We (Matt and Marina) left YVR at a very reasonable hour of
9:45 am feeling almost refreshed. A very nice flight to Montreal on a lovely
new 787 dreamliner -- the ones that Grandma Melissa works on, and we land 2 movies and 4 hours and 5 minutes later (early by 25
minutes). The next flight now 1.5 hours away and it’s a comfortable wait. Then
we’re on an older 767 so movies have to be watched on tablets or cell phones
(Matt's iPad, Marina cell) but not so bad. 3 and a half movies plus several Big
Bang Theory episodes (plus some reading) took us through the 9 hour flight to
Athens – also arriving 30 minutes early. This time early was not a such a great thing
… the next flight is now 9 hours and 45 minutes away. This length of layover
(without leaving the airport) is new to me. So we get our bags, get through
customs, go through a “Greek” style check-in (where our ticket says Aegean Air
but we have to check-in to the Olympic Air desk, and we then our two bags must each go to a different bag drop).
Once fully checked in we found a nice Italian restaurant and shared a huge, yummy, thin crust pizza and killed about 2 more hours. Still about 7 to go. So we find an Airport “bench”, which is 3 seats close together and a connected table on either end, and we lay out (the first one we tried must have been the busiest gate in the airport…the second area was as good as it gets).
Now this seems like a fun idea to people like my younger brother (who’s a Yukon man) and 19 year olds, but for old farts with sore necks, legs that ache and arms that go numb, it’s not an experience that you want to chase after again. Not to mention music playing, people talking, babies crying, guys plopping down on the bench behind yours which rattles you…and did I mention there is about .05 cm of padding on these chairs with metal in between? We considered the floor but the bench seemed the lesser of two evils. Maybe 2 hours fitful sleep? Maybe. Better than none I guess…or is it?
Once fully checked in we found a nice Italian restaurant and shared a huge, yummy, thin crust pizza and killed about 2 more hours. Still about 7 to go. So we find an Airport “bench”, which is 3 seats close together and a connected table on either end, and we lay out (the first one we tried must have been the busiest gate in the airport…the second area was as good as it gets).
Now this seems like a fun idea to people like my younger brother (who’s a Yukon man) and 19 year olds, but for old farts with sore necks, legs that ache and arms that go numb, it’s not an experience that you want to chase after again. Not to mention music playing, people talking, babies crying, guys plopping down on the bench behind yours which rattles you…and did I mention there is about .05 cm of padding on these chairs with metal in between? We considered the floor but the bench seemed the lesser of two evils. Maybe 2 hours fitful sleep? Maybe. Better than none I guess…or is it?
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