The twelve hour flight almost did me in. It was exciting at first. They provide much more care to those who they know they will have to deal with for a while. Our seats were 40 A and B. At first, I thought that this would be great. We were the second seat from the back, right next to the restroom. Aw, I thought, I will not have to go through aisles of people to use the bathroom. It turned out to be not so great. Flushing the toilet created a similar sound as a vacuum cleaner does and as one could imagine, hearing that throughout the night tends to keep you awake. We also sat right behind the wings, so every gush of air the plane went through felt like a tiny earthquake. Being a beginning flyer, this was very unnerving to me. I'm sure John began to question the commitment he made on Saturday as I constantly asked "Is that okay" or "Was that normal." I got use to the noise, after 5 or 6 hours you tend to become comfortable with those things. The food, however, stayed with me. They give you two choices for dinner, chicken or pasta. John and I came to a compromise that I would get the chicken and him the noodles, this way we could sample each meal. It tasted alright. After horror stories from others, I expected something completely different. I was thinking that it wasn't so bad as I ate every single bite. I was starving after missing lunch and eating very little on Saturday. About an hour afterwards, my stomach began to act up. I have never really had bad stomach problems. As you know, I love spicy and strong foods, the type that tend to bother the strongest of stomachs. This however, was not normal! I felt like the inside of my belly was being eaten away. Sure the plane is uncomfortable when you a sitting at 90 degrees and have limited leg room, add an upset stomach and you wish you could jump out of the window. More than any noise that was around me, the unexpected bumps and shakes, the sudden on and off sound of a vacuum cleaner, and the foreigner to my left who kept talking to the stewardess in a strange and annoying accent, my burning stomach kept me up the most. I made it though. We finally landed in Athens, which was exciting. Looking out the airplane window you can see a very populated island with little white buildings that stretch for miles behind the emerald beach. It was intimidating and beautiful
The airport was huge in Athens. Although the Atlanta airport is larger, I did not see much of it. We only had an hour between flights so we took the train that ran through the airport. According to a sign inside the train, it is approximately one mile from one end to the other in the Atlanta airport. I did see most of the Athens airport, however. We landed around 10:30 (3:30 am for the States) and our flight did not board until 6:30. We had all intentions to see Athens, but we were so tired that we decided to not even worry about it. Our brains were shot. It was hard enough to decide what to do next in the airport, let alone in a huge city. So we decided not to leave. We wondered around the airport, which was like a mall. They had bookstores and clothing stores everywhere. We made an attempt to take advantage of this new experience by walking around, but ended up sleeping on three chairs. I woke up to a small child screaming and knocking into my shoes. I fell asleep again, however, several times. Two hours before our flight we finally went into our gate, which was much smaller and much more comfortable. This was a nice experience. We ended up sleeping, eating a strange greek chip which was almost like a cracker with a hole in it and watched different planes take off. Finally we boarded our plane, which was tiny and terrifying. After a three flights in a row though, I did not care. I was anxious to see Santorini.
We flew closer to the water in this plane, so it was very easy to see the islands. There are 23 Greek islands all together and it was an experience to see them from that altitude. After landing in Santorini I was very surprised at how quiet the island was. Even at the airport, people whispered as they picked up their bags, which was a nice change from the large airports where people shouted in several different languages, making a constant buzz of chaos. When walking out we found a Greek man who held the sign "Baker 2X Santorini Princess". I had only seen this in the movies so I was very excited. He was very nice, but spoke little English. He attempted to explain some sights around us, but we had a lot of difficult understanding him. Every now and then little words would sneak out like "beach," or "cafe." Any communication back also proved fruitless. When John asked about traffic along the island, he just repeated "traffic, traffic." He did play american music, however. It's very surreal to be in a foreign place, when everything around you is completely different, and all of a sudden, Maroon Five comes on. Talk about a dream.
The island was beautiful. Twisting roads that wrapped themselves around white streets with shops crammed together. Every store had signs that labeled the buildings with first Greek and then English. This was nice. Cars speed past each other, whipping out from hidden streets. Motor bikes zig zagged among the cars making their way to their destination. Everyone drives extremely fast. I must have caused bruises on John's knees as we speed along the cliff side roads. Because the island bends in the way it does we could see the hotel from a distance. It did not look real. It is imbedded along the cliff with several tiny stares that twist along the walls accented with bushes along the side that have bight pink flowers. Several men waited on the driveway to greet us as if we were two very important costumers. They took us around the hotel, describing its every feature. We met the restaurant manager, the spa manager, and the man working on the bar. I've never been a big fan of bars, but when you find one that tops the hotel and provides the most amazing view you have ever seen in your life, it doesn't seem to be so bad. Several pictures of these places will provide more detail. John and I finally made it to our apartment (as they call it) and relief set in. Our room is small, but beautiful. It has a very tall ceiling with a mosquito net hanging above our bed. I have not been bothered by one mosquito, which I originally thought I would when I saw this. We discovered however, that most Greek people sleep with every window and door open, so the net provides protection against bugs that come in the night. Being the spoiled Americans that we are, we closed everything up and cranked the AC.
