This morning I was finally leaving Greece and Europe after my two week adventure. Breakfast was supposed to be at 830 but due to our early flight the receptionist came extra early to prepare breakfast for us at 730.

The last time I was in Greece in 2005 I took a ferry to the Greek Island of Kos from Turkey. A couple of locals were a bit rude maybe thinking I was a Turk.This time on the mainland everyone was very friendly and hospitable.

The airport is a 30 min walk but we couldnt really be bothered. Yesterday we asked a taxi and they told us 8 Eu ($12). The hotel told us it should be 4 Eu ($6). In the early morning we couldnt find any taxis so started walking towards the bus station.

Outside one was dropping off a passenger so we jumped in. The taxi cost 6.75 Eu ($10) and we were at the airport in about three mins. The airport is a small building with two flights a day to Athens.

It reminded me of Daegu airport in Korea where I used to live that only had a couple of flights per day and was mostly deserted. Being so small there was no check in kiosks so we had to wait for the counters to open. We were first in line so were able to get our boarding cards to Athens and my connecting fight to Toronto.

I then wanted to go thru security and wait on the other side while it was empty as I hate the security lines and rush. Now I was to encounter Greek efficiency. The guards didnt want to open and sat around chatting in their room. It seemed they wanted to open 10 mins before the flight, herd everyone thru in a mad rush, so they can spend the rest of their time doing nothing. The next flight today wasnt till 4pm.

I stood first in line by the gate. Everyone including the staff could see me the lone visible foreigner standing in queue. After 25 mins they announced in Greek security was open. As I bent down to pick up my bag everyone rushed passed me when they all saw I had been waiting first in line. How rude! Even the staff that saw me waiting didnt ask me to come first.

I said quite loud to my friend "some people have no manners"!. Its not like they were boarding the plane yet so they could have let me go first since they all saw me waiting.

The plane was a twin propeller plane and I had the back corner seat. We flew directly over the old town underneath so there was nothing to see of it from the windows.

We flew over the mountain countryside and saw the small winding roads. Then there was a large span bridge connecting the Peloponnese Island to the mainland similar to bridge designs in Korea

Landing in Athens there was nothing to see either as the airport is outside of the city. After landing I said goodbye to my friend as we went to our separate departure gates for our connecting flights home. All was not yet over as I was to find on my long haul connecting flight...