Heathrow and Athens

 Called Lyft and Mustapha got us from our place in Edmonds to the airport in exactly an hour. Not bad for this time of day, especially with the closed West Seattle bridge screwing up traffic. 

As we approached the counter to check in I noticed the couple on our left trying to check in.  They were going through their papers and phone looking for documents and QR codes. They were still there looking (and getting frustrated) as we headed for the TSA checkpoint.  Shows the importance of having your docs in order while traveling through Covid times. 

We caught the train to the south terminal, found a quiet place and relaxed until boarding time at 1730. Around the boarding gate we found the crowd spaced out and all wearing masks

From a nearby window I caught sight of The Mountain looking our way. I had a fairly good shot of that but the server continually rejected the photo so I gave up. If you live in western Washington, you can imagine the sight.

When we finalized our reservations for the cruise four or five months ago, I opted to upgrade to business because of the length of the flight and the Covid levels. Later the infection rates dropped so wondered if it had been a waste of money to upgrade. With the current levels, I'm glad we did. My traveling companion in the next seat had plenty of room and so did I. 

Had a nice dinner, vegetarian for me, English Beef for Ikuko. My first course had a stuffed bell pepper. Entrée was ravioli in mushroom sauce which was quite good.

After dinner we flattened our seats and had a decent five hour sleep before breakfast and landing at Heathrow. I knew we had arrived as we taxied to the gate and saw the spelling.

The last time we were in Heathrow was about fifteen years ago. The new terminal is more user friendly but huge. Actually there are five terminals with train or bus shuttles between them. There are also lots of long escalators.

As I remember, we took five of the long escalators along with a couple of the regular size models.

The immigration/Covid clearance at Heathrow was not bad for those of us who had done the necessary advance document filings. 

The flight from Heathrow to Athens was uneventful. In the business and first class section of this flight, the only difference was vacant middle seats in all rows. That and the drinkers enjoyed unlimited small bottles of champagne, wine and spirits. Guess that kept most folks from complaining.

As we approached the Athens airport the skies were smoky from the recent fires.

It was windy in Athens so the landing was a little rough, but successful. Clearance here amounted to a guard at the exit to Customs and Immigration asking to see our PLF or vaccine card. Showed him our vaccine cards, got our passports stamped at Immigration and assembled at exit to board our bus. 

Our 12-person group boarded a 50-passenger bus and our guide (from Allen) gave us a narrated tour during the 45-minute trip to the hotel. 

At the hotel, a bunch of tired pax checked in and crashed. 

More tomorrow.