Athens and the Islands, July 8-24, 2009 About This Page:

[LLaffinPlace]

Athens and the Islands



Travelers

• Larry, seen often in the "Bob & Larry" WDW Trip Reports
• Sue, last seen with Deb, Larry, and Bob in a B&L WDW TR
• Deb (Deborah), last seen with Sue, Larry, and Bob in a B&L WDW TR

Itinerary

• Day -1: Travel from Alabama for Richmond, VA (Larry only)
• Day 1: Travel from Richmond VA to Washington Dulles Airport (Sue & Larry), Dulles to Heathrow Airport, Heathrow to Athens
• Day 2: Arrive Athens, walking tour of Athens
• Day 3: Athens, including the Acropolis
• Day 4: Delphi
• Day 5: Begin cruise portion - cruise to Mykonos Island aboard the easyCruise Life
• Day 6: Kusadasi, Turkey and Patmos Island - Ancient Ephesus and Patmos
• Day 7: Rhodes
• Day 8: Crete and Santorini - Heraklion, and Oia and Thira
• Day 9: End cruise, return to Athens and visit Cape Sounion
• Day 10: Argolida - Mycenae and Epidaurus
• Day 11: Arogolida and Pilos - Nestor's Palace and Town of Pilos
• Day 12: Olympia and return to Athens
• Day 13: Athens free day [result of airline scheduling issues, known in advance of trip]
• Day 14: Travel from Athens to Heathrow, Heathrow to Dulles
• Day 14 + 1: Travel from Dulles to Richmond VA (Sue & Larry)
• Day 14 + 2: Travel from Richmond VA to Alabama (Larry)

Background
How did this trip come about?
Two teachers at the school where Sue teaches Algebra in Richmond VA organized the trip through EF Tours. Sue and I had previously toured Germany, Austria and Switzerland together (as well as WDW) and Sue enlisted Deb and me to go along.

Where's Bob?
Since I know someone will ask--this was not a high priority trip for Bob, and with the need to conserve vacation time for family trips in January and July, Bob declined our invitation to come along.

What kind of trip was this?
This was an educational trip. As far as the rest of the tour group was concerned, we had families with multiple kids, some parents traveling with one teen, two unaccompanied teens that the organizers, Mickand Debbye took responsibility for, and many adults--some married couples, many were teachers from Richmond or Northern Virginia, etc. All in all, a good mix and a nice bunch of folks.

Welcome to a journey that definitely qualifies as one of the trips of a lifetime. While not the most luxurious, it was a wonderful trip/cruise/tour with memories that will last. I hope you enjoy reading about it as much as I will enjoy sharing it with you.

This trip certainly involved many modes of transportation, including: cars, airplanes (small commuter planes to 747), trains (Amtrak), subways (DC and Athens Metros), motor coach, tram, taxis, high-speed catamaran ferry, cruise ship, cable car, and much walking--when I think of Greece I will think of stairs!

And was it ever hot! At least one day we know it was 104 degrees F (40 degrees C). But it was a dry heat! What this means is that shade was quite valuable and perspiration did what it was supposed to do. I have never drunk so much water in my life.

Coming Up: The Adventure Begins!

[LLaffinPlace]

[Note that the title of this post should have started with "Day -1".]

Because the tour was originating in Richmond (actually Dulles Airport in Northern Virginia), I first had to get from Alabama to Virginia.

Of course, I am sliding over a great deal of preparation that occurred over the many months leading up to this trip, including:

• Getting a passport; mine had expired long ago
• Finding a good hat to protect my scalp from the sun
• Finding tropical weight shirts (wicking and very much wash & dry) and pants to wear
• Auditioning high-tech underwear that could be washed out at night and be dry in the morning (highly recommended!)
• Buying some euros
• Getting a new lightweight suitcase
• Getting adapter plugs for Greece; my Kindle and razor were dual-voltage
• Agonizing over what to pack (I am grateful for every single item I excluded!)
• Getting a Visa credit card--I generally make do very well with a debit card and my Amex; however, there are many places that do not accept American Express and amongst them, I found out at a very late date, was the cruise line. So, in order to be able to cover my shipboard account, I made a last minute application to my credit union and they moved lightning fast to get the card in my hands the day before I departed. They rock.
• And, of course, paying for the trip.

