Budapest, apparently sleeping your entire flight can make it go by much faster (weird right?), because with the blink of an eye I was landing in the Budapest airport. Here I was again in an incredible city with a rich history. I saw everything I could in the short time I was there, parliament building, the bridges, the palace, Fisherman’s Bastion, the bath houses, the ruin bars. So much travel can be exhausting, and it’s easy to forfeit by sitting down for too long, or going back to the Airbnb to nod off for a while, but I am happy I persisted – sleep can always come later, these are often once in a lifetime opportunities.

I returned to Prague late Sunday night satisfied with my travels. I wish I had learned earlier in my trip to embrace these unforeseen circumstances such as touching down in an unexpected city for a night of your weekend. Not expecting to visit Athens on my trip this Summer made it all the more pleasant and memorable. Seeing the two cities in one weekend was a lot but certainly a great experience which I regret not doing earlier. My bus back also stopped in Bratislava for a few minutes to pick up some passengers, so I’m going to go ahead and count that as three cities in one weekend. And hey I left from Prague too right? So lets say 4 cities in one weekend just to boost my accolades.