046 – Athens via London - Planes, Trains And Automobiles… And One Tiny Elevator

After 48hrs of intensive packing (which basically consisted of Britt neatly folding and packing mountains of paraphernalia, me repeatedly inquiring,  “Do you/Ciel/Taz really need 47 shirts/pairs of shoes/stuffed animals/dinky cars/onesies? Isn’t a couple pairs of underwear enough…?”, and Ciel following closely behind not-so-neatly unpacking in Britt’s wake, all with Tasman Jolly-Jumping along in ignorant bliss), we managed to jam all our belongings and gargantuan stroller into the car so Nana and G-Dad could dump us at the airport…

27 km down, 42,236 km more to go.

Ciel’s new markers and Taz’s good nature, made the airport transit rather uneventful.

It wasn’t long before (with blankies and soothies in hand/mouth) we were ready for take-off.

With Ciel’s new headphones as our secret weapon, the flight was the picture of calm and serenity.

For the first ten minutes.

 Soon after, Taz woke up and realized he was hungry and there was no comfy Bumbo seat to be found, Ciel started flopping around singing “Doh a deer, a female drop of golden suuuuunnn!” at the top of her lungs and our dreams of more than 30 seconds of shuteye, dissipated like our fading contrails.

Things were looking up when Ciel finally nodded off as we began our descent into London, until the turbulence caused her to surprise-toss a giant stinky yak on her shirt, pants, and blankie as well as my sweatshirt, and pants effectively wiping out our only garments 6 hours into our 14-hour journey to Athens.

Our 4-hour layover at Heathrow gave us just enough time to hop on the inter-terminal train, grab a snack, and come up with the brilliant idea to dose Ciel with Gravol for the next leg to try to catch up on some sleep (and to mitigate any further undesirable projectiles). Clearly, it had a paradoxical effect and instead had her bouncing off the bulkheads and running laps in the aisles with Britt in tow. Fortunately, Tasman, the Baby Bjorn and I escaped to the back to catch forty winks. 

Despite the challenges we finally arrived in Athens, and a short taxi and cramped elevator ride later,

 We arrived at our apartment in the heart of downtown.  While the quarters were modest,

A couple local beers and some souvlaki take-out on our giant archetypal Greek balcony at dusk, were just what the doctor ordered…

 If you thought the journey should have ended there, you’re not the only one. Imagine Britt and my surprise when our sleep-deprived offspring,  bounced out of bed at 3:00 am, bright-eyed,

 And bushy-haired,

 Looking to dig up a little more quality family time.

Britt and Ciel wisely took the opportunity to peruse our Top Ten Athens Guide in preparation for the day ahead.

Tomorrow’s going to be a busy day.  See you in the morning!