I managed to finish packing around 10:00 PM last night without too many difficulties. Looks like the suitcase weighs in at about 37 pounds. I am happy about that because I am told that most times I will be the one schleping it up and down stairs and getting it to the bus. I have new lightweight luggage from LLBean with which I am very happy. I have a new EF Tours small backpack that I will use as my carryon. I am taking my Kindle e-book reader with me, but have decided to leave my iPhone in Richmond at Sue's house. I investigated call and data plans and the phone will work over there, but there's too much personal information on the thing and besides, I can <gulp> be "off the grid" for a while and enjoy my trip!

I tried checking in on-line with Delta, but it would not let me. It also said the flight to Atlanta was overbooked (I managed to contain my shock and awe). Apparently the reason I could not check in online was due to it being one of Delta's small partner airlines.

I slept okay although not as long as I would have liked. I stayed up late watching "Warehouse 13" on SyFy [stupid name!] . I thought the show a bit uneven but interesting. I woke up before the alarm, which was set for 6:00 AM. I ate some breakfast, started the dishwasher, emptied the coffeemaker reservoir, and took a shower. I shaved, then packed the razor and booted the Mac to check my flight status. So far so good.

I headed to the airport at 7:30 for a 10:00 am flight (silly, really, as I am 15 minutes from the airport). Checked in at the kiosk and used my new Visa credit card to pay the checked bag fee [grr!] to ensure that it was working before I left the USA. Security was a breeze.

I sent a number of emails and while I was sitting there I recognized a number of NASA folks on the flight who were headed to the Cape for the shuttle launch. Saturday's weather was not looking promising, but I think they are hoping that they can launch by Monday.

We arrived in Atlanta a bit early. Our gate was in Concourse C and the Richmond flight was at a B gate. As I transitioned concourses I paused to get some sesame chicken and some water. I took some more Sudafed although my ears were doing well, and then made my way to the gate. While I was sitting in the gate area waiting to board I heard some thunder. Uh huh. We pulled away from the gate on time; however, due to the weather, current air traffic spacing rules, and a couple of ground stops, we were number 34 to take off! I figured this would take at least an hour but it took an hour and a half due to another ground stop. The captain came on and told us to fire up the laptops and cell phones and he would flag us when we would be moving again. At one point I thought I saw smoke coming from the air vents, but it was just condensation. Whew! The flight attendants came through with water, so it was not an unpleasant experience. I had managed to snag an exit row, so I was happy.

We landed in Richmond about 45 minutes late. I met up with Sue [Hi, Sue!] and my bag was claimed pretty quickly. On the way to Sue's house I called my brother and we arranged to meet him and my sister-in-law for supper at a Chinese restaurant nearby. They live on the same side of the river as Sue. We had a very pleasant meal with them and "visited" for a couple of hours.

Back at Sue's house we worked on her Internet Explorer 8 install issue--seems to be some sort of interaction with her anti-virus software. We watched "Jumper" [interesting movie]. I retired to the guest room about 11:30 PM. I slept well but had a leg cramp around 7:00 AM. I tried not to dance around the floor too loudly.

Coming Up: The long journey to Athens

[OhToodles!]

I can't wait to read about your trip! I really want to go to Greece someday!

[LLaffinPlace]

[And this should be Day 1, Part 1. Sorry!]

I forgot to mention that it never failed to tickle me when people would ask, "where are you going on your vacation," and I would respond, "Athens";often the comeback would be, "Alabama or Georgia?" "No," I would say, "the original one!"

I got up at 7:30 AM (for the final time), showered and dressed, and Sue and I had a bite of breakfast. Sue watered the flowers outside and did a few other things, then "we" put the luggage in the car (see below) and drove over to her parents' house. They are taking us to the train station. The plan is to take the train to Union Station in DC, take the Metro to the West Falls Church station, then catch the shuttle bus to Dulles airport to arrive by the 4:00 PM congregating time at the British Airways check-in.


Sue loads the car while Larry takes a picture.

