We arose at 0600 Athens time, prepared for the day and called for our luggage to be picked up at 0645. We went down to the lobby about 0700 and checked out. There was literally no one else out at that time of day. We sat ourselves down in the opulent lobby and waited. The information sheet we were given last Thursday when we arrived said we would be transported to the airport by private taxis, leaving the hotel at 0730. Around 0720, a young man walked up and asked if we were the Howells. He was our driver. We loaded and off we went.
As noted yesterday, we saw a posting in the hotel lobby Saturday afternoon that there was a public service employee strike in Athens on both Friday and Saturday. Apparently, this was part of a three day general strike that began Friday. We found a notice slipped under our door Saturday night warning that a demonstration was scheduled in the Syntagma Square (in front of our hotel) for 0900 Sunday morning. The notice suggested contacting the Concierge if we were planning to leave Sunday as it might be difficult. If correct, with our plans to leave at 0730, I did not think we would have a problem, but I called Concierge Desk (several times), but never got an answer. I believe we were very lucky not having any difficulties this weekend due to the strike. If we had decided to visit the Acropolis on Saturday instead of Friday, we would have been very disappointed.
On the way to the airport, which was a 90 minute drive, we chatted with the driver. He said today (Sunday) the Parliament was to vote on the new austerity measures proposed by the Government. As we drove away from the hotel, the police were obviously preparing for the demonstration. Lots of police and military personnel with riot gear on every corner. The austerity vote was passed by the Parliament on Sunday. Greece still has some difficult times ahead of it.
We got to the airport without problems. The driver dropped us off and took off. We went to the American Airlines counter which was not open yet. After waiting about 30 minutes, they opened. As we were waiting our turn, airline employees were interviewing travelers in line about their stays in Greece. It was an interesting approach to security. The lady we talked with was, at first, a little concerned we had only been in the country for a couple of days. However, after we detailed why and what we had done over the last couple of days, she decided we were not terrorists. She actually gave us some suggestions for what we might want to visit the next time we are in Athens. We actually had a bathroom scale in our hotel room and used it to distribute the weight between our two checked bags. When we checked the bags, we found we did well. With a 50 lb (22.7 kg) limit, one bag weighed 20.4 kg and the other 19.5 kg.
After getting our boarding passes, we decided to get some breakfast. We are so ashamed, but we opted for the airport McDonald's. We boarded the Airbus 330-300 and found our seats. We had been a little concerned about the upcoming 11 hour flight in Coach, but it was OK. The leg room was adequate and there the flight was not crowded so people could, and did, spread out throughout the cabin. I don't think we slept much at all during the flight which departed Athens at 1130 Sunday morning.
We arrived at the Philadelphia at 1630 local time (2230 Athens time). For the first time, we were able to fully appreciate our Global Entry credentials. This is a program we signed up for last year, in anticipation of this trip. While we had to pay a $100 each fee and had to drive to Chicago for a face-to-face interview with a Customs official, we think this trip made the benefits obvious. First, we did not have to fill out the obligatory customs form before arriving in Philadelphia. We got off the plane, walked up to a Global Entry kiosk, inserted our passport, scanned our finger prints and clicked the button proclaiming we were not bringing anything in that would warrant a customs check. We did not have to present the Global Entry card, the system recognized us via our passports. The kiosk then took your picture and spit out a receipt, with your image on it, to present to the customs agent. This was relatively painless and quick. Then, after collecting our checked baggage, we were able to bypass the long line at the custom desk, hand the agent the receipt and we were through. After customs, we rechecked our bags to Houston and went back through security. The Global Entry credentials also includes the TSA Precheck which got us around the long security lines and we did not have to take out our computers or take off our shoes, belts, jackets, etc. Apparently, the Global Entry system is not yet widely used, except for airline employees (pilots, stewardesses) and a few others. Therefore, it is a really convenience.
We got back on the American commuter flight from Philadelphia to Houston and took off at 1830 local time (0030 Monday Athens time). The flight was four hours long, arriving in Houston at 2130 local time (0430 Monday Athens time). Laura was there to pick us to and we got to their new house at about 2300 local time (0600 Athens time). Therefore, the return trip lasted about 24 hours.
As expected, we did not sleep very well Sunday night but we will become acclimated soon.
We intend to start the two day drive home on Wednesday, staying the night in Little Rock before arriving home on Thursday. I sent John an email this morning saying we are anxious to see our perfectly complete backyard upon our arrival.
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