So no sleep and the overly friendly people in Italy (I am highly exaggerating, they were the worst people we met on the trip) made the Rome airport experience one I would like to forget. Unlike the rest of the normal world, the Rome airport has hundreds of check in areas throughout five terminals where you have to find your flight and then find that number to check in. And don’t think you can find where you airline departs if you are not in that terminal. No one will help you or answer your questions, they just snub you. I have to think that in the US we don’t treat people like this. So I get in the line where I am supposed to check in and Chelsey heads to another terminal for US Airways. At this point I am hoping she got on her plane and is on the 14 hour trip home. Cell phones aren’t easy to come by and once we got split up we didn’t see each other before we departed. We laughed about this trip and how a couple years ago we would have killed each other being together for 15 or so days. But back to the airport. I am in line but it is like 7:30 a.m. and I get in line only to find out that I can’t check in yet, but it isn’t this clear as they are telling me this. I get pushed around some more and then move over to the side. Putting no sleep with a flashback to our last experience in this airport six years ago where after more than six hours we almost didn’t make our flight, I just broke down. This sweet couple from American ask if I was alright and I just felt silly. I was so tired and really wanted food, but I couldn’t get through security because I couldn’t check in for another hour and a half.
As 9 neared, I got in line again to check in. Behind me this man asked me if I spoke English. His sister was flying to Athens on the same flight I was on, but had never flown before and didn’t speak English or Italian. He asked me if I would make sure she got to the gate. It was weird to met someone who in their late forties had never flown and had a language barrier too that made the journey hard. After checking in we got to the security area (more flashbacks to last time and how long it took). It was about 45 minutes and we got through the throngs of people to the security. It was funny because we couldn’t communicate, but she just did what I did with her stuff. Took off her coat, put her luggage on the conveyor belt. We got to the gate and I showed her where our flight would leave from and then wondered around for a while. I was flying Aegean Air, which had a great plane and amazing snacks! It ended up that the woman I met was sitting two seats over, so I showed her where to put her luggage above in the compartment and how to buckle the seat belt. Being on the clean plane, it took me about five seconds before I fell asleep. Arriving in Athens, we wondered to baggage claim and got our belongings. Before she met who was picking her up and shook my hand and thanked me. It was a great experience to meet someone who had just as much of a language barrier as I did. I got into a taxi and headed to the hotel to meet dad, who was waiting in the lobby. First off it was amazing to see him and be at a Marriott, where I wouldn’t feat the beds! From the pool at the hotel, you can see the Acropolis on the hill. It is such a neat city. My taxi driver was very informative and told me a lot about the sights as we rode in.
As 9 neared, I got in line again to check in. Behind me this man asked me if I spoke English. His sister was flying to Athens on the same flight I was on, but had never flown before and didn’t speak English or Italian. He asked me if I would make sure she got to the gate. It was weird to met someone who in their late forties had never flown and had a language barrier too that made the journey hard. After checking in we got to the security area (more flashbacks to last time and how long it took). It was about 45 minutes and we got through the throngs of people to the security. It was funny because we couldn’t communicate, but she just did what I did with her stuff. Took off her coat, put her luggage on the conveyor belt. We got to the gate and I showed her where our flight would leave from and then wondered around for a while. I was flying Aegean Air, which had a great plane and amazing snacks! It ended up that the woman I met was sitting two seats over, so I showed her where to put her luggage above in the compartment and how to buckle the seat belt. Being on the clean plane, it took me about five seconds before I fell asleep. Arriving in Athens, we wondered to baggage claim and got our belongings. Before she met who was picking her up and shook my hand and thanked me. It was a great experience to meet someone who had just as much of a language barrier as I did. I got into a taxi and headed to the hotel to meet dad, who was waiting in the lobby. First off it was amazing to see him and be at a Marriott, where I wouldn’t feat the beds! From the pool at the hotel, you can see the Acropolis on the hill. It is such a neat city. My taxi driver was very informative and told me a lot about the sights as we rode in.
We are staying at a Marriott, which means great beds and sheets that have more than a two digit thread count (so of the hotels should have advertised exfoliating sheets because they were such rough sheets!). Today we went off to see the Acropolis and Agora, which were really neat buildings, but with lots of work being done to preserve them. It is really hot here are well, so I am pleased to say that I will have a head start to the summer tan by the time I get home.
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