We've had a very long day, but everything went on schedule and as planned. It is good to finally get to the hotel in Athens. It was nearly midnight by the time we got to the room. We left home about 9:30 a.m. CDT yesterday going from ABQ to IAH, spending three hours on a layover there, flying on to Munich for a ten-hour layover, then on to Athens. Our wonderful travel agent, Paula Kay, arranged for a car service to pick us up at the airport and take us to the King George Hotel on Syntagma Square. The driver was great, spoke English, and pointed out a few points of interest along the way which took about thirty minutes.

When we arrived at the hotel, the desk clerk greeted us by name. I don’t know how he knew, but perhaps we were the last to check in for the night or perhaps the car service alerted them that we were on the way. We received an upgraded room (another arrangement by our travel agent) and were glad to be finally able to fall asleep in a quiet room with an ultra-comfortable bed.

While on the layover in Munich, we took the train into the heart of the city to meet with Brigitte, a Munich Greeter, whom we had arranged online a few weeks ago. This was the second time that we used a greeter (the first time was in Canterbury last summer), and it was a success again. Brigitte asked us to meet her at the Fischbrunnen on Marienplatz. She walked us around the old city and showed us some interesting aspects of it. We stopped into the Asamkirche which was one of the places that I wanted to see. It just took a few minutes to see the inside which may be the most elaborately decorated church I’ve ever seen. It was built by the Asam brothers in the mid-18th century as their family church.

We went on to walk by the Jewish area with a synagogue and museum. Non-Jews are not allowed to enter the synagogue, but could see the museum. They both are very new. We saw other buildings, but did not go in, the opera house, more churches and museums, the Residenz, and lots of statues. We finished our tour in a locals’ favorite bookshop with a coffee shop and enjoyed visiting with Brigitte even more while we had a light lunch. We will seek her out when we return to Munich. It is nice to have a new friend in a new city.

After the tour, we returned to the airport by train again and had plenty of time to check out the Star Alliance club. They had a nice buffet so we had a light dinner there. It was a very busy club, but we found a spot to sit and enjoy the food. The last flight of the trip was thankfully uneventful, all the luggage arrived quickly on the carousel, the driver was smiling and easy to find. All went smoothly.