Lisbon to Frankfurt to Athens to Tel Aviv

I’m tired just typing it! I packed my bag last night, and managed to fit all Stacey’s stuff in too, which was just as well as we had to be up at 3.40am! We sadly left our lovely airbnb quietly and headed for Lisbon airport following directions from our GPS.  After 25 minutes, we were still going up and down curvy mountain roads and I was sure we’d never get there in time, but suddenly we were on the freeway and were at the airport in minutes!

Max and Stacey said good-bye to me on the footpath, and headed off to the Europcar depot. I have yet to hear the upshot of that transaction!  I had to wait in line to check in, but when I finally arrived at the desk, I encountered a lovely trainee, with a supervisor, who managed to check my suitcase all the way through to Tel Aviv! I don’t have to cart it round with me in Athens! Yay! Also, I don’t know how, but I didn’t get charged excess baggage either. I think they both felt sorry for me. I’m losing my voice and felt quite weak, and I would have had to have lifted my suitcase off the conveyor belt and over to excess baggage to pay for it. 

The Lufthansa staff were all so helpful. When I explained I was ill, they found me a seat on my own close to the front of the plane. I couldn’t have expected any better service. When I was waiting in the boarding area, another guy came over and gave me an updated boarding pass from Frankfurt to Athens so I could be closer to the front. I don’t understand this philosophy- surely closer to the toilets at the back would be better?

Breakfast on the first flight was delicious- an omelette with two bread rolls, butter, jam and orange juice followed by a cup of tea. I could only fit in one of the bread rolls. My stomach has definitely shrunk!

I dozed most of the way, dragged myself off at Frankfurt, hooked into the free wifi, downloaded some photos to facebook, texted Keeley and Ross that I was still alive, and suddenly it was time for my flight. Of course my gate was miles away from where I was sitting. I was one of the last on the plane so there was no room for my backpack on top, and it won’t fit underneath the seat in front so I had to take some stuff out of it and put it in a narrow cupboard down the front.

I didn’t get a seat to myself this time but was sitting next to a young Greek girl and her mother, neither of whom wanted the window seat, so I was squashed in with my Thai bag stuck under the seat in front of me. “Lunch” was also delicious- chicken and rice with a chocolate for dessert. I still couldn’t face the wine, but many of the passengers were imbibing liberally and the hostesses kept offering more. I asked for a cup of tea with milk, but what came out was a squeak. The German hostess ordered me to speak louder, which only made my voice disappear altogether. I tried to explain, unsuccessfully, that I had laryngitis, but I eventually got some milk with my tea.  I dozed most of the way to Athens.

At Athens, we had to disembark and catch a bus to the terminal. I waited for my suitcase just in case it didn’t go all the way through, but when it didn’t appear on the carousel, I went to check in with Aegean only to find that my ticket did not entitle me to a suitcase at all! Bloody Expedia! It wasn’t a cheap ticket either- $142.60 which I paid on 12 April! I was slightly miffed, but paid the 35 euro happily, knowing that my suitcase was WAY overweight! It had weighed in at 28.9kg in Lisbon. So lucky I had it sent straight through! I went to find some water which cost only  35 cents but they didn’t have change of 10 euro, so I remained thirsty until I succumbed to an iced frappe, and was wishing I hadn’t. It was strong iced coffee with a dash of milk- disgusting! At least I have change for a bottle of water now!

Back on to another plane- this time, I chose the back seat, and sure enough, the back of the plane was empty. It was hardly worth sleeping for a 2 hour flight, but I did stretch out and put my legs up on the seat. It seems to reduce the swelling, as I hadn’t time to put my flight stockings on this morning.

“Dinner” (it was after 11pm) was Greek meatballs and rice, and I ate two serves, but kept my fig bar for breakfast. And a few more glasses of water, as I’m totally dehydrated.

As we came into Ben Gurion Airport, the skies opened- thunder, lightning and rain! And of course, the plane had stopped in the middle of the tarmac and we had to be bussed to the terminal. The whole planeload of passengers fitted onto one bus-just!

Customs put everyone through the third degree with their incessant questioning, so what should have been a 5-minute process was much longer. I started chatting to a young Aussie from Adelaide who’s been travelling round for the past two years and is just on his way back home after just visiting Iran and Jordan. No wonder they picked on him!

We collected our bags and the young UN guy from Congo showed me to the cash machine. He had calculated approximately how many shekels I can get for my last 140 euro- 650 apparently so I drew out 600, and headed to the taxi rank. He had said it should be about 100 shekels, but was in fact a fixed price of 167 because it was after midnight.

The taxi driver was born in Tel Aviv, but lived in Chicago for many years, before returning here. He dropped me off at Momo’s Hostel, where I was greeted by a young girl who asked me for payment- 650 shekels. I only had 433 left after the cab fare, so luckily they accepted credit card, otherwise I’d be washing floors as payment for my stay here. There was no lift, so she helped me carry my massive suitcase up one flight of stairs to my room. All I want is a bed somewhere, far away from the cold night air, but did I get it?