You need time to “do” Greece. In six weeks we saw so much of this beautiful country that we had not been to on my previous 15 trips. And we revisited old favorites – Crete, Skopelos and Athens.
Besides the fabulous natural aspects of Greece – beaches, mountains, sailing, hiking – there is so much history to discover. 6000 years of high civilization. Layers and layers of history. Romans, Ancient Greeks, Byzantine, Arabs, Slavs, Franks, Venetians, Turks have all left their mark. And now Modern Greece and the EU are leaving their stamp on this country.
The last bit of this trip is a very long day to reach our hotel in London. We picked up Mike and Diane at the boat to give them a ride to the airport where we dropped off our rental car. Then we waited around for at least 3 hours to take our nonstop Easy Jet flight to London Gatwick. Got our passports stamped in London and in Greece. It took us 3 hours to get from Gatwick to our Hilton hotel near Heathrow – two busses and a schlep on foot. Loved a real hot shower, a great King sized bed, pillows, AC and quiet. Onsite restaurant with good food.
We spent Monday in the city, walking a lot – 20,000 steps. Met up with Tessa and her friend Grace at the British Museum for a rushed distracted visit of their top 10 sights. Weather was lovely. Staying at the airport hotel was a good decision. It made the next day’s international trip home very easy. Nonstop Delta to Atlanta and then home to Pensacola. That day’s trip took less than 14 hours – about the same as our Lefkada to Heathrow day.