Day of Delirium
We started our day onboard our plane bound for Istanbul after a quick layover in Kuala Lumpur so they could run the Hoover up and down the aisles.
Back in our same seats with that cute but annoying duo behind us, we had two big meals in what seemed like quick succession and calculated that we’d have 20 short minutes before our connecting flight was due for boarding. Sam enquired where we had to go and was told: “you’d better run!” (There’s a theme developing here.)
In an it’s a small world moment, Toby met a guy he knew from the Northern Beaches and it turns out Molly teaches his daughter at school. They were headed for the same connection as us! The security line, though tiny in comparison to Sydney’s, was sizeable but when Ross asked an official looking guy if we should skip the queue in order to make our connection, he gave us a ‘look at the hand’ and motioned towards the end of the queue.
Istanbul Airport could have its own postcode it’s so big and by the time we’d jogged a few kms up escalators, down escalators, along travellators…we were a collective sweaty mess. We climbed aboard the tarmac bus within minutes of the doors closing! That was quite enough tension for me for one day. The flight from Istanbul to Athens was just quick enough for another short nap and before we knew it we were meeting up with the rest of our tour group (who had flown Emirates) with hugs all round.
Our Greek tour guide, Marianna, greeted us with a smile, ushering us towards our coach and our aptly named driver, Apostollos. The bowels of the coach full to the brim with our bags, we strapped in, feeling a bit bedraggled (and let’s face it, smelling a bit feral) as we tried to keep our eyes open (some more successfully than others) for a whirlwind tour of the city of Athens. We had amazing views of the city skyline, as we drove from the airport, with light coloured flat-roofed houses crammed tightly across the plain, surrounded by arid mountains dotted with pointy Mediterranean Cyprus pines and olive trees. We picked up some of our tour group who had arrived earlier and welcomed them onboard. The traffic was choking under the pressures of peak hour and Marianna gave us a great commentary of the city sights as we dodged mopeds and vied for position on the roads. The amount of graffiti on the buildings was surprising but it was balanced out by some cool street art. We even caught a glimpse of the changing of the Greek guards as they strutted in their pom-pom topped shoes outside the Greek parliament.
By the time eventually made it back to check-in at the hotel I was barely conscious and thought I might fall asleep standing up. I made a bee-line to get my head on a pillow fast and had a power nap to get me through dinner. I’m not sure how the rest of the tour group managed to function without a kip, especially Toby who decided he’d kick on, going on a solo quest to find an authentic late night gyros.
Our hotel has a beautiful roof-top bar and pool with killer views of the Acropolis. It looked stunning tonight under the almost-full moon.
Looking forward to more exploring tomorrow with a bit more sleep under our belts.
