Before we left I did my best to get extra rest, eat right and exercise. I wanted to ensure I felt great for all the sightseeing ahead. So imagine my surprise when I woke up on the second day of our trip in Athens with a very sore throat. Frustrated, I pushed through. There was no way a sore throat was going to stop me from seeing everything Athens had to offer. Plus I could rest in Hydra.

Even with the extra rest in Hydra and two trips to the pharmacy, my sore throat persisted. By Nafplio, it was clear my sore throat was getting worse, now coupled with a cough that was making it hard to get much sleep at night.

This is how I ended up at a Greek doctor’s office on Wednesday at 9 pm. Panos, one of the owners of Pension Marianna, spent 20 minutes looking up a doctor that could see me, then drove me to the doctor’s office in town, and then waited for me while the doctor checked out my throat – serving as a translator too since the doc only spoke limited English. Seriously, can you imagine such amazing service in the states?

The doctor was an ear, nose and throat specialist, and after a quick exam he diagnosed me with a viral infection to be treated with medicine to ease my symptoms and lots of rest. The next day I made sure to take it easy, and am happy to report I’m already feeling better.

The whole experience was really comforting – that you can be in a completely different country, far from home, and yet be treated with kindness from people who genuinely want to help you. Also Interesting to note, there was no talk of insurance or any paperwork to fill out when I visited the doctor – their focus was on helping me, no strings attached. Same at the pharmacy. Knowing how much red tape there is in the U.S., it makes me wonder what this process would be like for a visitor to our country. But I digress…

Just another example of the benevolence of the Greek people…and my first (and hopefully only ever) foray into their medical system. I’m looking forward to feeling 100-percent better very soon, as we set our sights on Italy!