First Day

So we left for Thessaloniki today...and ugh what a long day.

It started out with us desperately trying to pack and get everything set for going to Greece. I know it's no surprise to those who know me, but I am a total nut case in the time leading up to a trip. I stress constantly about us being late and forgetting stuff. Add to that stress the fact that Adrienne had to fight with AT&T about getting her iPhone setup for international access (one of the major reasons we got it in the first place) and no surprise that we were both a bundle of nerves.

Luckily her Dad (and I guess mine now too) was able to give us a ride to the airport at the same time he was driving her Nana there. We got to the airport with plenty of time and absolutely SAILED through security. I'm not sure why everyone says to get to the airport so much earlier when traveling internationally as it was easier than any time I've gone through security at Gate C. Once we got in the gates we had to buy adapters and converters. Adrienne was also starving so we ate at Hoolihans (where I had an amazing turkey club on croissant).

So word of warning to all future honeymooners....the German's are NOT romantic people. We were flying to Thessloniki via Munich on Luftansa, it's about a 7 hour flight from Boston to Munich. Adrienne tried to talk to multiple people about getting an upgrade to Business class at least since hey it's our honeymoon. Not a single person could (they wanted to charge us full fare increase which would have been $3K) even though once we got on the plane we realized the flight was maybe 60% full and Business/First class were less than 10% full. F'ing Krauts. However we were amused with the distinctly German aspects of the in-flight magazine and the airport stores when we landed:




Once we landed in Munich we made our way through the Byzantinian pathways to get between terminals and to technically "leave the country" as we were continuing onto Greece. A word of warning to any tall or "big" American that might choose to fly on Aegean Airlines (the people who flew us from Munich to Thessaloniki) - we are NOT normal sized to them. The seat s are so close together that my knees were pressed into the back of the chair in front of me to the point of actually causing my feet to go numb until I shifted.

That being said...WOW do European airlines pamper you. On the overnight flight we had full blankets and travel sized pillows on each seat. In addition, we got served full meals on both Lufthansa (Dinner AND Breakfast) and the Aegean flight (lunch).

Once we landed, we were pleasantly surprised to be greeted by her cousin Elena who picked us up and drove us to our hotel (which isn't bad and is right in the middle of the city). She then offered to come pick us up for dinner later that night giving us time to nap/shower/change.




That night when she came back we walked down to the river and then over to a cafe to have some cappichinos and coke (for me) where they gave us the most delicable chocolate cakes and truffles to go with the coffee.



We then met up with her husband, oldest daughter and her parents for a lovely 3 course dinner. I ate SOOOO freaking much but it was all so delicious. I loved Greek food to begin with....but GOD DAMN is it good here. I discovered I am definitely NOT a fan of Ouzo (traditional Greek liquor) since it tastes like black licorce....but I powered through it so her cousin/uncle didn't think I was a wuss. We also had red wine with dinner and unlike American & French reds it had absolutely ZERO bite....so even Adrienne had a couple of glasses.

All in all it was a lovely first evening in Thessaloniki...and I think we're definitely going to plan to come back...and maybe we can even drag Walt, Teddi & the rest of the family along too.

Off to bed now it's 1AM here.