Day 12+ - The state of travel and impressions of Greece

On Monday we had a long travel day back to the USA. We had a flight out of Athens at 12:25, landing in Newark 10.5 hours later, then a 6 hour layover. We eventually landed in BTV at 23:55.   Going home is one of those parts of a trip such a long distance away that everyone dreads. It is like having to pay the bill for all that fun.  

We had a nice breakfast and took in the sunrise from the roof top restaurant one last time. The smoke in the picture got worse and blacker. I asked a waiter what the black smoke was, he replied "that is my career". Everyone is a comedian. Someone said it was an old building burning in the Plaka. 

We gathered in the lobby and were in the cab on our way to the airport by 08:45. We have no idea what the bell hop told our taxi driver but you would have thought someone was dying and we were headed for the hospital. At times on the highway in a 60 k/h zone he was doing 140 kph, passing everything, it was not unsafe but had us wondering what the rush was. 

When we checked in, the attendant said she had good news, our flight time was only going to be 10 hours...ugh. We flew United, check in was going smoothly until Jean got to the gate.  She was singled out due to something they did not like about her tablet. They gave her everything but a cavity search and eventually let her go without explanation of what they were looking for. The United experience was better than we had with Brussels Airways on the way out. The plane had more room, the food was better and we did land around our scheduled time. We have no real complaints about the flight. I was not able to sleep but watched three movies, OTTO - a tear jerker but still good, RUSH - I loved it and will probably watch it again, and DEVOTION- it was a good story but not a great movie. June and Jean watched Ticket to Paradise with Julia Roberts and George Clooney, not my cup of tea. 

The whole Newark experience was pretty awful. It took almost 3 hours to get through to our gate to BTV.  When arriving in Newark internationally, you first have to pass through US Customs. We arrived from Athens on a Boeing 787-10 which holds over 300 passengers, and we got in line with other arriving passengers. Our US Customs had only 4 lines (of many) open, it took a while. In Newark, after customs you then collect your checked baggage and take it to a Connection Baggage point and personally hand it to a baggage person.  This is another wait in line, although it was fairly quick, it is also confusing.  After that fun we had to transfer from terminal B to C via the Airtrain. The train dumps people out on a platform that is already mobbed, it is like a fight since the train doesn't hold everyone. We managed to get on the second train but we were like sardines in a can and people were not nice.  Next you have to go through TSA security again, yes again and yes another cattle line. Most of the US TSA people are nice, but the pure volume of humans passing through must just wear them down, because they are there to yell at you, not explain the process.  We got through it but it was not pretty. We had a 6 hour layover and we used almost 3 of it getting 'processed'. Don't fly from a foreign country into Newark for a connecting flight without at least a 3 hour layover and be prepared for an unpleasant process.  It is sad, but compared to other major airports and countries, it is just a mess. 

We were all hungry and since we still had 3 more hours we decided to get a good ole burger and beer for dinner. In EWR 4 burgers and 4 beers it is over $160. We have been eating in Greece this week for around $55 - $65 for a similar meal (Gyro instead of a burger). It is just sad, but it was a good burger and better beer (in my opinion). 

Of course, between when we left Athens and finally boarded, our gate changed twice, but that is no big deal, you just need to make sure you are checking for it. 

We were all very tired and passing time in an airport is always unpleasant. They intentionally make the seating so that you could not possibly get comfortable to sleep, but if you are the size of the twins, you can make it work. 

We arrived in BTV on schedule, about midnight, and our car was waiting at the airport where Steve D. dropped it (it is great having friends). We were home by 01:00 on Tuesday, Jean and Ed still had another 20 mins to get to Moriah. Actual travel time was roughly 23 hours, we were ready for bed.

Impressions of Greece, this is Fred's opinion, others may see it differently. 

- To read about ancient Greek history is one thing, to walk the grounds and see what they built 1000s of years ago gives an entirely different perspective. I will not even try to explain it, if you have not been, put it on your bucket list, you will not be disappointed. 

- The country is more beautiful than I expected. Outside of Athens the landscape we covered was always picturesque. The country has huge mountains that are solid rock.  The highways are in great shape, probably due to the 2004 Olympics and no harsh winter temps. 

- The Greek people were all very nice. One might say they have to be because tourism is their primary industry but I felt that nearly everyone we interacted with was proud of their country and genuinely tried to help us appreciate it. 

- The cost of living in Greece is less than the USA, food and goods even with the conversion to Euros are less expensive. As a place to go vacation, I think it was on the less expensive side. The hotels in Athens are very expensive, but now that we know a bit more about Athens, I am sure we could do better. They did include a full and varied breakfast.

- In Athens, Scooters rule and there are many of them. We got a kick out of watching the scooters race from light to light in Athens. They are a tool in Athens, not for show. We started looking at how many kilometers were registered on some of the oldest looking scooters, our record was over 96,000 (60K miles) on an old Honda. It was not unusual to see over 50,000 kilometers (31K miles) on a scooter, impressive. 

- We saw Greece via a guided tour group. I do not regret this, the tour got us entrance in to places and have experiences we would not have been able to manage on our own. That being said, I think adding a few days on our own time after the tour made the trip more memorable. The tour can be hectic and it gave us some time at a slower pace. We got to know Athens a bit and just going for a walk without the anxiety of trying to find your way made it more pleasant.

- I am not sure we will get back to Greece anytime soon but we left plenty unexplored and I would go again in a heartbeat. 

It was a great trip.