Day zero was preceded by the previous week and the last day in Denver. The last day was a scramble at work day and then a scramble to pack and prepare for the long flight. I was very preoccupied with work details right up until travel day and found myself sending emails and double checking software deployments. Me Thinks things were well in hand.
I didn't get the suitcase out until late in the day, and then simply found the few clothing items I'd wear over and over while in Greece, and tossed them in. The other itmes I'd bring were electronic like chargers, cables, some pharmaceuticals for Maria, and reading to to (maybe).
Packing went fast and I didn't agonize over much. Since Demetrious and Maria's summer home on the beach is well provisioned, arlene said that we would likley bring more back then we would need to bring with us. I went to bed early.
I woke up about 4:AM, made coffee and started preparing for the travel day. Al Morris is going to pick me up at 6 and get me to the airport extra early so I could ask to ride standby on the 8:20 Atlanta flight instead of the 10:20 flight I was actually booked for. I printed out the tickets and shut down all the electronics in the office and the rest of the hous. That was a satisfying feeling.
I added whatever else I needed for the backpack, which was throwaway reading stuff in case I got stuck in an airport along the way, laptop and charger. I added the camera, thinking there may be interesting airport activites to photograph.
Al calld and frantically asked me wtf and how to route around the construction on our street. I'd forgotten about that and realized that givenhow much pain and difficulty I had to find ways around it, i'd better just jump in the car and find him first and then lead him to the blue house.
After a few moments of last minute indecision about keys and emtpy house details, I grabbed my shades and we hit the road. 6:AM is a good time to go to the airport, but there was still plenty of traffic. Al's badass new BMW got us there fast and he was dropping me off at the Delta curb by 6:25ish. I offered Al a hug, which he declined, acknowleged the August 3rd pickup details and then said something like "dont' get taz'd in a riot bro".
Checkin and security went fast, and the gate agent set me up on the earlier DIA to ATL flight. Excellent. In ATL I grabbed a bite and after being assured that my bags were checked all the way through, waited at the gate for 4:30 by alternately reading "Inkheart" and geeking out on the computer.
As usual, I waited to be the last one on the plane, since I don't want to be on the plane any longer than necessary and because I didn't have a mega carry on bag to force into an overhead compartment. I found my seat and was a little psyched that it was next to the mega hottie I'd noticed (several times) while waiting for the flight. We exchanged pleasentries and I settled in.
"Eva" (pronounced with a long 'A') was upset that her seat had been changed and that now it sucked that she was over a wing and it was the noisiest part of the plane and that they told her it was so that she could be on a window but her other seat was a window and that just seemed unfair. I told her it sounded like bs to me and that they probably just move people around for whatever last minute juggling seems necessary. I also suggested that if she makes a big deal out of it they may cave, or to simply to ask some nice person to switch seats later on. She said she didn't want to be a "beeatch".
We had a nice long flight and talked a lot about her Albanian-Greek-American experience and that she now lived in Vegas as a dealer in one of ot e casinos, and that she had just gradutated from cosmetology school and was going to visit her family in Athens where she grew up and then was going to Mitilini for a month or something like that. Despite here early impression of a whiner, she was a delightful conversationalist and very friendly. She shared her "sleeping aids".
Eventually I slept on and off during the flight. Since the movie was hard to hear over the engine noise and the nearest screen was too far to see very well, I read a bit and took frequent walks to get water, or another glass of wine.
When we were getting closer we looked out the window at the beautiful Itallian Alps and guess how long before we'd land. By now the flight attndants were showing their wear and rather tossed the breakfast sandwich and banana to us.
Eva, being the savvy traveler and Athenian, offered to help me through customs and to the baggage pickup. I knew that my bags were checked all the way through to Thessoloniki, but I knew I had plenty of time and was happy to hang out with her a bit longer.
After hanging out and talking a bit more while she waited for her bags, I thanked her for being such good company on such a long flight bid her Adieu and found my way to gate B9 where the last leg of my journey was to depart from.
By now was was feeling pretty grungy and I did a GI shower in the bathroom and waited for the flight. No delays here or anywhere else along the way.
When I arrived in Thessoloniki, I got off the plan and onto the shuttle to the airport. Once more through customs and found the baggage area. After waiting and not seeing my bag, I asked someone who told me that non-EU bags were at a different carousel and that theh were probably already there. I found it and in fact there it was, waiting for me. I though "Arlene will never believe how perfectly my trip went!"
I went upstairs and heard Demetrious call out to me and then saw Aidan running toward me. I dropped my bag and picked him up and hugged and kissed hime and told him how much I missed him. It was beautiful.
The drive from Thessoloniki to Kasandra and Gerakina Beach took an hour and as we drove the memories of my past trips came back to me quickly. We stopped at the "Lidl" grocery store to get dinner stuff and headed to the summer home.
When we arrived, Arlene and Luka came out to greet us and we carried in the groceries and after a look at the beautiful Agean sea, I lay down to sleep.
I slept like a rock, but Aidan came in after a bit and tapped me "Daddy, let's go out in the canoe!!" I felt like I'd slept for a month, and it took me a while to regain conciousness and tbe energy to get up. I found my swim trunks and we walked down to the beach.
The 'canoe' is really a fiberglass platform shaped like a surf board and with one little seat and two little indentments to put your heals. It's really a sort of kayak-surfboard hybrid. We carried it down to the water and had a blast capsizing it and paddling around the cove.
We found that two is the max on the kayak, but there were arguments about who got to ride on it.
It was absolutely beautiful in the evening on the water. The sun got low on the horizon and the air cooled a bit. The sand was no longer blistering hot on your feet. We swam and paddled until it was time for dinner which was quite late.
Yia Yia and Papoose prepared a fabulous dinner of Greek salad, beesteakie, green beans, fried eggplant and zucchini, sardines, and bear. We sat on the second floor deck with a view of the sea as the sun went down. The moon sparkled on the water as the lights across the sea got brighter. There were no bugs, and Demetrios joked about how bugs in Atlanta must be dumber than bugs in greece because they get zapped by the bug electrocution device but bugs here don't.
We watched a movie, had ice cream, and I fell asleep downstairs with Aidan.
More to come
--
- Ed
Sunday, July 25, 2010
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