"They have some funny short reels in Canada!" Sennen said laughing hysterically at whatever he found on the Toronto Airport iPads lining the countertops in the gate waiting area.
This was after some less pleased times in the long lines for security and passport control for transiting to US flights. Luckily, we're through all of that and awaiting our Los Angeles bound connection – already "stamped in" to the United States.
The kids are tired. Sennen didn't sleep at all on the flight from Athens and is a little checked out at times. Ailyn slept, but really just wants to fast-forward to home and slip into bed. Thankfully, landing at 10:40 pm will allow her to get home and do just that.
"It's okay, I'm good at adjusting time," Sennen said when I warned him about sleep. He's right, so I decided whatever happens from Athens to Los Angeles is what happens on the way from Athens to Los Angeles.
Of course, a journey of 8,000 miles begins with one step and that was at our house in Patmos. Along the way from the house to the ferry, the kids were stopped by multiple business owners to say goodbye. They even got hugs and kisses from Eirini who Sennen worked for. Everyone made it clear the kids are expected next year.
While waiting for the Blue Star 2 ferry – which is indeed larger than our friends' cruise ship yesterday – Sennen had an emergency bathroom run – the first of several along the way. Ailyn revealed that Sennen had eaten sea grass and sand at the beach the other day – which they conveniently had not mentioned before when I was trying to figure out why he felt so badly. My guess is it will take his system a little longer to clear out whatever new and unusual germs he took in….
"Sennen, you ate sea grass?!" I asked incredulously.
"Yeah…." he giggled.
"And you didn't think that was important to tell me?"
"I didn't think it was a big deal! I didn't even think about it until earlier today!"
I had no response and figured what's done is done – and we had a ferry to catch. And of all things, the Blue Star ferry arrival is always a sight to behold. A floating city appears out of the dark night, does a three point turn and backs up to a cement dock – never falling short or going too far. The noise, the giant metal gangplank, the people, cars, trucks – the chaos that is antithetical to Patmos is how the Patmos experience begins and ends and not without some awe and wonder – especially from the kids.
"It's amazing! How does the captain do it?!" Sennen kept saying.
"That is a big ferry. How long do we have to get on it? Why did we have so much more time in Athens? It seemed so much calmer," Ailyn observed.
"That's because it's docked there for more than an hour letting people on as they come, whereas her, everything happens in 10 minutes!"
Amazingly, our ferry was right on schedule and despite the craziness, everything went smoothly. Our three-person cabin was clean, comfortable and waiting for us – allowing us all a good night's sleep before our morning arrival at Piraeus. There, after the chaos of unloading, we found our driver waiting for us, sign in hand and our airport transfer also went without a hitch in a well air-conditioned van.
Our lucky streak continued with quick check-in for our flight and fast security and passport lines. Then came the best of all: I remembered my AMEX card allowed us to use one of the business lounges in our terminal. So we passed a few nice hours chilling out, enjoying better-than-typical airport food.
"This is a dream!" Ailyn kept saying. "Thank you, Daddy!"
Membership has it's privileges….
Even despite our flight being delayed a half hour and having one of the most chaotic boarding processes I've seen outside of Nepal or Taiwan, the pilots made up the time in the air and we arrived on-time in Toronto with no issues making our connection. Even with Sennen's bathroom stops to expel seagrass residue….
I'm too tired and still mid-transit to offer concluding thoughts on wrapping up the trip with the kids. But I will say this morning I got heartfelt and unexpected "thank you's" from both kids for this trip and experience. I told them I am so thankful for them and they're coming along for this time. We all agreed it was magical and we can't wait to go back together.
