Greece Trip: 05/01/08 (Thurs) -- We made it!
It's my first time through Paris-Charles de Gaulle airport (CDG). It's big. We walked tons. And took a train. And rode conveyor belts. And sorted out confusing signs. But eventually found our way.
We would have been pressed to connect in an hour and a half. Passport control was efficient, but security was not so much. But fortunately, we had three hours to kill. Unfortunately, there are crappy amenities airside in terminal 2D. Now we know!
I manage to touch base with Callie, which was a test of the international SIM I got from Sprint. Can't seem to send txt msgs though, which would be handy this trip. Oh well. They are moving along and making progress.
After a short break (mostly zoned out thanks to lack of sleep because of screaming dreamer, or maybe dreaming screamer), time to board. Even though seats are assigned, Air France apparently just boards 'em up in no order. Cattle call to the assigned seats! We got in line early, thankfully, and on board the Airbus A320 relatively quickly. And sat on the runway for an hour with no explanation. Fun! I took a nap and worked on my sleep deficit, so it was no big deal.
It was an okay flight CDG to ATH. Pluses and minuses:
+ Food is good again. Lunch in economy is comparable to international dinner on CO economy.
+ Good wine (I didn't partake, but it was the same stuff)
- Uncomfortable seats. Just awful.
- Slow takeoff. Unexplained waits suck.
- No In Flight Entertainment. Yay noise-cancelling headphones and mp3 player!
We got to ATH a big before 6:00 PM. Given our delay, we figured Callie and her sister would beat us, but as it turned out, they had a slow takeoff too. We got our bags off quickly (Richard Vacar in Houston could learn from this! Gawd, IAH baggage sucks). A few minutes later, the screen showed the BA arrival in the other terminal. Just a bit later, we're in touch via phone, and that's that. Technology!
We decided to splurge on a taxi instead of public transit, given our ordeal already. Err... maybe not... The line is hundreds of people deep. Literally. Off (naively!) to check out the trains to Athens, where we'll connect and head to Piraeus....
Oh, NOW we understand the taxi line... public transit workers are on strike this day. No service from them. Great!
On the last trip, I had noticed a Sofitel connected to the airport (across the main street, actually). Very nice hotel chain. Very nice hotels have taxi service. So off we go. There were not taxis waiting (surprisingly), but a few euros slipped to the Sofitel door man had a taxi there in a few minutes. Yeah, we cheated. Or maybe we just made better use of knowledge and experience than some. Whatever. After the adventure so far, I just wanted to get out of lines and delays and off to Piraeus.
We got to the hotel (more on that below) with no problems, checked in, dropped our stuff, and immediately got another taxi to head out to dinner (about 9:00 pm by now). The Markantonis clan some time ago discovered THE place to eat if you are in Piraeus -- Diassimo's, a fish taverna from which you can watch ferries and other boats coming and going. They have amazing fish dishes, and a very colorful (round) owner who carries on like a true Greek taverna owner/salesman to people who come to his restaurant. He was there on our last trip, which was lunch in October 2007. I think he is always there. Greek business owners tend to be that way, at least the reaully successful one. The fish was amazing, as always.
And now for a funny Diassimo's story.... As we were eating, a group of nine came in. Of course the owner carried on and made a big production of sliding tables together and securing them a good crew.
They are apparently a Greek family, or at least speaking in Greek (Callie suggests maybe some are Eastern European Greeks).
Callie translates as follows: They are telling the waiter that the women really do not eat fish. Waiter looks perplexed. He tells them, "We could make them pork chops, I guess?" Family ultimately decides to leave.
Diassimo's is apparently a well-known fish taverna. There's no real reason to go there for anything but fish. Literally! Too funny.
Back to the hotel, because we are exhausted. And that's the end of a long day.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 05/01/08 23:59 | Travel | Technorati
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I've noticed that around here in fish tavernas as well - people will come and order something that is not fish (many places do have a couple of non-fish entries on the menu). Well, not everybody likes fish (I don't particularly, to the shame of my parents and their Eastern Shore of MD upbringing) but why go to a fish taverna if half your party doesn't eat fish?
I'm surprised your seats on the A320 weren't good - I guess it depends on the airline. Our Aegean Air flight from Athens to Thessaloniki was pretty spacious and comfortable, all things considered.
Posted by melusina @ 07:35 on 05/27/08
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