Saturday, May 16, 2015
One thing that is very important to understand if you are traveling with Chris Pappas is that he is a morning person. If you don't leave early, you are just missing part of the day at your destination. Thus, we all booked the same flight that he, Amy, Alexi, and Konstantina were on from Thessaloniki to Athens and then on to Santorini. This meant getting up at 3:30 am to load our vans by 4:15 to drive to the airport and make our 7:20 flight. It was settled. Everyone set their alarms and we were on track. Sometime around 3:30, Dennis happened to look at his and Stacia's tickets and realized that he had evidently booked the first flight of the morning at 6:40 ( I think if Chris had known of the existence of this earlier flight, we would have all been on it). Anyway, panic ensued. Thank goodness we had the entire hotel to ourselves, because there was some yelling going on. It was quite dark and we are throwing suitcases into vans, getting ourselves in, and driving to the airport at a slightly uncomfortable speed. Luckily, the rest of the world around us seemed to be sleeping. All's well that ends well, and it was fine. Dennis and Stacia made their flight and were waiting for us in Athens to board the next leg. By the way, Aegean Airlines has the most beautiful, stylish flight attendants I have ever seen.
There was another hiccup with Tori and Vickie's flights home in that their connection in Munich was going to be very tight, so there was concern that they might miss their flight to the states. We all felt better when Vickie texted that they barely made it onto their connection. It was sad to see them leave us, but after all Tori is getting married in two weeks. They had a few things to do at home.
For some reason, at the Athens Airport we had to go back through security. This was not so good for me and Star. Without really thinking about it, we had put our beautiful gift baskets from the family in our carry-on bags. There wasn't a problem at Thessaloniki, but in Athens they caught it and pulled our bottles of ouzo, olive oil, olives, and honey. I burst into tears at the thought of these beautiful, handmade things being tossed in a trash can. Fortunately, we had plenty of time, so we were able to check the bags and keep our gifts (at an price of $30 per bag).
Upon arrival, we were greeted by a transportation van to get us and our luggage to our cute hotel. That's another thing you should know about traveling with Chris Pappas......he does not miss a single detail. After checking into our rooms at the Ersi Villas (we filled the majority of the hotel), we walked along the waterfront and had lunch on a high terrace restaurant with a great view. Dennis generously bought everyone's lunch as an apology for the confusion of the morning departure. It was totally unnecessary, but so very nice. We walked around and shopped in the large shopping district during the afternoon.
That evening, Zach, Ryan, and Katie had found an ideally located wine bar to watch the sunset and sample some Santorini wines. The sunset was beautiful. We then walked to find McDaniel's Gyros. I know it doesn't sound copasetic, but the gyros were fabulous. Inspired by our perfect evening thus far, we pushed the envelope and went to a couple of bars, shot pool, drank watered down two for ones and then found a good DJ. For some strange reason at the second bar, the DJ played some Credence Clearwater, some Aretha, then launched into 'Sweet Home Alabama.' I think we were being geographically profiled, but it was so fun. We older cousins left around midnight and Carter, Zach, Ryan, and Katie kept going for awhile longer. It was a very large time.
One note.....Carter packed his gift basket items into his checked luggage like he was supposed to, however, the bottle of olive oil was broken when he unpacked his bag. He has maybe three pieces of clothing that do not have olive oil on them. My olives leaked in my bag also, so I lost a few outfits too. Further note, soap and water and a sink do not remove olive oil from fabric. If you know how to remove olive oil from fabric, please comment below as this will be one of my first tasks upon my return home. In the meantime, any pictures of Carter from here on may all be in the same clothes. Yet, who can cry over spilled oil when you are in Santorini, Greece?!
One thing that is very important to understand if you are traveling with Chris Pappas is that he is a morning person. If you don't leave early, you are just missing part of the day at your destination. Thus, we all booked the same flight that he, Amy, Alexi, and Konstantina were on from Thessaloniki to Athens and then on to Santorini. This meant getting up at 3:30 am to load our vans by 4:15 to drive to the airport and make our 7:20 flight. It was settled. Everyone set their alarms and we were on track. Sometime around 3:30, Dennis happened to look at his and Stacia's tickets and realized that he had evidently booked the first flight of the morning at 6:40 ( I think if Chris had known of the existence of this earlier flight, we would have all been on it). Anyway, panic ensued. Thank goodness we had the entire hotel to ourselves, because there was some yelling going on. It was quite dark and we are throwing suitcases into vans, getting ourselves in, and driving to the airport at a slightly uncomfortable speed. Luckily, the rest of the world around us seemed to be sleeping. All's well that ends well, and it was fine. Dennis and Stacia made their flight and were waiting for us in Athens to board the next leg. By the way, Aegean Airlines has the most beautiful, stylish flight attendants I have ever seen.
There was another hiccup with Tori and Vickie's flights home in that their connection in Munich was going to be very tight, so there was concern that they might miss their flight to the states. We all felt better when Vickie texted that they barely made it onto their connection. It was sad to see them leave us, but after all Tori is getting married in two weeks. They had a few things to do at home.
For some reason, at the Athens Airport we had to go back through security. This was not so good for me and Star. Without really thinking about it, we had put our beautiful gift baskets from the family in our carry-on bags. There wasn't a problem at Thessaloniki, but in Athens they caught it and pulled our bottles of ouzo, olive oil, olives, and honey. I burst into tears at the thought of these beautiful, handmade things being tossed in a trash can. Fortunately, we had plenty of time, so we were able to check the bags and keep our gifts (at an price of $30 per bag).
Upon arrival, we were greeted by a transportation van to get us and our luggage to our cute hotel. That's another thing you should know about traveling with Chris Pappas......he does not miss a single detail. After checking into our rooms at the Ersi Villas (we filled the majority of the hotel), we walked along the waterfront and had lunch on a high terrace restaurant with a great view. Dennis generously bought everyone's lunch as an apology for the confusion of the morning departure. It was totally unnecessary, but so very nice. We walked around and shopped in the large shopping district during the afternoon.
That evening, Zach, Ryan, and Katie had found an ideally located wine bar to watch the sunset and sample some Santorini wines. The sunset was beautiful. We then walked to find McDaniel's Gyros. I know it doesn't sound copasetic, but the gyros were fabulous. Inspired by our perfect evening thus far, we pushed the envelope and went to a couple of bars, shot pool, drank watered down two for ones and then found a good DJ. For some strange reason at the second bar, the DJ played some Credence Clearwater, some Aretha, then launched into 'Sweet Home Alabama.' I think we were being geographically profiled, but it was so fun. We older cousins left around midnight and Carter, Zach, Ryan, and Katie kept going for awhile longer. It was a very large time.
One note.....Carter packed his gift basket items into his checked luggage like he was supposed to, however, the bottle of olive oil was broken when he unpacked his bag. He has maybe three pieces of clothing that do not have olive oil on them. My olives leaked in my bag also, so I lost a few outfits too. Further note, soap and water and a sink do not remove olive oil from fabric. If you know how to remove olive oil from fabric, please comment below as this will be one of my first tasks upon my return home. In the meantime, any pictures of Carter from here on may all be in the same clothes. Yet, who can cry over spilled oil when you are in Santorini, Greece?!
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