We slept in a bit this morning as we had not planned to try and do anything in Athens before heading to the airport for our flights home.
I awoke a little before 8:00 AM to find that our flight from Athens to Philadelphia had been delayed, leaving us only 40 minutes to make our connecting flight. I knew this would likely mean we would miss our connection unless the second flight was delayed. I spent a few minutes looking at flight schedules and really could not find an alternative that would get us back to Nashville any earlier than tomorrow. We decided to just proceed as planned and then figure it out once we reached Philadelphia if we missed our connection.
On a side note, I’ve never flown across the Atlantic without massive delays, missed connections, or cancelled flights. This includes flying on American, United, and Delta. Still looking for the secret to smooth travel across the pond.
Anyway, we left our room around 8:30 AM for breakfast again at their sister hotel in Monastriaki Square. Just like the day before, we soaked in the beautiful view of the Acropolis and Mars Hill while enjoying a wonderful Greek breakfast.
I especially love the chocolate croissant that was filled with chocolate.
Last night we scheduled a Mercedes Van to pick us up and take us to the airport at 10 AM. Even with the delayed flight, we decided to just stick to the same schedule.
There were obviously much cheaper options, but after keeping up with seven bags for 14 days through trains, planes, boats, and tiny Uber Taxi cars, I decided that since we were all exhausted, it would be worth it to get something a little more comfortable.
Once the driver picked us up, Olivia and the girls were asleep within minutes. This has been an epic trip, but we’ve got nothing left. In the van, the driver was listening to 80s and 90s pop music including Ice, Ice Baby by Vanilla Ice. Talk about a blast from the past!
At the Athens airport, checking in for our flight and dropping off our bags was a breeze. It was a long walk to our departure terminal, but once we got there security was pretty painless and they were all very friendly. This is a lot different than TSA in the states.
Since we were there so early, our gate was not yet open. We hung out for a little while in a common area and then decided to grab some lunch in the “Airport Agora”.
We all had ham and cheese pies at Camden Food Co. While they were not quite as good as the ones we had in Oia, Santorini, they were still pretty tasty.
We were also able to use up the rest of our Euros for lunch, which worked out nice.
Once the gate opened, we finally boarded the plane at 2:35 PM for our flight to Philadelphia. The captain came on the PA and said that the delay was caused by problems in Chicago and that he would his best to make up as much time as he could in the air. We pushed back from the gate just before 3pm.
Our flight was relatively uneventful with very little turbulence for a transatlantic flight. My goal was to try and stay awake for as much of the flight as I could so that hopefully I would be able to sleep when I got home.
They served our first meal shortly after takeoff, and I had the pasta. It was labeled “Homemade Lasagna”, which I found quite funny, especially after spending several days in Italy. However, it was actually pretty good for airplane food.
During the flight I played several movies that I had seen before while writing in my journal about the trip. I decided to watch Gladiator, since we had just visited the Colosseum. Then I watched the first two movies of the Dark Knight Trilogy. At some point during the flight (I don’t know what time it was), they brought everyone a small cup of chocolate ice cream. Mine was so hard that I had to let it thaw for about 30 minutes before I could eat it.
About an hour before we landed, they served one more meal, which was folded pizza in a box. I had never really seen any like it before, but it was not as awful as I feared.
We finally arrived in Philadelphia around 6:20 PM and our connecting flight to Nashville was scheduled for departure at 7:25. The crew was definitely able to “make up some time in the air”, but I still thought it would be a challenge to make our connection with immigration, customs, and airport security.
Getting through immigration and customs was relatively painless, especially with the MPC app for declarations. We had to wait about 15 minutes for our bags and then ran with them to the rescanning area.
Once we reached connecting flight security it was about 7:45 PM. While going through security, Sara’s backpack was pulled out for additional inspection. At least five TSA agents then examined her backpack and contents for the next 20 minutes. They also ran it through the scanner two additional times. I have no idea what exactly they thought she had in her bag, but it had already made it through Nashville, Rome Cruise Terminal, Royal Caribbean, and Athens security without issue.
By the time we finally got the bag back, it was 7:05 and we were in Terminal A. Our flight was in Terminal C at gate 19. We ran all the way from A to C with our carry on luggage, and arrived at the gate at 7:15 AM. I ran so hard that my watch gave me a notification that said “Looks like you’re working out”. My heart rate reached 176, which is pretty high for me.
Even though we were technically past the cutoff for boarding the flight, the doors were still open when we got there and we got on the plane. I’ve run through an airport like that one other time and didn’t make my flight. It was nice to make this one after so much effort.
However, once we were in the plane, and had been through the safety briefing, the captain came on and said that all southwestern routes had been suspended, so we would be delayed until they found another route for the all the waiting planes. We ended up sitting on the tarmac for over two hours. The captain told us just before 9:00 PM that he had received a new route and we were now in the queue for takeoff. Our plane finally left the ground around 9:25 PM, which was another two hour delay, but at least we were on our way home.
As much as I tried to stay awake on the first flight, once this one was in the air, I was out. We landed around 10:30 PM, and thankfully all of our bags came with us. We took an Uber home from the airport, and walked through our front door at 11:30 PM, 21 1/2 hours after leaving our hotel in Athens this morning.
What an epic trip this was! Every day was fantastic, and this journey exceeded my expectations every step of the way. Such wonderful memories created with my amazing family. I’m a very blessed man!
By the way, I was curious how much walking and climbing we did over the 14 days of travel, and here are the numbers from my Apple Watch:
