Thursday, May 15th 2014
Well its Thursday afternoon and we are finally getting ready to head to the hotel for a relaxing night before the flight tomorrow to Cairo then off to Athens.
Well its Thursday afternoon and we are finally getting ready to head to the hotel for a relaxing night before the flight tomorrow to Cairo then off to Athens.
Bags are packed, the Zoo Keeper has taken over the dog
duties and I think we have everything ready to go. What’s that I hear, great
booms of thunder and the skies have just opened up. It is raining like we are
in the tropics.
OK, there’s a break in the monsoon, lets pack the car.
Finally on the road, wipers flapping back and forth with streams of water
wicking off the windshield. The trucks are whizzing by as if nothing is wrong.
A ring from my cell phone catches me off guard. I think,
damn, what did I leave at home that the Zookeeper could be calling about. NOT
the Zoo Keeper, its Aeroplan reservations calling.
Hello, yes this is he, our what’s been cancelled when? Can
you repeat that, the road noise is making it difficult to hear. I could have sworn
that you just said that our Flight Home has been CANCELLED. It is? Hang on I
will pass you to the co-pilot and she will handle this.
After a back and forth conversation for about 20 min, we
have to make a decision on staying an extra night in Athens on the way home at
our expense and being rebooked in economy class. Carol & I had used an abundance
of points for this trip to get us into Executive Class for a 10hr. plus flight.
Now I find out that I have to make this decision in the next
15 minutes, as the Aeroplan agent is closing up and wants to go home, excuse
me?
Then she says she could get us on a direct flight from
Athens a day before we had been scheduled to leave. Great so now we would have
to get a new flight from Santorini a day early, at our expense so she could get
this complete and get home. NOT happening.
Now we have the car pulled over the the side of the road in
the pouring rain to get this worked out.
The last thing we want to do is cut a vacation short and
drop another $500 on connecting flights.
As it stands right now we have to find a hotel for an extra
night in Athens and stick with the Economy Class home direct.
Opa
Arriving at the hotel, we are greeted by a wonderful staff
and a great Hotel Suite for the night. Wine and Cheese greets us as we open the
door. OK lets leave the Aeroplan thing until the morning.
Out for dinner, some wine and a few beers. Montreal beats
Boston in game seven, time to hit the hay.
Friday May 16th, 2014
We are off. Athens here we come.
We have arrived, finally.
We estimated that we have be awake for about 26 hrs, snoozing now and then on the flights.
We had a wonderful flight from Toronto to Cairo on EgyptAir. A new 777, with seats that fully recline to a sleeping position. Great staff, great food and we were allowed to bring our own wine on as it is a dry airline. What up with that?
The Crew was fantastic. The pilot put this bird down on the runway like he was landing on feathers, fantastic.
10Hrs later we arrive in Cairo for a 4 hour stop over. Just saying, I will never use Cairo as a stop over again if at all possible.
After many hours of dodging the smoking areas and unfriendly services we are finally on our way to Athens. 2 hours later this Hot Shot pilot take us down on the runway like he was using a tactical manoeuvre to rescue solders in the middle of a fire fight. Damn its a 737, half the size of the 777.
Oh well safe on the ground in Athens. Grab a cab ride to our apartment where we are welcomed by the host Maggie. Oh my God what a welcoming pleasure. Maggie was wonderful. She was just finishing up the room prep, so she sent use up the block for a local beer and a snack.
After returning we went through all the exciting things we could see in the next few days and reserved a roof top dinner for Sunday night. Maggie got us set up with a cab back to the Airport for mondays flight to Santorini as well. Wonderful.
I think its time for a nap. Zzzzzzzzzz.
Up around 7pm local time and out for dinner and WINE of coarse.
Had fantastic dinner at a local side walk restaurant, KALAMAKI BAR.
Walking back to the room and hitting the hay. Much to see tomorrow. Oh, this is the view of the Akropolis (Greek Spelling) as we walk back to the room. Just magnificent.
Marko & Matina Baklava
Opa
ps: some of these images are shot on an iPhone and not the standard i am used to. Better quality images to follow in the next few days.
Friday May 16th, 2014
We are off. Athens here we come.
We have arrived, finally.
We estimated that we have be awake for about 26 hrs, snoozing now and then on the flights.
We had a wonderful flight from Toronto to Cairo on EgyptAir. A new 777, with seats that fully recline to a sleeping position. Great staff, great food and we were allowed to bring our own wine on as it is a dry airline. What up with that?
The Crew was fantastic. The pilot put this bird down on the runway like he was landing on feathers, fantastic.
10Hrs later we arrive in Cairo for a 4 hour stop over. Just saying, I will never use Cairo as a stop over again if at all possible.
After many hours of dodging the smoking areas and unfriendly services we are finally on our way to Athens. 2 hours later this Hot Shot pilot take us down on the runway like he was using a tactical manoeuvre to rescue solders in the middle of a fire fight. Damn its a 737, half the size of the 777.
Oh well safe on the ground in Athens. Grab a cab ride to our apartment where we are welcomed by the host Maggie. Oh my God what a welcoming pleasure. Maggie was wonderful. She was just finishing up the room prep, so she sent use up the block for a local beer and a snack.
After returning we went through all the exciting things we could see in the next few days and reserved a roof top dinner for Sunday night. Maggie got us set up with a cab back to the Airport for mondays flight to Santorini as well. Wonderful.
I think its time for a nap. Zzzzzzzzzz.
Up around 7pm local time and out for dinner and WINE of coarse.
Had fantastic dinner at a local side walk restaurant, KALAMAKI BAR.
Walking back to the room and hitting the hay. Much to see tomorrow. Oh, this is the view of the Akropolis (Greek Spelling) as we walk back to the room. Just magnificent.
Marko & Matina Baklava
Opa
ps: some of these images are shot on an iPhone and not the standard i am used to. Better quality images to follow in the next few days.
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