Day Seventeen (Monday)

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It wasn't loud noises, sweltering temperatures or Gail's phone call that woke me up this morning. At about 7:00 am I could feel the Sea Diamond slowing down and the rolling of the ship stopped. By the time I was out of the shower the engines had stopped. Gail and her mother were already up so we decided to take advantage of our last free meal of the trip. We headed down for the breakfast buffet while the rest of the passengers scrambled to get off the ship.

About an hour later our group gathered in the lounge then headed off the ship and into the terminal. Inside we picked-up our waiting suitcases and Mike reclaimed his stowed weapons. Our next stop would be Athens airport. Unfortunately, when we walked out of the terminal there was no bus waiting for us. Fortunately Jurgen was still with us so he got on his cell phone and eventually got in touch with the bus driver. The ride to the airport took a long time, but it was a good time because Jurgen regaled us with a few more of his stories.

Jurgen helped us lug our suitcases up to the Delta counter. He gave everyone a big hug then got teary-eyed as he wandered out of the airport counting up his tip money. Gail told him she would definitely be requesting him for a tour in the future. Now let's see if he avoids us after that threat.

I tried to sleep on the flight home knowing that I'd be getting right back on a plane two days later and flying back across the Pond. I don't remember much of anything on the flight back so I guess I got a nice nap. The movie coming home was the same one we had going out - Ice Age 2. Two days hence, do you want to guess what the movie was on our flight to Shannon?

The only eventful part of the day was the long ride home from JFK. Once again traffic was awful and it took almost three hours to get back. Lucky for us the bus was air conditioned and we had plenty of stories to retell on the long ride home.

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Photos

Splendors of the Meditteranean
Map courtesy of EF Tours.