June 27- Getting Ready for Greece!!!!

READY FOR THE ADVENTURE OF A LIFETIME!!! READY TO GO HOME!!!!

 

Flying home, losing luggage, and stress

The airport in Athens is hot and stale. Plain and simple. We made it on time, checked in our luggage... kind of. One bag had to go to another check in place, which was worrisome. We had to pay fees and we were done. Absolutely done. The airlines do not have the man power to handle all the travelers with the post covid travel surge.

We got through security no problem, got to our terminal and waited. Everyone slept from Athens to Frankfurt. When we got to Germany, we walked off the plane to 5 security guards in army fatigues with giant German shepherds. Yuck. We needed to use the bathroom and get to our next flight. As we were walking to where we needed to go, there was a HUGE line through the exact spot we needed to go!! MAGIC!!!!! It was customs. It must have been at least 500 people. And we only had 1.5 hours to get to our next flight back to the states. We stood in line the ENTIRE TIME. In fact, we never would have made it unless a kind person who saw we had small kids grabbed us and we cut in front of at least 200 people. When we got to the customs counter, the guy was moving at sloth speed. He was the sloth in Zootopia in REAL LIFE!!!! WE WERE DYING!! There was no way we wanted to get stuck in Germany because we were done living out of suitcases and traveling!!! We wanted our beds and to not spend any more money. We got us through and we were RUNNING to the terminal only to be STOPPED BY ANOTHER SECURITY CHECK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! By now we were within 3 minutes, NO JOKE of the gate closing and the plane leaving. We were RUNNING AGAIN and when we got there we were able to board. INSERT GIANT SIGH OF RELIEF. The gate lady said we were good because there was actually a 15 minute delay. All that running for nothing.

Once we got on the plane, the attendants barked at Jody to put on his mask because he was black while the rest of us heard nothing, we didn't wear our masks. RACISTS. We sat on the plane for 1 hour, so much for the 15 minute delay, and then headed back to good ol' Murica. It was surreal and a blur. It was a haze on sleep and no sleep, bad food, and darkness. When we got back I immediately got a text from Lufthansa that 1 of our bags was lost. Then 2 minutes later, that all bags were lost.

I suppose on the bright side, we didn't have to wait at the baggage terminal? It took around 4-5 days for all our bags to come. IT WAS STRESSFUL AND A MESS!!! I am so glad that we were able to get it back at all!!! They broke one of our luggage and I don't think we'll ever see replacement money for it, unfortunately. 

But we were home at last. The drive home was traffic, Ella slept the entire plane ride and ride home, so I was worried she would be up all night, but she slept the entire night as well. I guess we tired her out or something. HA!!! 

Everyone traveled so well. They did amazing and I would travel the whole world with them they are so awesome. It was the trip of a lifetime!!!!

 

Last Day in Santorini

Greece doesn't do breakfast, but when they do, they do it right. Everyone was sleeping off the club so I took the littles to the most amazing spot. It was beyond yummy. Everything is always drenched in Nutella and I'm not going to complain!!! I know we all gained at least 10 lbs just by looking at these pancakes. I was head over heals in love with the yogurt. Hands down it was my favorite. It was thicccccckkkkkk!!!! And the walnuts and honey were the best toppings possible.

We made appointments to get pedicures for everyone. The owner was AGAIN, so hospitable!!! She even got us a bottle of champagne. I felt so bad not drinking it. It was Jay's very first pedicure and it was odd because the women were midly taken aback that the men wanted pedicures. There are definitely some strong gender stereotypes in Greece. Eli was sad they didn't offer him a nail polish color! But they did a great job and everyone's feet went from crusty to fabulous!

While we were waiting for pedicures (they could only do 2 at a time) I took Ella to a park nearby. I was in tears the whole time. A Yiaya was there with her grandson, just sitting and watching him play. It reminded me of the story my mom used to tell of her Yiaya walking her to school and sitting and waiting for her to finish school. She never left so my mom would never have to be scared she was alone. It was hard to be in a place with those would loved it, without them.

We split up after and Jay and Rachael took the girls to a beautiful restaurant for lunch and black sand beach. We took the littles back to Mediterranean Mega Fashion and got lost. We ended up at the bakery that our Airbnb host was getting us daily sweet bread from. Oh my. It was definitely AN AMAZING bakery. Their bakeries are a way of life in Greece. For lunch I had baklava and galaktoubourico. It was a great choice. I have no regrets. Jody got coffee and I'm pretty sure lost an organ over the trip to over caffeinating. We also visited a toy store. Those are pretty big in Greece.

We continued to enjoy the pool at the house and everyone was pretty full from lunch so we ordered in some pizza. Another great day full of good food, love, and time together.

 

Oh what a night! Santorini 3 hours extravagant meals

We took everyone to Mediterranean Mega Fashion. It was the Chinese discount version of the fancy tourist shops and we were all about it!! Eli especially went crazy. He found sunglasses, a hat, a man purse, a neon outfit. It was all basically junk, but exciting. The owners spoke neither English or Greek, but they knew the word cash. I ended up having to go to a bank a quarter of a mile down the road. When I backed up I hit the curb and heard a loud crunch. I thought I had dented the dented rental car they gave me and was a little worried.

We swam some more at the house and relaxed. We then got ready for a fancy upscale dinner on the coast to watch the sunset. It was very bougie and we almost didn't get it, even though we had reservations. The service was very very very slow. Compared to a 80 year in Costco, it could be on equal status. And we were used to meals taking a long time, but this one dragged. It was excellent though. Not our best meal, but still delicious. Jay and Rachel were so generous to treat us. It was magnificent to watch the sun set in Santorini. There is nothing like it.

The littles did great. After 3 hours, I needed a walk!! I took them to get some gelato. Then everyone else joined us and got some too! It was a lovely night. Jody took the girls to their first club afterwards!! I would have gone but was exhausted. He bought them redbulls and took them to Santorini's famous club. It was a little lame. Maria was exhausted, a 30 year old was hitting on Nina, and Jody was dancing on the stage to avoid broken glass. But he couldn't avoid an Irish gentleman who came up to him, touching his arm, whispering in his ear... "Eh, mon.... d'ya 'av any cocaine or ectasy on ya?" Unfortunately, Jody did not. This time. Alas. The disappointed Irish man walked away to find another person of color to ask. Oh wait, there were no more Black people with braids.

Everyone slept well!! That's for sure. It was a great one for the books.