Pat - Thanks for taking the time to sum everything up chronologically AND concisely. Well done!

May I add a little to your excellent review?

First, Suzette was the first to break open the liquor store after we were 12.0001 miles outside of Saudi Arabia. Natalia ('sensationally magnificent') was working with the bartender to serve up a lonely Perrier Jouet to an appreciative audience.

Second, Gary and I chose to believe the purple luggage tags meant a 10 am depature time as requested .. not 8:30 am as announced. We saw you and Fred departing as we were sitting at your table, ordering Eggs Benedict. I'd give them a B- overall. We managed to stow away onboard the vessel until nearly 10 am, using up our last precious prepaid internet minutes. At that point, we were firmly advised it was time to leave. The port crew in Athens thoughtfully had put all the luggage onto trolleys (yea!) and truthfully, we were the last purple tags to pick up our bags. It was time to claim the bags and start the long journey home.

Third, somewhere I got the idea the Athens airport was a vast wasteland. I am happy to report this was far from true. We parked ourselves at the Olive Tree and for the low, low price of a soft drink, could lounge at will. We did see Eugene and Gail whilst in the airport. A second floor museum for the excavation treats found nearby would make for a break in the boredom if one did not bring enough books.

Fourth, we ventured onto a European start-up airline to get to Vienna, our overnight stop. SkyEurope had new, wonderful planes and an on-time departure and arrival. They had rescheduled our flight before we left and cancelled outright their service to Krakow as of May 6 (boo hiss). That's evidently why we should have thought twice before booking the the tickets to Krakow for 1 euro fare and 129 euros in fees in February. Anyway .. as it turns out, we needed to cut our trip short anyway. All's well that ends well.

Cheers, Anne