Temple of Zeus, Athens

I woke hubby up at about 07.15, he came down in his bathrobe at about 07.30 and his coffee was ready and so was my tea.  He went back upstairs to dress up at about 07.55 and I cleared away some stuff in the kitchen.  One piece of handcarried luggage was already packed the previous evening and this morning I packed my laptop and wiring in the other.  The documents were already ready yesterday evening as well -- passports, airport parking confirmation, and then, at the last minute, I had mailed our boarding passes to good friend P yesterday, to please print them out for me so that hubby would not see them at home, and she had them ready for me by the time we met for dinner last night!  Hubby was still away when I got back home so I had no trouble keeping them hidden till the last minute.  By 08.25, we were packed and in the car and headed for the airport.  Most likely because it was autumn break, there was absolutely no traffic jam from our house to Schiphol Airport, which is about 100 km. away, an unbelievable thing as the A16-A13-A4 route is usually packed at rush hour and beyond.  Anyway, we were half an hour early at airport parking, but that was okay.  The bus eventually showed up, as we knew it would.

At the airport, because we'd already checked in, we could go straight to the xray machines.  First, however, we found out we were at the wrong terminal hall, but maybe that was a lucky thing because I spotted 25 euros just lying there on the floor, waiting for someone to pick them up, which of course I did.  Probably fell out of someone's pocket but if I didn't claim them, someone else would probably have done the honours anyway.  Out of the wrong terminal and on to the right one, and after the xray machines we could go straight to the gate, but we did have a quick breakfast in-between.  It was only when we were at the right terminal, actually, that hubby found out where we were going.  It was my surprise for him because he is turning 65 at the end of this month and I had long made up my mind that I was going to give him a treat.  I thought first of Malta because he has a good bridge friend there (who used to work in Breda but moved to Malta about 2 years ago for another job).  The tickets were a bit too prohibitive, though, and the departure time in Malta, heading back to AMS, was stress-inducing, and so Athens it was.  A bit of apprehension on my part -- would he like it?  He did!

After some 4 hours of flying, we arrived to 27 degrees in Athens and a clear sky.  A cab took us to Plaka to our Airbnb, where we pressed the doorbell at about 17.00.  After settling in, we thought we'd use the rest of the remaining daylight to explore a bit.  The Temple of Zeus is a short walk away and there was enought light for a shot or two ... or six.  Near the temple was Hadrian's Arch, so of course hubby had to pose in front of his arch.  Then a quick climb to the Parthenon but of course it was already closed but we knew we were coming back the next day.  Dinner and then bed.  What a fab day!

And what did he say while we were looking around?  'Instead of South-East Asia, we can also travel around in South-East Europe!'  I didn't expect that.  I think the surprise worked.  So yes, we'll be here up to Sunday, 5D4N.  I visited Athens 31.5 years ago, before I'd even met hubby.  It's his turn to enjoy it.