From Ruins To Revelations-Going Home

It would have been fascinating to spend more time in Greece and Turkey, but after ten days of pilgrimage it was time to go home. The tour company had made all of the flight arrangements, and because of time zone changes (factoring in Daylight Savings Time Athens, Greece was 8 hours ahead of St. Louis, MO) we had to get a very early start. We left the hotel at 3 AM, which allowed us to get to the airport for a 6 AM flight to Munich, Germany.

When Hubby Tony and I arrived in the hotel lobby we found the luggage that had been brought down by a porter, then picked up a boxed breakfast (scones, a granola bar, a fruit drink juice box, a pear, and an apple). The bus driver put all the luggage on the bus, everyone boarded, and we were on the way.

Not surprisingly, there was no traffic on the way to the airport. Check in went smoothly, and we had plenty of time to get a cup of coffee and one last piece of cheese pie before the flight boarded.

On our way!

The flight to Munich took approximately 2 1/2 hours. In Munich the passport process was easy, thanks to a cool automated scanner/live attendant system, and we had time to get a German pretzel before heading to the gate. (Some of the group also got a German beer, but at 9 AM that did not sound good to me.)

The flight to Chicago was approximately 9 1/2 hours. After the plane got up to cruising altitude the attendants served drinks and lunch. Conventional wisdom says that the best thing to do was to try and stay awake so my body would quickly get used to my home time zone. I couldn't pull that off but closed my eyes for a couple of quick cat naps. Otherwise I passed the time by reading a complete e-book and playing iPad mah jong. Shortly before the flight arrived the attendants served breakfast.

In Chicago there were no custom declaration forms to fill out, but we had to pick up our luggage and go through Customs checkpoints for a biometric face scan before having our passport checked. Our flight was in a different terminal, so everyone hustled to get on a transit train, then hustle to get to the correct gate and turn our luggage back in. We arrived five minutes before boarding started.

The last flight was a little less than 1 1/2 hours, just enough time for a beverage service before the plane started its descent. When the wheels touched down I was so happy! The waiting for luggage seemed to last forever; I just wanted to be home.

My long day in one photo

We picked up our luggage, and there boarded one more tour bus, which took us back to the church parking lot to pick up our car. Back at home, Pimento the Foster Cat was initially standoffish, but after he sniffed everything seemed to warm up to the idea of us being around.

~~~Finis ~~~