Arrival to Greece

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The boys dropped me downtown for my 8am bus to Toronto airport. My flight until after 3, but there was no later bus, so I had plenty of time to kill at the airport. I was traveling carry on. The only thing I worried about was contact lense solution. Someone had told me, and I confirmed on the tsa site, that it is an exemption to the 100 ml rule as it's medically necessary, so I had a large bottle along. At the airline counter, they weren't sure about that, buy I went through security, and it was no problem.
The first flight to Philly was small and uneventful. It was a fairly short connection, less than an hour to get to my next gate, which ended up changing in number. I found the new gate and waited for boarding.
They announced a full flight while I saw sitting in an empty row, so I waited to see who my seatmates would be. I was crossing my fingers that maybe someone missed their flight and I'd have the row to myself, but then a woman behind me asked if she could move up. We had one empty seat between us, so not enough to lie down, but she was really nice and we'll probably stay in touch.
We ended up delayed on the tarmac almost an hour, as a tanker had to be moved, it was broken down in front of us.
The flight was good, but I couldn't fall sleep at all.
Exiting in Athens was easy, I got a chip for my cell phone, and then found Elly waiting for me.
I had gotten in touch with Elly through my home exchange website. She offered to host me and pick me up. She's a few years older than me, with kids that are 21 and 24 (not currently home), and a really cute dog.
We dropped my bag, I pushed past my fatigue and we went out to explore a bit of the downtown area, Plaka. We took the subway. When they were digging it, they found lots of ancient ruins, which they preserved and put in glass, so as you fo into the subway, you can see the ruins. When we got out, we saw the parliment building, and it was time for the changing of the guards, so we got to watch that. Then we went to have a late lunch. So delicious- we had deep fried feta, feta wrapped in phyllo and drizzled with honey and sesame seeds, and spanekopita. From the cafe, you could see the Acropolis. Then back to the apartment, watched a movie together to try to keep me awake til 8pm, and then a 12 hour sleep 😊

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