Saturday, May 22nd, 1999
After a frantic dash from
terminal to terminal in Heathrow airport - the logistics of this place are
incredible to say the least - we manage to make our
connection to Athens.
We arrive at Athens International
airport at 6:00 p.m. local time. With the 8-hour time change, our travels from
Chicago have taken nearly 24 hours. We're a bit tired and beat-up, but we're
thrilled to be back in Greece. That's when SNAFU number 2 is introduced.
Standing at the baggage carousel, Dad and I are absolutely amazed to see that
our luggage is to fist to come off the plane. Our excitement diminishes when we
come to the realization that Niki's and my Mom's bags are nowhere to be seen.
After a
lengthy discussion with the airport officials, we are assured that the lost bags
will be on a later flight from Heathrow and will be conveniently delivered to
our hotel later tonight. We hop into a taxi and are relived to discover that
Dad's Greek is quickly coming back to him.
We arrive
at The
Herodion Hotel at about 10:00
p.m. After splashing a little water on our faces and brushing our teeth, we
decide to explore the area for a good place to eat. After all, in Greece, this is
the prime-time for dinner. The streets are crowded with people, tourists and
locals alike. After receiving a tip from one of the locals, we stumble on to a
small restaurant in downtown Athens called Strofi.
Strofi
is located on Rov. Galli Street just south of the Acropolis. We are seated in
one of the last available tables on the rooftop with a spectacular view of the
Acropolis in all its glory. This turned out to be one of the best meals of the
trip. After gorging ourselves on Horiatiki, Feta, Domatas, Horta, Lamb, Musaka,
and a substantial amount of the local wine, we head out to the Plaka for an
evening stroll.