We had a hard time waking up this morning. We went to bed around 11:00 p.m. (5:00 p.m. in Kentucky) and woke up around 2:00 p.m. the next day. The only good thing about not being able to sleep on an airplane is that you can adjust to any time change. We have orded food in twice. They have two menus. One is mediterranean and the other is Greek. Last night I had a salmon club sandwich (mediterranean) and John had stuffed Feta (Greek). Sleeping in so late this morning we orded a late lunch. I had a delicious plate of mixed fruit with homemade ice-cream, and John had a different kind of stuffed Feta (He loves cheese) and some meatballs. The weather is gorgeous. It is warm with a cool breeze. It's the type of weather where you sit outside for hours and get a sunburn without realizing it. We are being very careful to avoid this.
This is only the beginning of our trip.
The airport was huge in Athens. Although the Atlanta airport is larger, I did not see much of it. We only had an hour between flights so we took the train that ran through the airport. According to a sign inside the train, it is approximately one mile from one end to the other in the Atlanta airport. I did see most of the Athens airport, however. We landed around 10:30 (3:30 am for the States) and our flight did not board until 6:30. We had all intentions to see Athens, but we were so tired that we decided to not even worry about it. Our brains were shot. It was hard enough to decide what to do next in the airport, let alone in a huge city. So we decided not to leave. We wondered around the airport, which was like a mall. They had bookstores and clothing stores everywhere. We made an attempt to take advantage of this new experience by walking around, but ended up sleeping on three chairs. I woke up to a small child screaming and knocking into my shoes. I fell asleep again, however, several times. Two hours before our flight we finally went into our gate, which was much smaller and much more comfortable. This was a nice experience. We ended up sleeping, eating a strange greek chip which was almost like a cracker with a hole in it and watched different planes take off. Finally we boarded our plane, which was tiny and terrifying. After a three flights in a row though, I did not care. I was anxious to see Santorini.
We flew closer to the water in this plane, so it was very easy to see the islands. There are 23 Greek islands all together and it was an experience to see them from that altitude. After landing in Santorini I was very surprised at how quiet the island was. Even at the airport, people whispered as they picked up their bags, which was a nice change from the large airports where people shouted in several different languages, making a constant buzz of chaos. When walking out we found a Greek man who held the sign "Baker 2X Santorini Princess". I had only seen this in the movies so I was very excited. He was very nice, but spoke little English. He attempted to explain some sights around us, but we had a lot of difficult understanding him. Every now and then little words would sneak out like "beach," or "cafe." Any communication back also proved fruitless. When John asked about traffic along the island, he just repeated "traffic, traffic." He did play american music, however. It's very surreal to be in a foreign place, when everything around you is completely different, and all of a sudden, Maroon Five comes on. Talk about a dream.
The island was beautiful. Twisting roads that wrapped themselves around white streets with shops crammed together. Every store had signs that labeled the buildings with first Greek and then English. This was nice. Cars speed past each other, whipping out from hidden streets. Motor bikes zig zagged among the cars making their way to their destination. Everyone drives extremely fast. I must have caused bruises on John's knees as we speed along the cliff side roads. Because the island bends in the way it does we could see the hotel from a distance. It did not look real. It is imbedded along the cliff with several tiny stares that twist along the walls accented with bushes along the side that have bight pink flowers. Several men waited on the driveway to greet us as if we were two very important costumers. They took us around the hotel, describing its every feature. We met the restaurant manager, the spa manager, and the man working on the bar. I've never been a big fan of bars, but when you find one that tops the hotel and provides the most amazing view you have ever seen in your life, it doesn't seem to be so bad. Several pictures of these places will provide more detail. John and I finally made it to our apartment (as they call it) and relief set in. Our room is small, but beautiful. It has a very tall ceiling with a mosquito net hanging above our bed. I have not been bothered by one mosquito, which I originally thought I would when I saw this. We discovered however, that most Greek people sleep with every window and door open, so the net provides protection against bugs that come in the night. Being the spoiled Americans that we are, we closed everything up and cranked the AC.
We had a hard time waking up this morning. We went to bed around 11:00 p.m. (5:00 p.m. in Kentucky) and woke up around 2:00 p.m. the next day. The only good thing about not being able to sleep on an airplane is that you can adjust to any time change. We have orded food in twice. They have two menus. One is mediterranean and the other is Greek. Last night I had a salmon club sandwich (mediterranean) and John had stuffed Feta (Greek). Sleeping in so late this morning we orded a late lunch. I had a delicious plate of mixed fruit with homemade ice-cream, and John had a different kind of stuffed Feta (He loves cheese) and some meatballs. The weather is gorgeous. It is warm with a cool breeze. It's the type of weather where you sit outside for hours and get a sunburn without realizing it. We are being very careful to avoid this.
This is only the beginning of our trip.
1 comment:
Sounds gorgeous - maybe I can figure out a way to drive there so we can go some day.
John, if you don't come back with a tan, I'll be suspicious that you were playing on the hotel computer all day.
Hilary, sorry abuot the bad plane ride - at least you don't have the French body odor/perfume combo to contend with on your flight!
I already like THIS blog better than John's. :) Keep updating!
Watch those crazy Maroon 5-loving Greek drivers you two.
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