Long Journey to Jordan

We left Athens on the 7th of December and made our way to the airport. We were due to fly at 9 pm so to avoid rush hour traffic we left Athens at 5pm as city traffic can be hectic. We went to check-in at 7 pm and discovered that in order to gain entry to Jordan we needed to have a PCR test completed within the past 72 hours. With covid prominent in many countries the advice was constantly changing and we had failed to keep ourselves informed. Turkish airlines were our carrier and I have to say their ground staff in Greece were exceptionably friendly and helpful. We had no choice but to stay in Greece another night but we only had a 30-minute window to get to the PCR testing center or we would be unable to travel the following day either. Our flight was rescheduled for the same time the following evening. Now all we needed to do was find a place to stay. We opened Booking.com to find places near the airport that would accept bookings at this time.

There was a place which looked good and was only 5 minutes from the airport. What we didn’t realize was that it was 5 minutes as the crow flies or cross country with the aid of a tractor. We ordered our trusty Uber and our lovely driver proceeded to drive us down every remote road to the point of actually running out of road. I’m not sure who was more concerned; the taxi driver because he thought we had lured him into a remote location to mug him or Róisín and I thinking we had been scammed. Anyhow, we managed to contact the owners of the hotel establishment we had booked and got back on track. The drive was actually 25 minutes down the motorway and back up through a local town. It was pouring rain and when we got to our destination, I cannot say first impressions filled me with confidence as it was pitch black and pouring rain. The daughter of the property came out to meet us carrying umbrellas, which went a little way toward appeasing my doubts. But as we walked further through this development and down numerous steps I was starting to lose hope. I really wasn’t expecting what I found. Our villa looked out onto a swimming pool which was all lit up, and the last thing I had expected from the efforts it took to find this place. It was really beautiful. Everything you would need for a comfortable stay would go as far as to say plush and I couldn’t wait to see what the landscape had to show us in the morning.  

We were not disappointed. The property looked out over the Greek countryside and as a place to get away to peace and quiet it was perfect. Great location for people with young children as it is a totally secluded environment where you can relax and not worry about the kids. Eggs, bread, cold meats, cereal, tea and coffee left for breakfast so we had a lovely start to our day. The test results came back negative at around midday so we were good to go that evening. We could finally start making our way to Jordan for the next part of our adventure.