Day 1 – Sunday – April 23, 2023
Today Jay and I begin a 6 and a half journey to Greece. Jay did the initial planning and research. We then both tweaked the itinerary, until we got it the way we wanted. We will be traveling to Athens, road tripping through the Peloponnese, then over to Thessaloniki, Meteora, and Delphi. We will be visiting the islands of Hydra, Santorini, Paros, Naxos and Crete. We will be traveling by car, ferry and planes. So let the journey begin.
If you have read any of my previous posts, then y0u know we have a orange tabby cat named Max and a little Havanese doge named Zack. We have since added a black cat, we call Pepper. Zack is 15 years old. Both Zack and Max are going to be spending their time at a kennel while we are away. Pepper will be staying with my brother and his cats. We dropped Zack and Max off on Saturday morning.
We are flying out of Orlando, it is about a 4 hour drive from our home. Because we were going to be gone for so long, it was cheaper to do a one way rental car to Orlando and back than to park my car at the airport. Sunday morning, we got up at night and drove to the car rental place to pick up our rental car. Our flight was not leaving until 8:50 at night. We went back home, put our luggage in the car, put Pepper in her crate and then in the car and left.
My brother lives about 50 minutes from my home on the way to Orlando. We stopped at his house and dropped off Pepper. We stopped to get some lunch before heading on to Orlando. We arrived in Orlando around 4:00, dropped off the rental car and headed inside the terminal. I had booked our plane tickets using miles with American Airlines, but we were actually flying on British Airways. I had checked in the night before and put our boarding passes on my phone. We still had to go to the BA counter to drop our bags and so she could look at our passports. We were flying in Premium Economy so that is the line we got in. There were several other people in front of us. The counter was not open yet so we had to wait unit 5 when they opened up. Our first leg of the trip was from Orlando to London Gatwick arriving at 10.10 AM on Monday. Our 2nd leg does not depart until Tuesday.
We have TSA Precheck. There was one person in front of us. The security agent just looked at our passports and then he motioned us to the screening area. I did not have to take my liquids out of my carryon or take off my shoes. We were through in a jiffy. Our next stop was to get lunch. we went to a hamburger place and got a couple of burgers. Then we headed to our gate where we had to sit and wait.
Finally it was time to board the plane. I did not have to show our boarding passes. You step up to the counter and they take your picture, then walk down the jetway onto the plane.
Flying in Premium Economy gave us a little more room. The configuration of the plane was 2 seats, 4 seats, 2 seats. We were sitting in the 2 seats. They give you an amenity kit that contained: noise cancelling headphones, socks, eye mask, toothbrush and toothpaste and lip balm. You also had a pillow and a blanket. There was an entertainment center on the back of the seat in front of you. The tray table was stored in the arm rest. There was also a foot rest.
They started the flight by giving us drinks. Then we were given food. I had the butter chicken with rice and lentils. There was a barley salad, a roll and a panna cotta for dessert. The food was ok. For breakfast, the choice was a hot cheese and egg sandwich. I watched a movie and then tried to get some sleep. The flight was pretty smooth (no turbulence).
We went to passport control where you walk up to a machine and put your passport in facedown open to your picture. it then takes your picture and lets you pass through. Then on to baggage. Our luggage was one of the last ones to come out. I had arrived for Mini Cabs to pick us up to take us to our hotel. The driver was waiting for us. It was about a 45 minute drive to our hotel.
The hotel we are staying at is near Heathrow Airport. We had to wait to get into our room, because it was before the check-in time and the room was not ready yet. When we finally got our rooms, both Jay and I were exhausted, so we took a nap. We got up around 5 and went to eat dinner in the hotel restaurant then back to our room. We have to get up early in the morning for our flight to Athens, so tonight will be an early night.
