Travel Athens Adventure

[agentlossing]

My wife and I are in Athens, Greece for a week for our tenth wedding anniversary. Time flies! I reckon I'll have a lot of photos to share eventually, but will post a few as I go, as downtime allows.

The flight was long from Seattle, about ten hours in the air to Amsterdam, and a connecting flight after a couple of hours of layover to Athens. I was a bit surprised by the flight path on the first leg, despite the basic knowledge that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. We traveled over northern Canada and the southern part of Greenland overnight. We were seated next to the northern facing window. That all meant that the chances were good to catch sight of something interesting:

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To the eye, the aurora looked like a brighter cloud high above where clouds would be, but I could detect the slight movement, and sure enough, a long exposure revealed the color. Of course, a moving aircraft is the worst way to try and take a long exposure, and I made a lot of attempts, of which those are probably the best. IBIS has its limits, especially since the IBIS in the GRIIIx isn't the most effective, and the EM5II wouldn't even begin to focus through the dim window.

It was a pretty happy coincidence, though. The aurora borealis is a bucket list item for sure.

 

[melanie.ylang]

That's amazing! I've never seen aurora photos taken from inside an aircraft before, you must feel very happy to have gotten these.

 

[agentlossing]

Filled one SD card so far. Brought two spares. Here's a shot of the sunset over the Gulf of Corinth this evening.

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[bartjeej]

That's an awesome start to your trip! Looking forward to seeing further updates

 

[agentlossing]

Aegina is an island close to Athens, and of course beautiful.

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[Inphoto]

Nice shot of Aegina! I'm sure you have more, it is a very picturesque island with some nice beaches.

 

[agentlossing]

Nice shot of Aegina! I'm sure you have more, it is a very picturesque island with some nice beaches.

That I do, though we only had a half day there. I'd spend a full day next time.

 

[Inphoto]

It needs one or two nights stay to see some nice places out of the town, and more if you want to swim. In the summer it is unbearable hot though.

 

[agentlossing]

It needs one or two nights stay to see some nice places out of the town, and more if you want to swim. In the summer it is unbearable hot though.

I can already tell I will never want to visit in the summer; I grew up inland from LA, which is basically the same climate (just with different local variations). Plus (even more so) we got to experience the city with barely any other tourists, and I can't imagine enjoying the sights as much as we did with long lines and packed crowds. Plus, I don't want to interact with Greek service industry people when they're worn out. The kindness we had everywhere was magnificent.

 

[agentlossing]

Back home, time to sort through many, many photos.

 

[agentlossing]

A couple of shots walking down one of the streets. The editing process has begun. I've only just started on the EM5ii files so far. The GRIIIx will be next.

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[agentlossing]

Acropolis view from the entrance of the Roman Agora. The structure on the left is the tower of the Winds. The northern view of the Acropolis has an elevator, built in the past few years for disabled access.

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[agentlossing]

Now that it's finally the weekend (and I'm battling the seemingly-inevitable long-plane-ride crud which has my head stuffed up like a Thanksgiving turkey), I have a chance to post some more photos which I've been slowly editing.

The Erechtheion:

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And the Parthenon next to it:

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the Temple of Athena Nike:

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It was nice to be able to get photos without people in them, but also worthwhile getting ones with people, for a sense of scale. these structures are far more massive than I imagined. And, far from being just tourist destinations, they have to be appreciated for their aesthetics, especially in the setting of the Acropolis Hill. Truly amazing place.

 

[agentlossing]

Stunning Meteora and surrounds, in Thessaly.

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[agentlossing]

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[agentlossing]

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I'm going to wind down this thread since it's such a barrage of images. I might start a "Show Greece" thread and post somewhat more selectively in there.

It really was a trip I'll be thinking of for a long time, possibly until I get a chance to go back. I feel I should round out Europe with some other important sites, Rome primarily, but Greece and Athens in particular is going to have a piece of my heart.

 

[eliyasuzekeri]

Sounds like an amazing trip. I've always wanted to see the aurora borealis too, but it's awesome you got to catch a glimpse of it from the plane. Taking long exposures on a moving aircraft must have been challenging, but it's great that you managed to capture some of it. We hope to get there someday too, and we are looking for some affordable business class options. Anyway, hope you enjoy your time in Athens and happy anniversary.

 

[Inphoto]

View attachment 450222

I'm going to wind down this thread since it's such a barrage of images. I might start a "Show Greece" thread and post somewhat more selectively in there.

It really was a trip I'll be thinking of for a long time, possibly until I get a chance to go back. I feel I should round out Europe with some other important sites, Rome primarily, but Greece and Athens in particular is going to have a piece of my heart.

I see you were in Egina, the red ship is approaching port

 

[agentlossing]

I see you were in Egina, the red ship is approaching port

Yes indeed, we took the fast ferry but only had about 5 hours to wander. It's a lovely place!

 

[agentlossing]

Sounds like an amazing trip. I've always wanted to see the aurora borealis too, but it's awesome you got to catch a glimpse of it from the plane. Taking long exposures on a moving aircraft must have been challenging, but it's great that you managed to capture some of it.

Thank you for looking. And welcome to the forum! I hope you get a chance to see the aurora. I've since had a chance to take some more photos due to the extreme aurora activity about a month ago. Having never seen the aurora borealis prior to 2024, it seems rather surreal to have seen and photographed it twice by the first half of the year...