Today was a travel day of fairly short flights.
It was only 35 minutes in the air from Heraklion to Athens, and a relatively short flight from Athens to Warsaw, but with airport pre-checks and our Athens layover it still made for a full day.
On the commuter plane from Heraklion to Athens we were once again the only two Business Class passengers. There’s really no Business Class on these flights, just priority seating, but because it’s part of our round-the-world ticket it carries that designation. As was the case when we flew Athens to Heraklion to arrive in Crete, we got a snack on the short flight.
It must be a challenge to come up with a snack that can be served, eaten, cleaned up, and accompanied by beverage service all in half an hour. We got little sandwiches with ham and cheese, plus some additional cheeses and a square of chocolate. I wasn’t going to try to enjoy a glass of wine that quickly, so stuck with water. Ted didn’t even attempt the snack – he just had coffee.
We’d not had time to check out the airport lounge in Athens on our way in, because we had to clear EU customs on arrival. Now that we’re staying in the Schengen Zone, there was only security to go through between the domestic and international gates, so we had time to explore.
The “Inter-Schengen” (as opposed to “Extra-Schengen”) lounge was very crowded, but also had great food, so maybe that was in part why.
The hot foods menu cards listed two kinds of soups, cheese pie, spinach pie, beef kebabs, mushroom rice, chicken and pasta, and chickpeas in tomato sauce. Then there were cold meats and cheeses, lot of bread options, salads, fresh fruits, smoothies, and of course desserts: custards, pastries, yeast donuts, cookies…and baklava!
It was also very loud. That I’ll put down to the typical speaking volume we’ve observed in Greece; regular conversations sound like arguments because everyone seems to be yelling. It’s probably a good thing that I only understand half a dozen words in Greek, or I’d know everybody’s business.
Ted was particularly impressed with the self-serve drinks – and the dozen or so wine bottles and all the cans of beer aren’t even shown in the photo below!
Of course there was also a selection of carbonated drinks, juices, coffees, and teas.
It was an easy place to spend our layover, especially after the first few flights departed and it git a bit less crowded and quieter.
Our flight to Warsaw was in the same configuration as Heraklion to Athens: three extra legroom seats with the centre one converted into a table.
Since the 2-1/2 hour flight was scheduled to leave Athens just before 4 p.m, and arrive in Warsaw about 5:30 p.m. (reflecting the fact that we’re changing time zones by an hour), we expected there’d be a light meal offered, but not a full dinner. We were wrong. Ted opted just to have a beer; I had the appetizer and the cheese course.
We took an Uber, driven by a young man from Uzbekistan in Poland on a temporary work visa, to our apartment in the Old Town and immediately fell in love with Warsaw.
Rose and Ted’s Excellent Adventure 