We were up early this morning to meet our driver for our 6:30 pick-up. This was necessary because our flight to Istanbul would take off at 10:00 and it is a 45-minute drive to the airport. It also required that we walk off Journey with all of our luggage. We waited in line at the gangway with a few other passengers. At 6:30 it was announced that the ship would not be cleared for departure until 7:00 due to a passport control snafu. At 7:00 we left the ship and managed to herd our luggage for the long walk through the terminal. Outside we waited a bit looking for a driver with our name. Most of the others were gone when our driver appeared. He helped with our luggage and got us to his van a block from the terminal. We are not sure why he was not allowed inside, but it worked out OK.
We followed the coast for quite a distance before turning inland toward the airport. This was not the same route our driver followed when we arrived in Athens because then we were going to the heart of Athens. Now we were coming from the port in Piraeus. This was a more scenic route past many marinas with sailboats and large yachts. We arrived at the airport shortly after 8:00. We checked in with Turkish Airlines and got boarding passes to Istanbul and Chicago. They checked our bags through to Chicago. By the time we cleared security, it was just one hour till boarding began. We spent it in the airline’s lounge. Very nice. The 1 1/2-hour flight was smooth and comfortable.
In Istanbul, we had another wait in the lounge before boarding. On the plane, our cabin attendant was from Cappadocia. She was delighted to learn that we had recently been there. This made for excellent attention all the way home. We again enjoyed excellent meals with entrées cooked to order by the onboard chef. We cannot say enough good things about the quality of service on Turkish Airlines.
We arrived at O’Hare early and breezed through global entry. Our only delay was waiting for our luggage. Even the taxi was at the door within 5 minutes of our call. We walked in our door at home at 9:00 PM. That was 4:00 AM in Athens. We had been up almost 24 hours. I fired up the hot water heater and we went to bed.
This had been an exciting and fulfilling 5 weeks but our last 10 days had taken a toll on us. We got to see everything we wanted to see. That was fine. It was the pace that took its toll. The terrain in the Holy Lands and the length of the rides to get to the sites wore us down.
We don’t regret doing this because it is a once-in-a-lifetime journey at our age. We have great memories of all that we got to see and do. We have a deeper appreciation for the challenges that Jesus, the apostles, and the early Christians endured.
Now we look ahead to our next adventures.
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