Sue's folks drove us to the nearby Amtrak station and waited with us until we boarded. The #94 was about 15 minutes late. We managed to wrestle ourselves and our luggage onboard where we found some nice seats. It's such a contrast with flying--moving around, using electronic devices, power outlets, cellphones, food service, etc. We read newspapers and I caught up on the trip journal.

We arrived in good time at Union Station, disembarked and made our way to the Food Court to grab some lunch. I got the Souvlaki Platter at the Acropolis (I couldn't resist! ) but it was way too much food to finish. Sue got a turkey, bacon and cheese wrap from Great Wraps.


Main Hall, Union Station in Washington, DC.

After a nosh we searched around and found the Metrorail station, bought a couple of farecards, and hopped the Red Line to Metro Center. We changed to the Orange line to Vienna. A nice lady and a man with an iPhone told us we were okay to get to West Falls Church in time for the 3:15 PM shuttle to Dulles. [The man was too busy emailing on his phone and missed his station!]

We got off and exited the WFC station and power-walked up to the shuttle bus at about 3:14 and Sue asked the man standing there, "Please tell me we don't have to already have tickets." He told us no, he would sell them to us on board and to go ahead and get on the bus. Our plan worked as we arrived at Dulles at approximately 3:45 PM, and made our way smoothly to the BA check-in, where we spotted Deb and the trip organizers. [Deb drove to her brother and sister-in-law's house and her brother dropped her off.] Success!

After checking in with British Airways, we headed to Security, which was absolutely swamped. They sent a whole mess of us downstairs to another queue where we met a neighbor of Deb's brother! We were through fairly quickly.

After a bio break we headed to the gate, where a number of people were already sitting. Several of them looked up and said, "Hi, Sue!" They were from her church, heading to Slovakia on a mission trip. The irony is, after our convoluted means of getting to Dulles, we could have ridden up with them from Richmond on the church bus!

Coming Up: Flying British Airways and Loving It

[ilovedisney247]

Yeah Larry! I'm so excited to read about your trip to Greece! Of all the trips I've ever taken, visiting Greece has been my favorite international trip! I hope to hear that you loved it just as much. So on with the trip! (And I hope lots and lots of pictures!)

[Colexis Mom]

Great start Larry! Sorry for the roundabout way of getting to Dulles! More please!

[LLaffinPlace]

The wait for our flight across the pond was pleasant--Deb nicely procured for me a bottle of water when she went for a walk. We boarded the British Airways Boeing 747-400 and our group was all the way in the back of this large aircraft. It had two aisles and had 8 seats across in a 2-4-2 configuration.

A wonderful thing happened, however. The two people two seats over were upgraded and the seat on my left was empty, so Deb moved across the aisle to where the two empty seats were, which left Sue and me with an empty seat on either side! Woohoo! Score!

The cabin was uncomfortably hot and even after several hours it was only a bit cooler. I watched an episode of the "Big Bang Theory" before dinner. [I love this show!] The food was tortellini pasta with red sauce, a nice, crisp salad with balsamic vinaigrette, roll & butter, caramel cake, and I had decaf coffee. Yummy! Shortly after dinner they turned the lights down.

I don't really sleep on planes, mostly because I am not that comfortable, and with the temp as high as it was, I knew it wasn't really going to happen. I will try and typically nod off for about 10-15 minutes from time to time. Some of the girls yakked and yakked as teens are perhaps wont to do, but they finally quieted down. I think I managed several short naps. I monitored our progress across the Atlantic via the seat back display.

Coming Up: We arrive at London's Heathrow, participate in a cattle drive, then fly on to Athens.

[LLaffinPlace]

Thanks, Marnie. Actually, we enjoyed the trip on the train--much more relaxing than watching the traffic on I-95!

[LLaffinPlace]

Breakfast [at 12:15 PM EDT] was coffee, cinnamon danish, and OJ. Quite tasty. I love BA!

We passed to the south of Ireland. We landed at London Heathrow Airport. When we were on the ground, I turned to one of the flight attendants who was wrestling a guitar out of a closet for a passenger and said, "Thank you for keeping the concepts of courtesy and service alive in the airline industry." She smiled and said--in what I took to be an Irish accent, "Oh, thank you, sir. We don't hear that very often, but when we do, it's quite lovely." [Or words to that effect.]

