On-the-Road Tales

Our group parted and returned again to the far corners of the world. I have no doubt I will cross paths with some of them, somewhere in the world, at some point as our love of journeying is shared. I grabbed a cab to the terminal. There I ran into 2 other group members who had an earlier flight and had taken a different cab. Their guy ‘ran out of patrol’ and stopped in the middle of the road. They had to get out, still pay him and flag someone elsedown on the highway. As they drove away, they saw him leave too. Creepy – there is heavy police and security into the airport and they reckoned he did not have a proper registration or something to get inside but still stopping on the interstate is sketchy. Can never be too careful.

The airport was a zoo with all flights going anywhere checking in at the counters but I made it through to my A330 which was another zoo. No ones ticket matched their seat since in some recent configuration changes, they eliminated all the “b” seats. Why they did not print the proper seat tickets, I have no idea. At least it was not a full flight so people just took anytrhing they could get. I got a neat view of the pyramids after takeoff.

A mere two hours later, I was landing in Athens. After 1 hour waiting for my backpack – (just like USAirways at DCA!) I headed to the bookstore to grab a lonely planet and figure out how to get from the airport. Always the prepared one…I found a bus that went downtown and one my second trry, a cheap, clean friendly hostel. I had been a little surprised not meeting too many americans on my travels but now I know why, they are all in Greece! apparently, europe is still a favorite hotspots for my countryfolk. I felt the effect of Europe right away on my wallet. Nice to use Euros, just wish the dollar was a bit stronger.

I did some exploring, swapped stories with some Canadians in my room, and figured out where I was on the map. Funny how you get used to things – after a week in the Sahara where it has not rained since 1987, the clouds and drizzle were fascinating. Also, seeing women walking down the street in droves wearing real clothes and all sorts of hair colors – it made me wonder what an egyptian must think the first time in a western country with the diversity. I had an amazing sofrito of Corfu meat dish, loaded up on the Tzatiki and took in the traditional greek music. The waiters would spontaneously break into song and were having a good time. This culture reminds me if Italian, but I find the greek much more friendly.

Tags: Travel

This entry was posted on Monday, May 21st, 2007 at 3:49 am and is filed under Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.