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Date: April 20, 2004
City: Athens
The airplane arrived at 10:10 Athens time. It was on time, and
none too soon for our numb touchuses.
We met a couple from Arkansas who were also traveling with GoAhead
in passport control, which we all breezed through after having our
passports examined by interesting machines. We met another couple from
Oregon near the luggage carousel who were traveling with us. Customs
waived us out without any checks. There was one customs agent who just
said go through that door, which turned out to be the exit of baggage
claim.
The new Eleftherios Venizelos airport reminded us a lot of Leonardo
DaVinci in Rome. The new airport is significantly farther from the
city than the old one. The metro line at the airport was still under
construction. There were also crews working on tram rails right
outside the Amalia Hotel where we stayed in Athens, across from the
gardens and the parliament building.
The bus had some gear-shift issues, but Athens driving was chaotic,
so it's probably environmental. The hotel had a wall switch for
everything electric in the room, which took a little time to figure
out. The master switch by the door turned everything off.
The desk manager recommended the nearby Fidias restaurant for
lunch. Fidias was pretty upscale, but the lamb was worth it. Jane
needed a nap immediately, and Allan only held out 20 minutes before
joining her. We slept about three hours. Dinner was at 19:30 and the
introductory meeting was at 20:30, a re-scheduling which indicated
additional delays for our tour director, Eirini. She had stayed at the
airport where she was meeting the 17:30 arrivals.
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