Our Vacation Comes to an End

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May 31, 2006

We started the day at 5 AM. We took the hotel shuttle to the Mykonos Airport. The Airport of Mykonos is situated 4 km from the Town (Hora). En route I thought about and saw more of what Mykonos had to offer. The island's landscape is a symphony of blazing bare rock, blinding white peasant architecture and, in contrast to its small size, numerous lacy stretches of the most beautiful sandy beaches, all these accentuated by the wonderful Mediterranean light and set against the deep blue background of the Aegean. Attracting people from A-listers and millionaires to backpackers and ravers, it is still at the height of its popularity, and the amazing thing is that, despite its rapid development and numerous, as well as drastic changes, it has managed to preserve its color and character intact.

Eric & I are already thinking about Spain for our next trip.

Mykonos Airport
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We were now headed back to Athens to catch a connecting flight to Newark, NJ via Milan, Italy. The guy at the check-in counter for Alitalia in Athens was very thorough. Eric was getting worried because he kept looking at my passport and my grren card. I passed with flying colors. All we were waiting for was our flight to Milan. So we had breakfast, bought a 3-hour WiFi internet card, a book for me and a book for Eric. We were all set.

I was able to catch up on my journal writing and Eric, of course, with his fantasy baseball. I also started a new book, "Digital Fortress" by the same guy who wrote The DaVinci Code, Dan Brown. I think Eric and I have a crush on him. Eric is now reading "Deception Point" also by Dan Brown. We get to Milan where we had to make a mad dash through security and the gates. Eric didn't realize that we didn't have any leisure time. I was pissed because I didn't get to buy Sarah's super-size Tobelerone. Anyway, we just made it. The entire flight was already boarding and Eric & I were the last ones to check in.

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I kept thinking about Amazing Race. It looks pretty simple on TV, but I have to admit - it's a lot of work and effort having gone through this trip. If and when we ever get on that show, I would absolutely have to prepare myself for a lot of running and physical endurance. Not only that, but travelling to more places wouldn't hurt either. Eric & I are already thinking about Spain for our next trip. How exciting!

We were able to get some rest on the plane. We landed Newark at around 7 PM. It's a little different that domestic flights where the exit is right after the gates. For international arrivals, we were lead into Immigration Hall. Located at Terminal B, Newark International Airport the Immigration Inspectors are generally the first people seen by arriving international passengers. They are responsible for the processing of all international arrivals via air and sea. I have to be honest, I was so nervous.

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It was a piece of cake. He let us through to get our luggage, no questions asked. Then came customs. I was sure we were gonna get searched. I've heard horror stories about these customs agent giving foreign looking people a hard time. Again, no problemo. I don't think he even looked at our passports, it happened so fast.

Jim was kind enough to have picked us up. It was weird...we'd been gone for so long I didn't know how I felt about being back. I didn't know if I should be happy or sad? Either way, Eric and I rested. After that, I'm not quite sure what happened. I guess I must've been so tired that I fell asleep and didn't wake up until the next day.

Lucky for me, I had the next 2 days off from work. I felt bad for Eric - he had to go to work.