“Travels to a Different Time” : 25July2000: Samos, Greece; Finally Destination Reached! Good-Bye to Lost Luggage Hotel

Jet lag and stress is never an ideal combination. After 4 hours of sleep at the Lost Luggage Hotel in Glyfada up at 4 a.m. hungry as a lion. Read a bit and watched a couple of hours of Greek music videos until the restaurant opened at 06:30 where there were many lost luggage victims hungrily waiting for breakfast. After so many years of not being in Greece the breakfast floored me. Instead of a chunk of bread and jam with some juice and coffee there was a breakfast that would have made young Robert shed tears of joy. Eggs, sliced meats, cheese, awesome Greek yogurt, pastries, mini sausages and more! The shuttle bus from Olympic Airlines was broken down so courtesy of Olympic off to Athens Airport in a taxi. Luggage claimed and off to the Olympic departure gate for the flight to Samos. The flight on a ATR42 prop was a half an hour late in departing. The flight was 45 minutes over water. Samos is very mountainous and with pine forests at the higher altitudes. Staying in Vathi also known as Samos. The original Ano Vathi is up in the hills constructed to have an excellent view of pirates. Vathi is by North American standards a small town but it is the commercial centre with the airport located nearby and shops and businesses. Crashed out exhausted at noon for a three-hour nap and in a daze headed to the waterfront where there are many fishing boats and a port for commercial and ferry traffic. Delicious souvlaki, marvellous golden fries and a bottle of beer for $4. Sat on the balcony and watched the port below with its glimmering lights. Waves of fatigue pummelled me at collapsed in bed waking up at 03:00, 05;15 up at 07:30 still feeling groggy and otherworldly.