In a city of more than three million people, our neighbor – who had never seen us before – became deeply concerned about our welfare. We were sitting on the sidewalk of a very quiet neighborhood street waiting for the apartment-hotel manager to arrive so we could drop off our bags. Our ferry arrived early and although our driver was waiting for us, the manager of what can best be described as a hybrid between an Airbnb and a hotel was running late to work.
The sight of a man with two children sitting on the side of the road with their bags was too much for Fivos to ignore. He came running up to us, panting heavily and sniffed us and everything we had. As both a Greek and a golden retriever, hospitality and warmth come second nature to Fivos. At first, he mostly meant to welcome us and ensure we were okay. In fact, he probably would have stayed with us if his person – a very nice man around forty-years-old who spoke excellent English – hadn't eventually pointed out to Fivos that they were on a walk and they did need to continue. When Fivos wouldn't go, the man continued until Fivos realized he had to stay with his person.
Only ten or so minutes later, Fivos came bounding back only after seeing nothing about our situation had changed, Fivos decided to take matters into his own paws. He understood we were waiting to get into a building (his person said he's very smart that way) so Fivos knocked on the door and barked. It didn't happen to be the right door, so I inquired as to whether Fivos knew anyone in that building. His person said their house cleaner lives in that building and clearly, Fivos was calling to her to let us in – assuming we needed into that building.
When that didn't work, Fivos knocked on the next door down – this time the right door. Only no one came because, well the manager wasn't there. Fivos was behind on the news.
The street was silent even at 9:15 am because today is a religious and national holiday – Assumption. Most people have the day off and most businesses are closed except those that service tourists. This led Fivos' person to rightfully be concerned about Fivos being too loud in a neighborhood full of people sleeping in on their day off. He got Fivos to calm, but not to leave us. Fivos was dedicated to seeing us through to safety.
Only Fivos' person couldn't stay forever so, a similar scene unfolded as before in which Fivos was called, didn't want to go and eventually, facing the prospect of his person going off without him, Fivos' FOMO overwhelmed him and he took his leave.
The kids were thoroughly delighted by it all.
For Ailyn, Fivos was a ray of light in what she otherwise has labeled a terrible day.
While her feelings weren't as strong as Sennen's, Ailyn wasn't ready to leave Patmos yet – she would have preferred another couple of weeks. Boarding the ferry last night was as chaotic as I've ever experienced. There haven't been so many French crowding onto a boat since Algeria, 1962. We waited almost 30 minutes just to check into our cabin – which is unprecedented. Ailyn hated the chaos and wait. Despite having a nice cabin (albeit one for two instead of three because that's all that was available when I booked), the air conditioning was too cold for Ailyn and her brother was a cover-hog. She forgot to use our nice private bathroom before we left our cabin, leaving her needing a bathroom while we waited 90 minutes for the hotel manager. The cookie Ailyn got from the Christodolous Bakery last night precisely for such a moment was not to her liking – causing her to abort cookie. She also lost a tooth in the subpar cookie. And then – the worst of all events – when we finally got our bags squared away and made our way to the Olive Era shop so Ailyn could stock up on her beloved and highly effective hair care products for the year, it turned out they were closed for the holiday.
That's when Ailyn broke down crying in the street.
Never mind that there's an Olive Era Store in Athens Airport Duty Free area where we have always shopped in the past. It wasn't whether or not the eventual outcome would be good – it was the sheer disappointment because the Olive Era Store was going to be Ailyn's little spot of joy after a series of unfortunate events (except Fivos).
Little did Ailyn remember how the night before she had heartwarming moments with Eirini and Alessandro saying goodbye with hugs, kisses, gifts and praise. Never mind the lovely dinner at Flisvos – her restaurant of choice and our favorite chickpeas that were in peak form, the warm wishes from our friends Christina and Dimitris as we returned our car to them, and all the people who wished us goodbye as we walked to the port. Never mind basketball friends who came up and wished Sennen well and told him they'd miss him. Never mind that we stopped by the bakery and got snacks in case we got hungry on the boat or woke up needing a breakfast nosh. Or even the Greek motion-sickness pills that always seem to work so well for Ailyn.
All of that was history as soon as she saw the padlock on the Olive Era store where her fragrant conditioning hair oil spray, favorite shampoo and beloved hair conditioner were so close and yet so far away.
"Travel days suck! I hate travel days! This one is horrible!" Ailyn concluded by 10:30 am.
Sennen, who had been most aggrieved leaving Patmos, realized the time for empathy had come and offered lots to his sister. Between Sennen and me, it took only fifteen minutes to get Ailyn back in the frame of mind that we could theoretically still have a nice day and perhaps continuing to explore the shopping district would yield some other gem. It didn't. But we had breakfast at a nice cafe, explored some of the city and at a mild 80 degrees with a breeze, managed to do so in pleasant, unseasonably cool weather.
Later, when we returned to our hotel – our room being ready and the staff kindly having put our bags in it – the kids discovered the one-bedroom apartment/hotel room was great and the perfect place to take on a tired day.
So here we are – just where Fivos wanted us to be.
Ahead, we still have plans to meet Maria and Yiannis – from whom I bought our Patmos house – at a cafe for a brief visit. The kids haven't met them yet and are excited to do so. So we'll see where that goes and hopefully get a good night's sleep before flying home tomorrow.
The kids aren't looking forward to the flights home. When I asked Sennen why he has so many complaints about tomorrow's flights when he usually has no complaints about any flight, he basically said they're going in the wrong direction.
While I'm no fan of spending a day in Athens, it may be the perfect transition. Athens is not Sennen and Ailyn's Greece. We're not back in America yet, but we're in the thick of urban life and they have no desire to remain here. If nothing else, Athens is helping to drive them forward. Maybe we'll get lucky with an upgrade on a flight or just some pleasant time at the airport lounge to grease the wheels of change tomorrow.
