time to come home

Sadly it is time to come home. Actually, I'm dying to see Joe and the kids again, although it would have been better if they could have come to me. I have flown from Kos to Athens, and tomorrow morning I start the long trek -- from Athens to Frankfurt, then to Toronto, then Calgary then home. I leave at 6:00 a.m. and arrive
at after 11 pm. However, I am staying in the Athens Airport Hotel, which is a Sofitel hotel. Apparently this is a chain, although I'd never heard of them. I got a "cheap" deal on the internet otherwise it would be WAY out of my price range. I have a beautiful view of the walkway that carries passengers to another part of the airport, and behind that is the airport control tower. I found a rate card in the closet, and the usual price for this room is ... you'll never guess ... higher .... higher .... 550 Euros/night!! I suspect that is in the high season, but I didn't think airport hotels ever had a low season! No, I am not paying anywhere NEAR that! Internet access is 18 Euros, so I decided that it wasn't worth almost $30 to connect for one evening. Unfortunately Athens city is a fair distance away, so I don't plan on heading there.

I've done my fair share of travel, although not as much as some people I know (like Ken). In all my travels, though, I have to say that Kos was the friendliest and most beautiful place I've ever been. There were beaches and beautiful weather, just to start off. There were activities for adults and kids (did I mention the go-kart track we drove by every morning?). Then there were the trips, of which I didn't get to do nearly enough. Next time I'm visiting Turkey! It's only a short boat ride away, so there are plenty of day trips organized. The food was amazing, and just to top everything off the island is located in the part of the world described by some of our first legends and written history -- the Trojan Wars, Hippocrates, Socrates, there are castles built by knights with their crests still intact... ok I'm done raving now. But I have to say to anyone planning a vacation or a honeymoon I would recommend Kos and the Dimitra Hotel in an instant.

Back to the real world now -- I have work to do!

PS I forgot to mention the cats! There are cats EVERYWHERE on Kos. I guess they run wild. The calendars and postcards for tourists consisted of a) erotic poses from ancient pottery, b) scenery from around the island, and c) pictures of cats. I saw at least 5 different "Cats of Kos" calendars. Oh, and a few topless sunbathing postcards. But there were far more pictures of cats!