Munich, Bavaria, Germany
Today was the final leg of my journey home from Athens back to Toronto. On my return I planned on having a brief layover in Munich to visit my Uncle and Aunt. They always ask me to stop by on my Europe trips and as my Birthday falls during Oktoberfest I have problems finding decent priced accommodation, preferring to stay on my own than with family.
My departure from Athens was 6am so I had arranged for a 4am drop off from the guesthouse close to the airport. I woke at 2am so closed my eyes for a bit and was out cold. Lucky I had my alarm set for 3am so this was the second time it saved me from sleeping in.
The car was waiting for me on time outside the guesthouse as I was worried they might not be on time this early. To my surprise another couple from the guesthouse was already waiting in the car as I expected to be the only one.
It was an 8 min ride to the airport and I was surprised all the shops were already open this early. There was no need for me to stock up on food from the airport yesterday on my arrival.
It was a night take off from Athens at 6am so not much to see except for lights. I tried to doze for a bit before we descended back under the clouds and saw morning landscape over Germany.
This was an internal EU flight from Athens. For whatever reason Border Patrol was waiting at our arrival gate. As I was rushing to leave and get to the S-Bahn train they started shouting and ran to catch up with me. Again 'the brown guy' was 'randomly' pulled over and asked what I was doing and where I was going. I showed both my UK and Canadian Passports. Yes we do have brown people living both in the EU and Canada, we are not all refugees, illegals, or asylum seekers. I am a native born EU citizen!
At the S-Bahn station I got a day pass for 12.80 EU ($18) so I can return back to the airport. I had an 8 hour layover in total so including return train times to get to my uncles house I only had half that time to spend with them.
It was a brisk 9 degrees and a refreshing change from 29 degrees in Greece and Cyprus. Door to door from the airport it took approx 1 hour to reach my Uncle.
My Uncle and Aunt were excited waiting my arrival at 9.30am. I was able to stay for three hours. We had an early lunch and just talking and catching up. They wanted me to stay overnight but we'd have to plan that properly for another trip.
My Uncle has a transit pass so he rode the return train back with me to as far as his pass allows.
The return flight to Toronto I've found things to be disorganized in Germany. Due to strict border controls again everyone at the gate has to stand in line to have their documents checked for entry to Canada, and have their boarding cards stamped as checked.
Late arriving passengers think this is the boarding line, stand in line, then boarding is announced, and these people get to board first when we were told to sit and wait after our documents were checked.
I watched the new installment of Alien and Alfred Hitchcook's The Bird's which I've never seen, and slept the rest of the time with my very early morning departure from Athens.
It had been an interesting trip. Greece I'd always put off as a top tourist destination and something I wanted to avoid in peak tourist months. It wasnt as crowded but I was getting sick from the air and Athens is not somewhere I would return to.
I still want to visit the islands of Crete and Rhodes, and perhaps in the north Pella and Kavala as day drips from Thessaloniki.
Cyprus was definitely my favourite and I see a return trip in a year or two. This is overlooked island whose history is crowded out by its more important rivals Greece, Egypt, and the Holy Lands.
There are layers of history from the Greeks, Romans, Lusignians, Venetians, Ottomans, Crusaders, and British rule. I've already scouted out more historical sights to visit around Nicosia, and Limassol and look forward to my return trip.
2025-05-22