Friday/Saturday Toronto to Athens

We got up at 8am and I worked from home until 2pm while DH ran errands and got us packed.

Limo arrived at 3:30 and we were checked in by 4:30. We headed to Swiss Chalet for some munchies and a beer.

We were told to be at the gate by 5:40 and went through security with no issues. It's the first time we've had the full body scan done. Interesting, you stand in a plexi glass enclosure and wait while they perform the scan, the security guard waits for a good ahead from the screen and that's it.

Boarded our British Airways 777 plane, a very tightly outfitted one with 3, 3 and 3 seats. It has the tiniest video in-seat system I have ever seen. Service was efficient (extremely) and pleasant. Pet peeve alert - babies under 2 do not pay for their flights, however I DO pay a hefty fee these days so do have an issue with crying infants when trapped for 6 hours, especially with the new added insult of having to pay for the luxury of selecting my own seats online ahead of time. Done venting.

There was a meal provided, the usual micro waved unappetizing chicken / pasta.

We watched and read and managed to get some cat naps in as well. Before landing at terminal 5 in Heathrow we were served a cold (very cold) breakfast of yogurt and a nice date bread with delicious tea.

We disembarked and were bussed to the terminal where we went through a series of security checks to the gate for our flight to Athens. The terminal is new and just as well set up as the others at Heathrow with many shops including Harrods and restaurants and pubs.

At time point it is 1:30 am Saturday local Toronto time and 6:30 am in London.

The main occupants awaiting our flight at gate 10D were British, elderly and heading to Athens to pick up their cruises. Most of them had obviously done this many times as they recounted the various names of the ships they have been on. Reminded us once more that we are really not into this cruising idea.

Again an uneventful flight, we were served a delicious full English breakfast with tea.

We disembarked and went through a rather desultory customs check, with a rapid stamp of our passports. Quick pick up of our luggage and we head out to meet our driver holding the Gate 1 sign. It is 19 degrees C and the local time in Athens is 2pm and 7am Saturday in Toronto.

It is a 30 minute lackluster drive to downtown Athens where our hotel, the Amalia is located. We do get a quick glimpse of the Acropolis however. Hotel is fine, I'd say 3 stars, check in was very friendly. The room is a good size and spotless.

We decide to take a nap for a few hours. We get up at 7pm local time (Toronto noon), freshen up and head downstairs to ask the desk clerk for directions to the Plaka, the local restaurant area. It is a quick 5 minute walk and you are in a bustling, lively cobblestoned space teeming with restaurants and shops. We perk up and stand strolling around commenting that it is very like Paris and Brussels. Doormen stop us to show us their menus and offer incentives to come into their restaurants. We wander some more to check it out and get a partially block view of the Acropolis peeping behind their buildings. One doorman mentioned they had a rooftop patio with a view of the Acropolis which we thought we would save for another night.

We wandered back to one of the first restaurants we had seen, Estia, wwwplakaestia.gr at 35 Kidatheon and were given lovely sidewalk seats complete with leather cushions on the wicker sofas and gas heaters to ward off the autumn coolness.

We started with the Greek salad which contained cucumbers, green peppers, olives, red onions and tomatoes, everything so crispy and fresh. Next was the cheese pie (no photo), we were almost 99% sure we had ordered the spinach pie, but no matter. We both them had the kebab which was 2 lamb kebabs served with pita (delicious), red onions, tomatoes and * gasp * terrible tzetziki!! We live in Greektown in Toronto and you know I rave about the tzitziki we get from Sun Valley; alas this had no garlic in it whatsoever. Perhaps this was the "original" but we'll take ours any day!

We sat sipping our wine and people watching. Is there anything better to do on a Saturday night in November outside?

By this time, 11pm local in Athens and 4 pm in Toronto we had been up (more or less) for 32 hours. By no means our longest travel day but not a bad record.

Kalimera, or good morning from Athens, our first full day after a good night's sleep. As I wrote the above I have been up since 7 am on Sunday morning with a blue sky, I have heard the church bells ring. Kalimera means more than good morning, it means a good day has begun that will be full of sunshine and sightseeing. We plan to have the continental breakfast provided and then find out where we can pick up the double decker sightseeing tour. We will also ask at the desk about the 1 day island cruise for tomorrow.