Goodbye Greece!

Here I sit, in the lounge in Athens with some time ahead of me, so I am glad they let me in. There are actually two lounges that I could use, so me being me, wanting to experience all there is, went to one, and now am in the other. I'm so glad I did that. Went to the Aegean one first but it was hot in there and they didn't have any Greek food, imagine that. So after a few minutes there I wandered next door for the star alliance lounge and am so glad I did. It is cool in here and there are several choices of Greek food, a perfect place to be for my last few hours in Greece. After all, I changed hotels twice, why not airport lounges? I ate healthy first, they have all the ingredients for a Greek salad so I started with that. Next I tried the Greek breads and yogurt dips and next I will try the pastry, and then it will be on to the world of fish and chips for a few hours on the journey home.~~~last night I took the shuttle into town and wandered once again. On the shuttle ride into town I talked to a lovely couple who were on their honeymoon, it's quite the theme here, and they were from Brazil. So of course I had to ask if they knew my Brazilian American friend. It turns out that the man works with a company that works with my friends, but he didn't know him personally. I didn't walk far and no sunset view, but it was okay. I decided to stop for more of my favorite shrimp saganaki. Delicious, I hope anyone who visits Mykonos tries it. I had a very nice and informative discussion about the crisis in Greece, and it was very eye opening for me. And then I was tired and decided to return to the Grand for dessert, in hopes the plane seatbelts would still fit today...and so far, so good! The decision wasn't as hard as I thought, I ordered a pastry that is a kind of cream, (mastic perhaps?)and the layers and layers of FILO dough was like toffee and then there was caramel on top. Delicious, what a treat it was! When I was ready to pay the bill, I was told it was already taken care of, another touching gesture from my new friends! I am going to miss the Greek food and attention from this point on, of that I'm sure! Hopefully the memories will be with me for a long time!  this morning I had a memorable event...I drank coffee!  I hate coffee, always have actually.  but one of the sweet servers said she wanted to make me a cup of greek coffee to try.  I said I would try it, but wouldnt like it.  I watched her mke it, a fascinating process.  I was intrigued.  she took the small container with a spout and long handle and put in water, coffee and sugar.  then she put it in a container and moved it around.  On inquiring what that was, i was told by her and the chef that it was hot sand and that is the way to heat it up.  Not sure how she knew, but said it was done and poured it into a small cup and said to wait  bit to try it.  I liked it!  I can't belive that I did, but since I was headed to a day of traveling, I decided not to introduce too much into my body today...next time I will enjoy a cup, but of course I need Fioni to make it for me! ~~~ When I got to the Mykonos airport today I had quite a surprise, my luggage was way overweight and I was told I would have to pay an extra 180 euros! I really bought very little there and was appalled. I was sent to the Aegean office and the lady said that since I'm a star alliance member, of the lowest level, she would split it with me and only charge me 100 euros. There was not a thing I could do, and as you might imagine, I was furious! When I sat down a nice couple started talking to me because they wanted to know if I really had to pay. Turns out they were from Portugal and both work in hotels there! So much for Cesar saying in his culture they don't talk to people they don't know! They were so kind and we had a great talk. When we went into the secure area I at down and there was the Brazilian couple I'd met last night so I introduced them all to each other. They said I must have be/have a magnet for portuguese speaking people. Both of the people from Lisbon gave me their cards, another fun thing since Cesar always teased me about giving others my email address. Now if I ever return to Portugal, I have two more friends to visit with! ~~~ guess I better find a job soon so I can continue to travel! And so this is goodbye to Greece for me and goodbye from Greece too. Start planning your trip to the islands, you won't be disappointed!