I have arrived!

This morning I arrived in Athens and had a theee hour layover during which I bought a cool new pair of sunglasses and had to jump through a few hoops to get my boarding pass reissued so I could get through security

While I was waiting at the gate, a man asked me if I was an American as I pulled out my hydro flask. Is that a tell? He’s a judge in LA so I pestered him with questions about becoming a lawyer so I could pass that along to my daughter Amy.

The flight to Heraklion was quite brief and I had a view of the churning Mediterranean Sea which was indicative of the wind as we bounced around a bit during take off and landing. They all clapped when the plane landed. I’m thinking that’s a thing and not because of the turbulence. The airlines are quite pragmatic here. There emergency card doesn’t say in case of a water evacuation. Let’s just call it what it is, “ditching.”

The airport was shabbier than I thought it would at Heraklion since it’s a major tourist destination. I couldn’t find my confirmation for my car rental, Hertz had it in their system. Whew.

I had an hour and forty minute drive from the airport to my AirBnB. It was raining on and off which made the road quite slippery even though they were in otherwise good condition.

For the first half hour or so, I was having buyers remorse. The terrain was treeless and a lot of white and red rocks but not much else. I did see my first windmill. But then the road became two lanes and the scenery for quite a bit prettier.

Driving in Greece is great. If you want to over take someone, they will pull over on the should so you can pass. I knew I was going slower because of the rain and getting comfortable with a six speed gear box and a sensitive clutch. So I pulled over to let a car by and they honked in appreciation. Road rage is America ia so much about the refusal to yield!

I arrived at my place in time to get a few sunset photos and get all my stuff inside before it got dark. That was a workout bringing four weeks of stuff up a hill and then a long set of stairs. You don’t see too many overweight people here!

The local tavern was not open so I went down the road to a restaurant where I was clearly out of place. But I got a hot fried cheese bread and then heard to the “mini market.” The bnb said they would stock thing but they never responded to my email and I didn’t take time to check before I left because I was quite hangry at that point.

When I got home, I discovered not only had they gotten everything I asked for, they also had a nice tray of sweets and a much needed bottle of wine. I’m settling in, but I feel like Cameron Diaz’s character in Holiday. The place is small and I have a lot of stuff for four weeks AND I have a stack of books.

I had a short warm shower after I unpacked some things. Once I finish the blog, I’m going to force myself to stay up a little later before turning in and looking forward to no alarms nor plans for tomorrow!