At ATH

Although my research indicated that there were taxi queues at each terminal, I had booked a similarly-priced car through Welcome Pickups to transfer us from the port in Piraeus to Eleftherios Venizelos … as the Athens International Airport is known.

Over the past 24-48 hours I had received several confirmations of the booking, including the name of the driver and his personal contact information. Indeed, the driver showed up promptly at 9:30a and whisked us to ATH … about an hour’s drive from the port.

Our flight wasn’t until 3:40p, but we were hoping that we might be able to get on an earlier flight. Turns out that there was no earlier flight. Nor would the check-in counter be opening until 1:00p. So, we found a quiet corner — no easy feat at this small but busy airport — and settled down to while away a couple of hours. Luckily, the counter opened around 12:15p and we were able to turn over the checked bags, get our boarding passes, go through security, and find a quieter spot near our departure gate a little earlier than anticipated.

Our Turkish Airlines equipment has now arrived and is deplaning. Boarding should be called soon.

More later …Read more