Written by John Baron
I have to admit, when my alarm went off at 3am Wednesday morning I wasn’t exactly jumping out of bed. We all arrived at the fine arts building at 4:15 with common questions being “How much sleep did you get?” And “Aren’t you excited?!” Once the buses arrived we quickly loaded up and headed for O’Hare International Airport in Chicago! (This was the only way to ensure that all 81 students and 4 faculty/staff are able to travel together)
We have two packed buses of musicians going on this tour, and it wasn’t long before we started the number system so we can quickly identify who may be gone…I got 28! I had never heard a bus so quiet as ours when we first started out. Everyone had the same goal: to catch up on sleep! We would wake up when the buses stopped at some of Minnesota’s and Wisconsin’s best rest areas and stretched our legs.
When we got to the airport the controlled chaos began as people lined up to check their bags. Luckily everyone had their passports and the security went really smoothly! We had about an hour of free to get food and relax at the gate! This is when I learned we were flying on a 747, and let me tell you it’s HUGE! The lufthansa flight attendants were incredibly friendly and we ate dinner and breakfast on the 8-hour flight. We had a quick layover in Frankfurt and then got on our last leg and flew to Athens! Weirdly enough, we landed in Athens almost exactly 24 hours after we started our trip. We are here!!!
We are loving the weather! It was 52 in Athens and not having to wear a coat was a nice benefit of Greece. At this point we loaded the buses and took a panoramic tour of Athens-stopping at the base of the Acropolis for photos! The view from our room is gorgeous as well! All of us are slightly loopy from the jet lag, and somewhat unsure of exactly what day it is, but we do know that tomorrow is our first concert at the Athens Music School at Pallini, wish us luck! We will perform for the students, faculty, and communities at the School, and then they will perform some music for us. We look forward to this exchange and will keep you posted!
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