We pulled up at Terminal 5, disembarked and got run through the ringer. Although we are merely changing planes, we had to go through Passport Control and clear Security again, which was very efficient, though stressful. We had to empty our pockets completely--even sent my passport through the scanner. They swabbed my gels and liquids and put the sample through a machine.

At the exit, there was a woman traveling with 4 kids, and Sue stopped to help one of the small ones with her shoes, seeing that the woman had so much to do. She was very grateful. We found our way to gate A10--very bright sunshine was filtering in--apparently a lovely day in London. I have never visited England, Scotland and Wales, and the British Isles are definitely on my "Bucket List".


London's Heathrow Airport Terminal 5, Gate A10 -
Waiting for our plane to Athens.

Much like flying USAirways at DC's Reagan National Airport, we took a bus out to the aircraft. There had been a slight delay in the caterers accessing the aircraft. We shuffled seats somewhat, but I ended up in 1 row in front of and on the other side from Deb and Sue. It is a 3 hour and 10 minute flight. I am somewhat tired of being on aircraft at this point, but impressed with BA's efficiency.

"Second Breakfast" [quoting JRR Tolkien here] consisted of what I assume was a full English breakfast: roll with jam and butter (did not eat--you'll see why), raspberry yogurt (good), eggs with ham AND sausage (a bit salty), mushrooms and tomato (yummy!). Oh, this also came with OJ and tea with cream and sugar. [I had coffee on the previous flight and after all, if you can get BA to make you tea, shouldn't you take advantage of it? ]

Once we landed at Athens, we were quite a while clearing Passport Control--I believe it was lunch time! Unfortunately, 7 bags did not make it to Athens with us (Sue, Deb and I had ours), which is apparently not that unusual. However, they are expecting to deliver them to the hotel by 10:00 tonight. And this turned out to be the case.

Coming Up: We meet up with our wonderful EF Tour Director, Rob, and get this thing rolling!

[DouglasE]

What a great start Larry! I've just read about your first day and I'm already tired with all of the transportation stuff you had to go through to go from Alabama to Athens. I'm glad you built in some leeway time in your plans because obviously with things running late it could have been a big headache and nightmare.

What a great picture of Union Station!

My BA flight from Boston to London (2006) was quite hot too. I wonder what's up with that. If the plane was just a bit cooler I would have been able to sleep; but since I was so uncomfortable I just read the whole time with an occasional 20 min. nap here and there, just like you.

I like how you ended your preparations for the trip. The most critical issue is added as an afterthought. That cracked me up.

And, of course, paying for the trip.

I'm so happy that you had an experience that was...

[a journey that definitely qualifies as one of the trips of a lifetime

Looking forward to your next installment

[lauriep]

Whew, that's a lot of travelling and the trip hasn't even really started yet. Can't wait to read the rest. I spent my junior year of college in Athens and have been back a couple of times since. My last trip was in '75, though, so I'll really enjoy a trip back through your eyes.

[ilovedisney247]

Lots of traveling! But it sounds like it all worked out!

[mcc0313]

Just go started and I was excited to see that your TR is starting. I was really looking forward to reading all about your trip. Talk about a lot of traveling - from the flight from your house to VA and then the train and a shuttle and more flights...the only thing missing was a boat and that is coming later . Can't wait to hear more....

[chezp]

I'm so glad you're doing a trip report about this Larry.

Wow, that was some serious travelling you did - I guess I forget how lucky we are, just being an hour's drive from Heathrow and, from there, we can go pretty much anywhere in the world. I certainly realise how lucky we are now, having read about your travels..

You're right - that was pretty much a full English breakfast that you had and interesting that you had to take a bus out to the aircraft - I honestly thought they'd done away with that at Heathrow (and Gatwick for that matter!) these days... obviously not. :

I'm waiting for more not-so-patiently...

[Disneybine]

Wow, what an awesome trip - can't wait to read all about Greece! I'm also very curious about the easyCruise...