Greece Trip - Day 16

11 July, 2009 – Athens and Home

We had a bit of a flight scare late the previous night of rumours of a strike at the airport – no planes going in or out of the Athens Airport, luckily it was not true and flights were going, but possible delays will occur. Donnal and I both wanted to go and see the old Olympic Stadium and both of our flights were not until later in the day, so we took our last tour of Athens together. We took the metro to Syntagma Square and then walked through the National Gardens to the Temple of Zeus and Hadrian’s Arch, then along the road to the Olympic Stadium. Three buses of people had arrived at the stadium, so it was pretty busy and we had to hustle to the fence line to take some photos. Donnal dropped her camera lens cover the fence and a guy jumped over the fence for her – so I thought that was sweet. We escaped the crowds and went for a stroll back through the shaded gardens and then walked through the Plaka area. We stopped at a bakery and bought spinach and feta pies and baklava for lunch and then ate it on a step in the shade.

Donnal and I took the same bus to the airport, our flights were only a few hours apart and Donnal preferred the idea of waiting in the air conditioned airport for her flight, and it was good to have some company. There was a fantastic duty free food shop in the airport where I bought some Greek Kalamata olives, olive oil and five different flavoured tapenades – delicious. I also bought some biscuits that I hope are the ones that Mum really likes.

After boarding the plane and it taxiing to the runway, we had to wait 1 ½ hours to leave – there were strikes on various times where no planes could arrive or depart. I was lucky and had a whole row of 3 seats to myself, so I just lifted the arm rests and had a snooze while we waited. When we finally arrived at Stansted Airport I had to wait for the next train to Cambridge, and when I got to Cambridge I had just missed a train and would have to wait nearly an hour until 11pm (1am Greek time for me) for the next train. I was tired and just wanted to get home, and I was cold – it was raining here and I only had on a singlet top and skirt, so I caught a taxi home.

I am now obsessed with Greek Cuisine and have looked up some recipes of some of the traditional food I enjoyed on my holiday. I have been having Greek Salads every 2nd night or so for dinner and have been enjoying my Ios honey on fruit salads.