Heading to the Rome airport was smooth, but after we checked in, we learned the first leg of our flight to Athens got delayed, meaning we’d miss our next flight to Santorini. Wonderful start to the Grecian portion of our trip.

At the Athens airport, we got moved to a later flight. We were supposed to depart from Athens to Santorini at 1:35PM, but we got moved to a 5PM flight. We sat out the longer wait and eventually boarded the shuttle that’d take us to our plane on the tarmac. It was there right in front of the plane that the shuttle bus driver was told to turn around because the plane could not take flight. The winds were too strong in Santorini and we wouldn’t be able to land. So he drove us all back to our boarding gate where we waited.

For the next 2.5 hours, we got alerts every 30 minutes to let us know if there had been a weather update. Finally at 8pm, we got the update that our flight was cancelled. It was to be rescheduled for 6AM the next day. Aegean Airlines then started to arrange for a shuttle and a hotel for all of us who were now stranded. 

We got taken to a five star hotel called Divani Apollon Palace & Thalasso in Vouliagmeni—which was about a half hour away from the airport. They had to check in more than 100 guests at 9:30PM.

Upon checking in, they told us they’d be preparing all of us a buffet at 10:30PM for dinner, and that a shuttle would be there at 4AM to pick us up from the hotel and drive us to the airport. They also mentioned at 3AM, they’d set out coffee in the lobby for us. 

We decided we’d eat something at the buffet and then go to bed. I thought the buffet would be like some cold foods, maybe a few sandwiches, fruits. It turned out to be a proper spread with salads, fish, chicken, pasta, and loads of desserts. 

I like to imagine that the staff were called in and the chef in charge was probably like “we have 100 or so tired and probably angry tourists who didn’t manage to get to their vacation destination. And this might be their first time having Greek food. Let’s do our best!” Loved the dolmades that they served!! 

The hotel itself was also quite nice. Wish we had had time to check out the amenities, but we’re grateful to have a nice place to nap and get fed. Vouliagmeni is a beach town, so it would’ve been beautiful to actually visit. Maybe in the future! 

At 3AM, S and I woke up, packed all our stuff and headed to the lobby. The “coffee” was also a spread with juices, muffins, and cookies! The hotel was awesome, probably calling in staff to help set up the spontaneous meals and getting all of us help. Huge shoutout. 

I’m writing this as we’re sitting at our gate, hopefully to head onto a plane that’ll depart in an hour to Santorini! Fingers crossed.