Before starting our last day of exploring Athens, we stopped by the train station to secure a sleeper cabin on a night train to Sofia, Bulgaria. The train station seemed to be extremely busy but we actually found the international travel desk to be wide open. We were disappointed to learn that the train was completely booked (and yes, we should have learned our lesson from the other two times night travel has been completely sold out on us). Without many options, we bought seats on an earlier train to Thessaloniki, Greece where we’d have a seven hour layover before continuing on to Sofia.

Several hours later, we returned to the busy station for our evening train. We again noted how every inch of the small station was filled with people but didn’t think too much of it as we boarded and took our seats. We found the train to also be quite full as we settled in our assigned seats in a cabin with four others. Because of our interesting travel night, we planned on drinking a beer then trying to sleep most of the ride north. Unfortunately, the group seated in our cabin seemed to be having a family reunion which prevented any hope of catching zzz’s. Continue reading →