Tuesday morning June 22

Heathrow for the connection. No way to connect with Gen except meeting at the gate- only they don’t post the gate until right before boarding. What an extravaganza of shopping! Duty-free of course. Booze everywhere, perfume, souvenirs- even Harrod’s department store has a presence. Looking to get a cup of tea (cause it’s London!) I ran into Gen, who had the same dazed look that I know I must have. We sit down for some breakfast- her smoked salmon, shrimp and edamame, me mint tea, at the Japanese takeout place. Ever the foodies, we spent the rest of the layover time checking out the menu at the new Wagamama noodle shop. They’re coming to DC! Back on the plane and we’re off for Athens! Another 4 hours or so until Paradise.
Athens is not quite paradise yet but we are inching forward. The customs process was painless. Stamp your passport, pick up your bags, find the Metro. For 5 Euro each we are on the train and it’s good! We got off at the right stop and there was the Stanley- in its modern hotel glory. It’s now about 7pm Greek time (10am EST!) Finally we found Terry and Adriana and surprise! Terry’s brother John was with us for the whole vacation. We are still in logistics mode as we found out that there is a ferry strike at Piraeus so they are routing us to a new port and we have to meet at 6am. OY. Are they kidding?


This leaves us no time in Athens to tour the Acropolis. At all. How can that be? We catch a cab to the Plaka and eat at a rooftop restaurant and now it’s finally feeling like the vacation has begun. It’s cool, a light breeze, the view is of Athens in front of us and the temple of Zeus behind us. Martini is in hand. The calamari, saganaki, shrimp, lamb, sausage. Grilled something or other. and everything else is amazing and dee-lish.

John gives us the wakeup call at 5am. How can it be? My mind is swirling and in a daze. OMG – it’s Wed and we are still getting to where we want to be. I pop a Bonine and down to the Stanley breakfast room for coffee (not bad) and carbo heaven. Cake, bread, preserves, honey. Hey, the milk is really good. I guess that’s the best you can do in Athens at 5:30am.

We board the big bus and our tour guide is chipper for such an early hour. We get to the port and board the big ferry that has comfy leather seats. I’m thinking, “ this is gonna be OK.” But no. waves. Rocking and rolling. And it’s not even rough. Me= wussy girl-= sick and dizzy from Bonine. Thank god we make shore after two or three hours. Don’t know. Bus driver there from Kamari hotel, we take a relatively short drive, and I gratefully check in and drop like a felled tree onto my bed. I am drugged and it feels like I am glued to the bed and can’t get up. The afternoon is gone. Finally make it to the pool and swim a little and sleep some more.

We make it to dinner down the road and on the beach. It’s OK. The best thing is being with Gen, Terry, Adriana and John. I feel like our vacation has begun. We make our way back to the hotel and the World Cup is on the big screen in the hotel bar. Our bartender bet 1000E on the US and he is happy cuz he won. My eyes are closing and it’s off to bed.