On to London, Homeward Bound

Time to go!  Well, almost time to go.  After breakfast, Steve mentions he is heading back out into the market area for one last Greek immersion...looking for a key chain.  I decide to follow, just to keep things on track for that 10:00 a.m. taxi to the airport!

Ah HA!  What had cost 54 euros on Hydra, can be bought for 15 euros in Athens along the flea market street.  Sold!  Perfect to hang aboard our boat, Kairos, upon our return.  But, no key chains.  At least not the right one.

We arrive back at the hotel to see the taxi waiting out front with the driver saying something about leaving early due to a parade?  Yikes.  What we thought were 15 extra minutes, now evaporate into thin air.

British Air from Athens to London is a lovely three hour plus flight, with full drink and meal service included in the "economy traveler" fare.  Also, one bag checked free.

It's easy to find our way back to the Sofitel Hotel Terminal 5 at the airport, and from there we contact our friend Julie, who is able to drive to the airport and have a visit with us.  It's been 11 years...and it seems like just a short time ago we visited her and husband Maurice, in London.

Steve, Julie, Nan

The hotel has an incredible lounge and we arrange to enjoy a light dinner there and dessert with Julie, then the next morning an incredible breakfast, before finding our way back on the Heathrow Express to Terminal 2 for our Iceland Air departure.  Things repeated, but in reverse, seem simple instead of daunting.  Ever notice that?

 This seems to be how espresso drinks roll at the hotels in Europe.  Not bad actually.

I said, an incredible breakfast array of foods.  Amazing!

The acorn and the oak leaf

Julie has left us two little gifts....an acorn for Steve's pocket and an oak leaf necklace for Nan.  Both are sympols of good fortune, abundance and safe travel.  We'll keep these close!~  Thank you Julie for such thoughtfulness.

Once again, Iceland Air treats us well.  We fly from London to Reykjavik in a quick 3 hours, wait two hours, and board our 7 and 1/2 hour flight for Seattle.  Flying into the light...much easier in the short term, than going the other way.

In Iceland, the main fare always seems to be...fish.  And delicious fish it is!

 Looking up before take off we notice...yes, the northern lights inside our airliner!?  The same, but...different.

 I am amazed to look out our window and see....Greenland!?  No, not green.  But, really, I've never even considered seeing Greenland...at all.  This trip continues to be full of interesting sights....things you can't really imagine before you travel, but are placed before you as you travel.

Greenland fijords, icebergs, mountains...and SNOW.  Lots and lots of snow!

And the continent seems to stretch out forever....

Somehow...we arrive home 23 hours after beginning the odyssey of westbound travel.  We have slept maybe two hours, maybe not.  But, again, somehow, our eyes are wide open.  Off the plane we begin a hopeful rushed walk toward passport control and baggage claim.  After all, there IS an 8:20 p.m. ferry to San Juan Island.....and it's only 5:25 p.m.

Coming around the corner, we gasp as what seems like hundreds of people all jamming into passport check lines.  The "people sorter guy" points one way for USA passports, one way for "other"...I say, "USA passport AND Nexus Card" to which he amazingly points way around the other side of all the people to an empty line and some machines???  OK then.  We're off.

Having never used "Global Entry" cards at an airport (used to be called Nexus border crossing cards for U.S. northern border entry)...we are impressed with the drill: put passport down on screen, snap, your photo is taken, answer on computer screen questions about travel, put four fingers down on next screen, zap!  You are done.  We breeze through, hand in our "receipts with photo" and off to the bags, which are just coming down the conveyor belt.  And.........we are OUT of the airport.  On to find the phone for the car pick up van...and ZIP, onto I-5 northbound, ZAP..not one red light, not one slow down, ZOOM...right into the ferry lane...with 12 minutes to spare!  Which puts us home at 10:00 p.m....all the way from London, England.

Our Big, Fat, Greek Ukulele Adventure 2015 is officially over.  O-V-E-R.  Seems impossible.  Over.

But the memories linger on.  I think there's a song like that.....