Tag: athens

This is no place like home

Istanbul’s glitzy new airport is truly a crossroads of the world, and a monument to capitalism. In the background is the colorful video wall of the airport’s duty-free Louis Vuitton store.

SOMETIMES YOU HAVE TO GET OFF YOUR ROCK. Really off.

I’m sure not in Kansas, or Center Island, or anywhere near it, anymore. And if I were wearing ruby slippers, I expect I’d get blisters from all the walking I’m doing.

Your jet-lagged correspondent feigning consciousness on a morning walk at the famed Hagia Sophia in old Istanbul.

For a few days, your Cantwell’s Reef scribe is veering away from the San Juans. I’m on my first big overseas adventure since COVID, and since losing Barbara. It’s a very different world.

I’m awakening this morning for the first time in Greece, and tapping out a few lines before I set off on a day of wandering Athens.

I flew out of Sea-Tac on Sunday on a beautifully appointed Turkish Airlines 787 — they call it the Dreamliner for good reason — and had a quick one-night layover in Istanbul.

Long a crossroads for the world, Istanbul now has Europe’s busiest airport, newly opened in 2019.

It is a sprawling, huge facility, a monument to capitalism, with shopping glitz to rival New York’s Times Square. It is the hub for the ambitious, world-circling Turkish Airlines. On my departure day yesterday, they were barely managing the chaos and crowds. Finding gates for departing flights was a slow and apparently challenging task, despite the overwhelming size of the facility. Many flights were delayed, including my Athens flight, which left more than an hour late.

My mantra for this trip is to take things in stride.

Istanbul Airport’s gate board, with alphabets of every ilk.

Jet-lag has been a challenge. On my arrival in Athens late yesterday afternoon, I kept falling asleep on my feet in the crowded train from the airport. I am awake and typing this at 6 a.m. the next morning because my circadian rhythms are still off by several beats, like the orchestra’s percussionist who keeps missing his cue with the cymbals.

With all those modern-day challenges, today I dive into antiquity, with a visit to Greece’s National Archaeological Museum. I’m saving the Acropolis for tomorrow, when I’ve gathered my wits (one can only hope).

Now, time for a hot shower and to venture out to find a good Greek coffee shop in the bohemian Exarchia district surrounding the museum. Wish me luck, I’m going in.