Intro and Greensboro to Chicago
Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge Toronto and Exploring Toronto
Air Canada Executive First Suite Toronto to Istanbul
14 Hours in Istanbul
Aegean Airlines Business Class Istanbul to Athens
Hotel Amalia Athens and Exploring Athens (Part 1)
Exploring Athens (Part 2)
Athens Airport Lounges and Aegean Airlines Athens to Santorini
Anamnesis Luxury Spa Hotel and Exploring Santorini (Part 1)
Exploring Santorini (Part 2)
Exploring Santorini (Part 3) and Aegean Airlines Santorini to Athens
Holiday Inn Athens Airport and Aegean Airlines Athens to Milan
UNA Hotel Cusani and Exploring Milan
United Business Class Milan to Newark to Greensboro
We made it to the Athens Airport around 6:45 pm after spending 2 days exploring Athens. Our flight from Athens to Santorini was scheduled to leave at 9:35 pm, but since we had checked out of our hotel earlier that morning, we were ready to be on our way to Santorini.
Check in was a bit crazy, but the Business Class line only had a handful of people in front of us. After we checked in, we passed through a checkpoint where we simply had to show our boarding pass and passports, but we wouldn’t pass through formal security until heading to the actual gate. Once we made it through the first checkpoint, we headed down the long hallway towards the end of the B terminal where the Aegean and Lufthansa Lounges are located next to each other. We decided to check out the Aegean lounge first, which is a bit larger than the Lufthansa lounge:
The lounge has a variety of seating, plenty of drinks, but not much in the way of food. There are a few finger sandwiches and some packaged crackers, but not a whole lot else.
We had a few drinks in the Aegean Lounge, and relaxed there for a while. Wifi is complimentary in the lounge, so we spent some time finalizing plans for Santorini.
The Lufthansa lounge next door has a wider variety of food, so after a little while, we headed over there for dinner.
The Lufthansa lounge, while smaller, was quiet with only a few other people. Everyone who came and went, however, seemed to be tall, blonde, and extremely attractive. There was a flight heading to Frankfurt, another to Oslo, and another to Stockholm all departing that evening, so it all made sense.
After a dinner of Eggplant Parmesan, salad, cheese and crackers, wine, and rum and coke(s), we made our way to gate B7. According the airport monitors, our flight to Santorini was still scheduled to leave on time. We cleared security relatively quickly, as our boarding passes had been stamped with “Fast Track Security” allowing us to use the Priority Security lane, which only had a few people in line ahead of us.
Our gate was right outside of security, and the seating at the gate was completely full, so we headed down towards the next gate to find some open seating. Boarding was scheduled to begin at 9:05 pm, 30 minutes prior to departure. 9:05 came and went, and no boarding occurred. By 9:20, people started getting restless – as a few people went up to the counter, presumably to inquire about the flight status, a line started to form near the counter, causing more and more anxious people to start to line up. Eventually, an announcement was made that our plane had just arrived, and would be about 20 minutes delayed. In and of itself, a 20 minute delay is no big deal, but it was another frustrating case of Aegean Airlines neglecting to simply update the status of the flight. I’m not really sure what the root cause is – whether it’s laziness somewhere, a simple lack of personnel, or maybe a desire to get everyone to the gate on time – but the lack of communication is just a bit irritating.
In the end, however, the flight ended up about 30 minutes late. Of course, with the minor delay, and passengers getting anxious, by the boarding was about to begin, the majority of passengers had formed a mob, slowly inching closer to the gate. There was no order to boarding, but alas, we made it on board.
The flight from Athens to Santorini is barely 30 minutes in the air (only 136 miles), so the flight attendants dashed through the aisle handing out packaged chocolate-filled croissants. I can’t comment on the croissant one way or the other, since neither the Mrs. Guru or I tried it, but everyone around us was gobbling them up, and the plane started to smell like chocolate.
We landed at the tiny Santorini airport around 10:45 pm, and a driver was waiting for us to take us to the Anamnesis Spa Hotel.
We’d have 3 nights in Santorini, and were very much looking forward to exploring the island.