Αντίο Αθήνα!

Bye-bye Athens – pic shows Athenian city flag in front of the Acropolis. We got up very early this morning, at 5 am, left the hotel in the dark at 5:20, walked to the metro station and took two trains to the airport, where we arrived at 6:25 am. Cloudy skies, but clearing. The big "Duty Free" shop is a heaven for last-minute shoppers, lots of Greek delis for reasonable prices: olive oil, olives, cheeses, sweets, spirits, wine etc., everything the heart could wish for. We were not sure whether the shop will be open that early in the morning, but now we know!

Our Aegean plane, an Airbus A320-200, was on time and, again, the service was excellent, even the breakfast was good. Very friendly, attentive and good-looking young flight attendants - what a contrast to some German and U.S. airlines!

Arrived on time in MUC and from landing to our door it took us two hours. Quite a bit cooler here, but during the drive on the autobahn it was at least still dry, whereas it started to rain in the afternoon. The expected welcome to Germany!

In total it was a good trip, much better than we had expected, also, more productive. In addition, we regained our taste for Greece and the Greeks and plan not to wait so long again with another visit. Wish we would have had time to spent an additional long weekend, e.g. in the luxurious Grecotel in Cap Sounion, just to get some R&R...

But instead we are back home in rainy Germany, where politics shifted quite a bit, too, last weekend during elections. Not to good account, considering the success of the right-wing AfD,,,

For your enjoyment a last couple of "still lifes" from Athens (pomegranate flower - little kitty - hibiscus flower - orthodox miniature shrine):