Going Home - Final post

 06-07-21, Monday

I suppose this should really have started with the end of the last post, but c'est la vie!  The flight from Larnaca to Athens is only about an hour and forty-five minutes and the middle seat in my row is empty. Yay!  And they fed us a literal brown-bag meal!  It was a little ham and cheese sandwich, a chocolate and carob filled biscuit, and a bottle of water.  And when they had collected the trash they brought around other beverages - coffee, orange juice, apple juice!

That almost makes up for the lack of organization apparent in the Athens airport!  It's a good thing I've got five hours to figure out where I belong!  The first departure signs don't go far enough into the day and it appears that there are two terminals according to the signs;  but the first man I ask assures me, "No B, no B!!"  Okay, whatever!  Then there's the man checking papers and he doesn't care about my QR code or my test and he points me toward passport control.  But when I get there, the man turns me back around and out because I'm in transit.  There are signs in both Greek and English;  but they might as well just be Greek for all the assistance they are!! 

I think I've got it figured out, now.  I finally find my flight on a sign; but there's no gate for anything later than about eight o'clock.  It's now seven thirty and my flight leaves as twelve forty-five, so I guess I'll just hang out and check the sign again in two or three hours!  No wonder people are sleeping everywhere!  They must all have terrible layovers!  At least it's not fifteen hours, like my original schedule! :) And the wifi is free!

interesting fixture at the coffee shop

Thank you, God!  There's my flight!

Charging station

Whatever kind of goodie you've got!

There are mountains in Athens!

Apparently the cats are as ubiquitous here as in Cyprus and Turkey!

Look at those beautiful empty seats!!

Ah!  They are boarding our ten and a half hour flight to Newark! I can hardly wait to see what movies are awaiting me!  And surely they will have to feed us to avoid an uprising!  Away we go!

Everyone receives their disinfectant wipe as we board and I find my aisle seat.  I wait patiently for my seat mates;  but when we're wheels up I find no one is the other two seats in my row!  Life is good!

And strawberries and clotted cream for dessert!

Sure enough, there is chicken curry for dinner and there are lots of movies to choose from.  Some I watch all the way through, some are only worth fifteen or twenty minutes!  The selection includes: "Best in Show" (fun satire of a dog show with people you'd recognize - both the actors and the participants!); "Citizen Kane" (once again I don't make it all the way through;  you really need to be able to hear all the dialogue); "Hedwig and the Angry Inch" (finally got to see this!!!); "Inception" (fun mind-bender); "Judas and the Black Messiah" (probably a super movie - not what I need right now!) "Just Visiting" (what a giggle;  but more slapstick than I can handle on no sleep!); "The Hours" (Loved this!); Let Them all Talk (I really need to watch this again so I can see how it ends!)

After eight hours, we get a hot ham and cheese sandwich and a drink, with just enough time to eat and throw away the trash before landing.

Newark, our first American airport, so customs will kick in here.  My GOES card is somewhat helpful.  I go through the motions and the official sends me to line 31 to "fix it"?   I guess it's a problem that I'm too short for the photo and my finger prints never all register;  but I answer the questions, take down my mask, and "Welcome home!"  Still lots quicker than standing in that terrible line!  Now I can collect my bag, which no one ever looks at, throw away the declaration form that no one asks for, and take my bag to thje drop off point for continuing passengers.  That part is really slick!  Then it's a ride on the air train to terminal C and a short wait at the next gate!

Many of the international flights require this kind of mask.

I just love our airport!

It's a quick flight to Tampa (the world's best airport!) but they still find time for a quick snack.  And Betsy is waiting at the end of the shuttle ride with a big hug!  Oh!  I'm really home! And more hugs from Jenny and Ole!  There's not much traffic on a Monday night (can it really still be Monday here?) and I'm home by eleven!!  Can I go back tomorrow, please??