"Put the Flags out!* - Greyrocks made it to Paleo!

Joy, relief and exhaustion: after those three days of nervous air travel we are here, and on our fifth full day - with sunbeds installed in their usual spot, most quarters of the village inspected, and a handful of our favourite bars and restaurants visited  - the powers that be raised the flags! That is those on the sandy beach, which - as usual - has been awarded the EU Blue Flag. Their resilience will, however, be  immediately tested as we are currently enduring those traditional Paleochora winds:- Force 5 or even 6 for a week or so!

Never mind! Greyrocks must record the full odyssey that brought us here. Three stages across three days, with long gaps, no flight exceeding three hours, and the two hour time difference evenly spread!

Day 1: Fuerteventura to Barajas, Madrid
That these flights weren't cancelled felt like a miracle! It was an evening flight and Dave would be taking us as usual but as his first airport run for months, so we planned to leave plenty of time in case of strange things at the airport. At midday we took ourselves over to La Luna - open just a week - and grabbed a sandwich:- it was a fancy bacon one, which becomes part of the narrative! In fact there was nothing odd about the airport except some measures to stop really cheeky drop-offs, so we had to wait for check-in to open.  Just ahead of us we heard a mention of "Atenas" and it was a "PR"/front of house worker from Tio Bernabe and Marquesina, whom we have known for many years. We had never thought of him as Greek. He was off to "his" restaurant in Santorini for the summer. We verified our bags would go through to Athens  and passed easily through everything as there was only our flight, a handful of intra-island, a German one and a Wizz Air to Luton. "Boat Nigel" was on the last, and we greeted each other in passing. This was our first Co-vid flight and so rather weird: mask on throughout, no booze or any other refreshment and very little movement round the cabin! The worst part was the apron bus to the terminal where all notions of social distancing disappeared! We had arrived early and would have a long wait for the next free shuttle to the hotel, so we went in search of any sort of bar or café. There was simply nothing landside, so we reluctantly took a taxi to the hotel.

Terrace was a bit bleaker under Co-vid!

Such was the adherence to regulations that we saw more staff than guests during our twelve hour stay, and we felt like "country mice" after the mild culture of Fuerteventura, but it was comfortable, efficient and when we asked about food and drink and said we prefered it to be outside we were taken by a strange route to a walled terrace - a haven in a busy residential area -and spent an age there beneath the moon, chatting to the Moroccan waiter, drinking a very pleasant Rioja, and eating a plate of Iberico ham!

We took breakfast in a pre-booked time slot and in a clinically spaced and stark room. It was an individually packed assortment of Spanish breakfast goodies - with at centre stage - Iberico ham. We used the luxury shuttle to the airport in the late morning well-rested, still nervous and wondering what to do for lunch!

Day 2: Madrid to Athens 

Too much of a good thing?

Terminal 4 of Barajas Airport is modern, airy, rationally arranged and huge!We knew there was no catering landside so went through to Departures, where about a quarter of outlets were open, but not much that interested us for a long wait on the catering front. Then we remembered there was - somewhere - a branch of Enrique Tomas! This chain has served as well a few times in Barcelona airport, so we eventually located it and spent several happy hours there, with some good wine, charming service and - its speciality and part of a reduced offering - Iberico ham!  As time progressed it did become crowded around us, with this being a very important travel hub, but we felt fairly safe. When we reached the departure gate it was chaotic! We were in possession of a shared PLF with the magic QR code that would be needed in Athens.  A substantial number of passengers, however, were not and were being instructed to apply there and then on mobiles. There was no chance of them receiving a response in the next three and a half hours! The flight was a bit late taking off and about two-thirds full, so we had no complaints, but were very worried about testing and awaiting results. In fact we were waved through whilst a lot of passengers were sent to the line of scary booths.  Phew! Welcome to Greece!

The Sofitel at the airport is a two minute walk from Arrivals and a ghastly price, but there was no realistic alternative.  After the warmth in Madrid we found the Reception staff distracted and dismissive! And any refreshments would have to be from Room Service. We dumped our things and performed the two minute walk in the opposite direction, where we found the only eatery on the ground floor. Good draft beer, nice bottle of wine and a selection of sandwiches! Guess what was in them?

Day 3 Athens to Chania and the enhanced taxi ride to Paleochora

We discovered next day that there would have been much more choice upstairs, and that is where we went for breakfast, rejecting the prospect of paying EUR 36 for things in the hotel room! Useful, however. was the luggage store from noon to check-in. It's not a bad airport and we killed time painlessly until the fairly full 50 minute flight to Chania. To our surprise this included a handout of a snack - and not a ham sandwich in sight!

Chania airport was quiet, but we still had a long wait for baggage, and then there was Giorgos, who led us to the newest (black) Psarakis vehicle. - a large one! In Kandanos he pulled up outside the trendy coffee shop and announced it was "raki time", We made no move so he asked if we wanted it in the vehicle! It seems that Joep at the Small Garden had rung through and asked him to buy us one! Later he also took us on a route that would give a great view of the Full Moon! We were delighted by all this, but more of our encounters in a subsequent post!.

Tomorrow - 15th July - flights from UK airports can land in Greece! Good news in terms of arrivals of our civilised family and friends. Not so good in terms of ill-advised and misguided others. Watch this space, and maybe watch this too:

It couldn't happen here #!