2023 March 2 Greece - Day 1 of 10 Travel, Salt Lake, Paris

Flying over the Alps on our way to Athens

Caveat emptor.  I'm writing this story nearly 3 years after the events and there are likely errors and omissions in my memory.  It sucks to get old, but it beats the alternative.  Anyway, if I claim a picture is of Mycenae and it is really from Olympia, just keep it to yourself and enjoy the story.

2023 March 2nd, Day 1 of 10 - Travel, Salt Lake, Paris

MikeP and I have been friends for over 40 years.  We have travelled together to some very interesting places over the years, including England, Italy, and France.  Mike invites me on these trips because my wife (who has also known Mike for 40 years) has no problem letting me take off for weeks at a time.

As Mike puts it, "I'm the only friend with a wife who lets her husband come out and play".

This time Mike was in the middle of some stressful work (as usual) and he really needed a break.  So, he called to see where I'd like to go.  We talked for a bit about possible destinations and eventually settled on Greece.  A visit there is certainly on my bucket list.  Mike's probably been there on business but as he puts it, touring by himself got old years ago.

We decided that March was a good time to go to Greece.  It would be off season so hotels wouldn't cost so much, food wouldn't cost so much, and maybe historic sites wouldn't be so crowded.  But we would be past the coldest part of the winter and be more comfortable.  I was especially thankful that it wouldn't be during the heat of the summer.

Mike used his Delta miles to get the flights.  I started by flying from Denver to Salt Lake.  The SLC airport was under major construction, so my plane parked 3 miles from the terminal, and we had to deplane down steps, then walk about a quarter mile to a bus that took us another 3 miles to the far end of the terminal.  Finally, another half mile of walking into the main terminal to meet up with Mike. 

A view of Pike's Peak as I leave Colorado Springs

 

Once Mike and I met up we grabbed a quick lunch and headed for our airplane.  Mike's an expert at these long-haul flights and was asleep almost as soon as the plane started to taxi.  I took a couple of sleeping pills to help me get some rest, but it didn't work that well.  I got a couple of hours of sleep then woke up as they started to serve dinner.   I could never get back to sleep so I watched a movie and listened to an audiobook for the rest of the flight.

Our first stop was in Paris.  We had to claim our luggage and go through customs right after landing, then we had to walk quite a long way to get to our next flight.  I'm glad Mike really knows this airport well because I had no idea where we were the entire time we were walking.  Mike really wanted to grab a chocolate croissant before the flight, but the line was way too long and we didn't have much time to get to our flight, so we flew croissant-less to Athens.

During the flight we crossed the Alps.  I've never been to the Alps or even seen them before.  They are very different from the Rocky Mountains and just seem to go on forever.  It was very striking.