Athens - Pointing the horse to the USA barn

Saturday, October 08, 2011
Athens, Attica, Greece
Athens - October 8 - 9
Time to start winding down and gear up for the long trip home.

The Mykonos airport was small, informal and not the place to go to early to catch your flight. We did. The Avis rental car was returned, successfully with no damage. Three weeks with rental cars in Greece with no damage is a testament to driving skills and luck.

The flight to Athens is a short 30 minutes and then it is time to say goodbye for the travelers. John and Kathy will spend one night at the Sofitel at the airport and return to San Diego early morning Sunday. Mary and I will stay two nights at the Herodian, the same hotel downtown Athens we started with, and catch our flight to Louisville, at noon on Monday.

John and Kathy make a quick dash to drop luggage and head in to Athens for a few last sights they wanted to cover before wrapping up. Mary and I climbed on the Metro and headed to the Herodian hotel. We spent the remainder of the day and Sunday walking around Athens catching a few more sights we did not want to miss.

The changing of the guard at the Parliament Building is impressive with marching band, the entire guard group and a throng of tourists to watch. A lot of pomp and a good show. We took a stroll through the National Gardens and wandered the flea market in the Monastiraki and Mary finally had her much repeated fear of being pickpocketed. Actually it was "pickbacked". Wearing her little backpack, we discovered both zippers wide open with my favorite shirt, the only missing thing. Nothing like taking a shirt right off your back. She had no idea when it might have occurred. Next week we can probably find my shirt in the Monastiraki flea market.

With one last look at the Acropolis in the late afternoon sun and one last Greek meal, we are packing to go home.The big issue for us on Monday morning will be transportation to the airport. The transit workers (Metro and bus lines) will be on strike. Our hotel insists cabs will be available to the airport. They were correct. Traffic was a mess but we got to the airport way too early (this is usual when you travel with Mary), boarded our flight on time and commenced the long journey home. With connections in Montreal and Cleveland the trip was going to be long.  From the time we got up in Athens to the time we would arrive in Louisville a very tiring, mood altering 24 hours will expire.
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