Our Trafalgar transfer to the airport was scheduled for 10:00. Our flight to Athens did not depart until 1:20 so we were comfortable with the timing. When the van arrived we were greeted by the same young man who met us at the airport two weeks ago. He is very pleasant and we were happy to see him again. He was a big help to us with getting our luggage into the airport.
We said goodbye to the 6 others on our transfer and headed off looking for the Turkish Airlines desk. The very first thing we had to do was go through security. It was quick, but finding the checkin desk was not as simple. We did finally get there and all went smoothly.
Now that we had boarding passes we had to go through another security checkpoint. This was a little slower. We found our gate with plenty of time. Shortly after sitting down we saw John and Sharon from Australia coming toward us. We did not know that they were on our flight. They explained that they were supposed to be on a flight that departed at 10:30. There transfer was 8:30. They arrived at 9:30 and it took an hour to get through security and check in. At the gate their plane was gone. They had to buy tickets on the next flight which was ours. They were happy to be able to get to Athens, but not looking forward to the insurance rigmarole. We next saw them at passport control in Athens.
Our boarding went smoothly and the plane pushed back a few minutes early. The flight was a little bumpy after takeoff. That subsided quickly. Then the crew started to serve a lunch snack. We were surprised to get this on a flight of just an hour and five minutes. Alice and I saved our sandwiches for dinner and ate the salad and dessert. We finished that just as they came to pick up. I was glad I had taken cherry juice instead of the offered beer. I would not have been finished.
Turbulence on the approach delayed us slightly. We landed 5 minutes late with a really hard touchdown. The taxi. To the gate seemed interminable. By the time we cleared immigration and retrieved our bags we were over half an hour late. Not to worry. There just outside customs was a crowd of greeters. A big fellow held his phone with a very clear JOHN FINN. We shook hands and made our way to his taxi. This had been arranged through our travel consultant and could not have been smoother.
It was a long ride to our hotel. Traffic was busy. Hera Hotel Athens was ready for us. We were quickly in our room on the4th floor. I did not pay the premium for the Acropolis view so we see walls and rooftops. No problem. The inside is clean and beautiful.
We left our luggage and went out for a walk to see where we were. We were just where I imagined when I made the booking. We are 2 short blocks from the Acropolis metro station and an Acropolis ticket office. The Plaka starts just across from that. This could not be more convenient. As we walked back to the hotel we passed many restaurants with outdoor seating. The wind was strong making it feel cool. We checked some menus and found one with pizza on it. Maybe tomorrow. We will have our flight sandwiches tonight.
Back at the hotel we unpacked a bit and organized the laundry we want to do tomorrow. Google maps tells me there is a laundromat just a few blocks about 5 minutes away. We will find out in the morning. For tonight we ate the sandwiches, called Sean, worked on my blog while Alice organized her notes, and we were in bed before 10:00.
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