HIGHTLIGHT OF THE DAY: Getting my 23.4kg bag checked through with no problems
BUMMER OF THE DAY: Catching my flight via London when 5 of the others are on a direct service
BUYS OF THE DAY: My dinner in Athens at 10EUR for a Gyro (enough meat to feed 3) and a drink
WORD OF THE DAY: Still saying si and gracias even though I have now left Spain
Early start to the morning, getting up at 5.15am. It is going to be a long day. I was downstairs and ready to go at 5.55am, waiting for my transfer. When it ticked over to 6.15, I was starting to get worried that it hadn’t turned up and was about to ring the company when he eventually showed up – phew. The drive to the airport was only 15 minutes away and travelling at 110km an hour, man they drive fast over here, he made up for some lost time that is for sure.
Madrid’s airport is massive. I was leaving from terminal 4, so I got dropped off and thanked the travel gods that the trolleys are free at the airport. So I loaded my 4 bags I have and headed into the check-in counters. Now I was travelling British Airways, but codeshare on Iberian. The departure board told me what counters I needed to go to but I couldn’t find any BA signs anywhere, so I thought that maybe as I was a little early, it was still just over the 2 hour check-in, that maybe they hadn’t opened yet. The 2 hours prior passed, so I just made a call and stood in line. There were no staff around to ask, so I stood at the counters I thought I was supposed to be at and 30 minutes later I made it to the top of the queue I have said so many times before, I know for a fact that I am over in my luggage weight, so it was no shock my bag popped up at 23.4kg!!! I just kept that smile on my dial and hoped that she would let me though. I tried to distract her by asking for window seats, which I couldn’t get on the Madrid to London flight, but she offered me an exit row instead in the middle. Now I hate to sound ungrateful, but I hate the exit row seats, you can’t have a bag on the floor, there is nowhere to put your stuff and I hate that the meal tray comes out of your hand rest. But I didn’t want to sound ungrateful, so I took it and she let my bag pass through with no excess. Thanks again to the travel gods. My bag has been checked all the way to Athens, so I don’t need to worry about going through it all again.
Another good thing at Madrid’s airport is at the security screening process. You know when you stand in line behind some-one and they have like a billion clothes on, they have to take off their belt, their shoes and then they have a liquids bag, a laptop and then they walk through and forget about the change in their pockets! Well in Madrid they have tables away from the actual screening to take your time, unload whatever you need to take out and off and then you walk up to the machines for your stuff to be screened. What a marvelous idea – so it was a pretty streamed lined process here. I did get pulled up with my scissors, they were inspected and then allowed to pass though, and they survive another screening and airport, which now makes 11 airports so far.
I found Iberian Airlines friendly, the staff were nice, the plane was a 3 x 3 configuration and the seats and the seat belts were very roomy and the overhead lockers were large as well. It was a 2 hour flight, where food and drinks were available for purchase only. We left 30 minutes late, but they made up some time in the air and we arrived only 20 minutes late into Heathrow.
So we arrived into terminal 3 at London Heathrow and my new flight was leaving from terminal 5. As I didn’t have to see my checked bag here, I was preparing myself to catch the train from one terminal to the other. But as I was a transit passenger and still airside, I was permitted to use the free bus shuttle that runs between the terminals. This was a very different experience from the last time I was here and paid 36EUR getting from one terminal to another. So from landing to getting through security at terminal 5 took me 45 minutes. I then had to locate my gate at terminal 5 (which is a massive terminal, let alone Heathrow as an airport) and it took me 10 minutes to get to the 50m long escalator, to get to the train, to get me to the right departure lounge, to then walk another 10 minutes to get to my actual departure gate – after all that I had 10 minutes to spare before boarding. What a marathon right!! Holy moly – talk about getting some exercise before the flight.
I flew British Airways for this leg and they operate a Boeing 767 on this route. I have to say these planes are quite roomy and it felt like an executive plane. My knees didn’t touch the seat in front, the meal was good, the seats were wide, the seat belts were large and plenty of overhead room. I don’t know why people whinge about them as an airline but my 3 flights I have done with them so far have been fine. We left London nearly an hour late. We were late boarding as the air hostee’s got stuck in staff security and were delayed in getting to the plane. We then missed our slot out and had to wait 45 minutes for air traffic to squeeze us in for takeoff. It really is crazy looking out the window and seeing all these planes waiting, planes taking off and planes landing. After a 3.5 hours flight got me landing into Athens at 6.15pm. Our Contiki hotel is located near the port rather than in town, which is fine by me, as I have been to Athens before, and we get to do a city tour before heading out to the islands, so it is nice to be on the waterfront. There are no transfer companies operating from the airport. The 2 choices are the metro or taxis. If you are heading into the city, it is now a set rate of 35EUR; they legally cannot charge you more. But of course this doesn’t apply to the port, but my taxi was only 38EUR, so it wasn’t that much more anyways.
At check-in at the hotel, there was a message from my Greek Posse on what room they were in, so I headed there and we waited for the other 3 to arrive and then we went to a local restaurant and got some dinner. I have to say I am a BIG kebab / Yiros / Gyro fan – and I am hoping that I don’t overkill while I am here on them. But I did have a gyro for dinner, and it was a mountain of shaved pork on a plate with some pita bread, taztiki, tomato, onion and some fries. It was the most DELICIOUS thing I have eaten since the Mexican I ate in Granada. All for the grand price of 10EUR including a drink and tip. Greece I think we are going to be great friends.
Early night for us all tonight. Back to the hotel by 10.30pm. 2 AFD (alcohol free days) in a row and I am feeling a million dollars. I may as well make the most of that while I can as once we hit the islands I have a feeling it will be a drink fest. We meet the rest of our Contiki friends tomorrow at 4pm – but it is not as daunting when you start a tour knowing people.
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