We had breakfast at Woody's in Groveland on the way to the airport. Breezed smoothly through security in Peoria, and the flight left on time (11:00 a.m.). Long walk at O'Hare, but just the right amount of time to do it. Easy flight to Washington, D.C. Made the connection in good time, but then sat on the runway for over an hour while they addressed maintenance issues. Landed in Athens behind schedule and then had another delay while we waited for an available gate. Then the door to the jet bridge didn't work, so we waited for them to fix that before we could deplane. Finally got off the plane and had a little trouble locating our guide, Nikos. So everyone else in the group was already on the bus waiting for us. I think it was around noon on 8/28 when we arrived. Even though it wasn't our fault, I felt bad about being "those people" and was afraid that first impression would stick in everyone's mind, but they were gracious.
It was about an hour bus ride to our hotel (The President) in Athens, and everyone was exhausted and silent. This was the one and only time the bus was quiet. The President had a lovely but chilly rooftop pool with lots of unwritten rules that the Americans quickly violated. No towels allowed on the edge of the pool. No feet touching the pool after 7:00 p.m. No sitting on towels, etc. Bought a quick lunch from the bakery across the street (I had a salad, and Mike had a sandwich, and we shared a huge doughnut) and bought some sunscreen from the pharmacy next door.
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| Views from the rooftop of our hotel |
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| Rooftop pool with all the rules |
The bus took us to the city center (Monastiraki) for some shopping. Saw lots of old buildings. Stopped for a brief visit at the Panathenaic Stadium, 2500 years old and the only one in the world made entirely of marble. It is still used today and houses 50,000 spectators.
Momastiraki
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| Allison and I |
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| Panathenaic Stadium |
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