Ants in Athens (And not the Greek Orthodox ones feeding their nieces and nephews lamb)

Compared to some of the funny stories from my past trips, I have felt like Greece was pretty uneventful. But this last night in Athens has made up for it. After indulging in my last falafel gyro and day wandering under the hot, Greecian sun I took a quick nap in my hotel room as the sun went down. I woke up and went to the bathroom only to find some weird ant looking bugs that had wings on. There were about four of them and a spider.

Having grown up in the woods, there were typically strange creepy crawlers that would come into our house – so I have no problem smooshing them with a bit of toilet paper and moving on. I went to smoosh the last one and it was like I hit the jackpot. Dozens of them started coming out of what seemed the grout of the shower. I’m on the second floor so at first I thought it was the window, which I had already closed, so this really didn’t make sense – but it’s in an old building so wasn’t ruling anything out.

There was no moving on from this, though. My heart raced a little, especially since I was still waking up and my brain had to double check this wasn’t just some gyro concocted nightmare. I headed downstairs to the front desk. There’s two ladies who are typically at the desk: one, presumably the owner or owner’s wife who is older and always has a deep burgundy lipstick, and a younger woman, presumably the daughter or daughter-in-law who thinks I’m funny and once called me “courageous.” The older woman was sitting there, whirling out Greek into the cordless phone. After a few moments of me lingering she hangs up.

Her: “Yes?”
Me: “Hi, yes, there are a bunch of ants or some type of bugs in my room. They are coming by the dozens.”
Her: “Well don’t eat the bread.”

That gyro I had chowed down on hadn’t even come close to the hotel and I have no other food with me – especially not in the bathroom.

Me: “I don’t have any food in my room. And they (the ants) are coming in near the shower in the bathroom. I killed a few and a bunch started coming.”
Her: “That’s strange.”
Me: “I just thought you would want to know so maybe something can get done.”
Her: “I have some spray I give you. The ants no harm you. I have someone look at it maybe tomorrow.”
Me: “Okay…”

I looked sheepishly, eyeing the multiple keys in a cubby behind the desk wondering if they belonged to spare, hopefully ant-free, rooms they could put me in, but grabbed the spray and went upstairs slightly amused, slightly dumbfounded.

I had stayed in the hotel already, but in a different room my first few nights in Greece and had no problems. It’s a quaint, boutique hotel that is in a neighborhood so it’s pretty quiet at night, but also within walking distance to the Acropolis and shopping/restaurant areas. So overall, it’s pretty perfect. I knew the older woman could likely not do anything, but she was so confidently hands free. Maybe it was because I had already paid for my stay in anticipation of leaving early the next morning.

I put a scarf over my mouth and nose and began spraying until almost every surface, but the toilet and sink, of the bathroom was covered in a thin gloss from the ant killer. About five or so minutes past and then the older woman knocked on my door took a quick look to my suprise and murmured that it was Easter Sunday and no one could do anything about it until tomorrow. This seems like a very laid back Greek mentality to me from what I’ve seen so far.

I hope this puts a smile on your face, because it is undoubtably another great story to add to my traveling arsenal.

XOXO with Shanti,

Mel