"Trip to Greece" read the manila file folder the couple in front of me pulled out. From it they drew the itinerary they shared with the lady at the Lufthansa check-in counter. I didn't overhear the details but there seemed to be some issue or point of confusion that needed resolving before the file was put back in order and replaced in the husband's bag. I was both surprised and impressed with the file folder. As my journey through the airport, flight and along my path of my transit through the Frankfurt airport where I write, it became clearer why the couple needed a file folder and perhaps what the issue was at the counter.
At every step of the way – security, boarding, passport control in Frankfurt, the husband negotiated with authorities for preferential treatment. He groused about having to wait in the already very quick line for security. He rushed to cut in the boarding line when he was already in Business Class and he got nowhere fast with the German immigration authorities about cutting in line. Instead he was told that the fastest way through was to stop wasting time and keep his place in line.
Luckily the File Folders, as I'll call them, have been the opposite of what I've mostly experienced in my early travel today. Friendly flight attendants – one of whom is excited to get on the Frankfurt-LAX route next month, a scattering of Greek-Americans returning from family visits/summer vacations and just general Americans at the end of a pleasant trip to Greece. One thing about the Athens Airport you can count on – early morning and again late morning are when American leave and mid-to-late morning is when they arrive – en masse. United, American, Delta, Air Canada all schedule the same time range while the early morning has the entire Lufthansa Group – Lufthansa, Swiss, Austrian – ferrying Americans to Central Europe to make connections home – frequently under United code share flights (like mine).
For reasons I can and can't explain, Greece has become an especially en vogue travel destination in recent years. The part I can explain is it's of course a great place to enjoy summer. But why has in peaked since COVID? I'm not sure other than after COVID maybe people just really needed their day in the sun? And sometimes fads just happen like Iceland in the 2010's, Pinkberry in the 2000's The Juiceman juicers and Generra Hypercolor in the 1990's.
The interesting aspect of the phenomenon is flying a route that has a routine quality to it. A route in which you know what to expect – the kinds of people, what they'll look like, what they'll be carrying and the energetic flow that accompanies it. Anyone who has lived overseas knows what I mean. For me, United 875 and 876 – service from Seattle to Tokyo and back was a well trodden route from 2001 to 2006. A few other flights that spoked out from Tokyo to other parts of Asia were also familiar at different junctures depending on the country in which I was living. There was a vibe to the flights which had a large proportion of people on business, and a sub-segment of expat Americans working abroad – of which I was part. There were always tourists, but not only did they not make up a majority, they weren't the "let's go have fun!" tourists Michelle and I encountered on our flight from Chicago to Athens. Seattle to Tokyo was not the party-train, just as the LA to Hong Kong flights I took in March-April were very toned down.
Of the places I've traveled with any regularity, Greece is the first that has a predominately vacationer element. The people on the flight are more enervated because they aren't used to the rhythm of the route – the time it takes, what to expect, etc. They aren't necessarily seasoned travelers – many have kids and even babies (which I admire). For me the journey between LA and Athens is becoming as familiar as UA 875 and 876, but instead of being one of the regulars, I'm in the company of transients. It's neither good nor bad – it's just different and it allows me a new perspective on American and other nationality travelers.
Along with that, there is no one route to Athens, not even when I consistently use the same airline. These days, United not only has more routes to Athens from various gateway cities – none of which are Los Angeles – but it also books a lot of codeshare flights with partner airlines. Accordingly, while I booked two roundtrips between Los Angeles and Athens on United, no two flight sequences are the same. Los Angeles to Athens on United via Chicago; Athens to Los Angeles on Lufthansa via Frankfurt; Los Angeles to Athens via Istanbul on Turkish; Athens to Los Angeles on United via Washington DC. While there's a similar quality of summer vacationers across the board, it hasn't settled into place like my expat days or even the way Emily and I used to take the kids to Southeast Asia each winter on Singapore Airlines. In this case, the regular travel of a semi-expat feels less stable and consistent than an annual vacationer to Singapore and Bali or Thailand.
All the same, the cheese-covered pretzels in the Lufthansa Senators Lounge aren't bad. As Sennen noted in January when we flew Swiss home from France, you really see the difference in the food when you hit the Germanic countries, and it's not better. I mean, we were coming from France….
Fortunately, whatever the mood of the flights, the lounge and the airport today, yesterday I had a very warm, Greek interlude. Maria and her husband Yiannis from whom I bought the house, picked me up at my hotel and we went for coffee at a nearby outdoor mall. They are both warm, kind, caring people who exemplify the best of their culture. As I mentioned in a previous post, I immediately connected with Maria when I went to see the house for the first time. She happened to be on Patmos for just a few days – the Athens-based couple had virtually stopped using the house at first because their oldest son, Nikki had bone cancer that ultimately cost him his left leg – and then as their boys entered their twenties and summer-long family vacations came to an end.
"They don't want to go to Patmos anymore. My youngest, Yorgo (George in Greek) is on Naxos right now. This one wants to go to Rome, this one to Paros – they want to see new things," Maria explained with notes of sadness and exasperation. Patmos was not only the place where she spent long summers with her boys while her cruise ship captaining husband was working for the season, but it was the place she found spiritual comfort in a crisis. Throughout Nikki's illness, she kept touch with the head priest at the Monastery of St. John who prayed for Nikki and she felt her own prayers were better heard from Patmos.
"I want to go to the Apocalypsi (the Cave of the Apocalypse on Patmos where St. John wrote Revelations) and thank him (God). I want to go and give thanks! I believed and he heard my prayers," she explained.
I realized through the course of our almost three-hour coffee, part of what connected me and Maria was that we met one another in a moment of crisis in our respective lives. I was on the precipice of divorce and she was nearing the end of three years fighting Cancer for the life of her son.
"We have a lot more strength than we think. We just have to find it. Sometimes there is no other choice." And in that she was talking about us both.
I was a little surprised Yiannis was available at all during the summer, only to learn he retired two years ago after a 25 year run of captaining cargo and later cruise ships. He has been throughout much of the world, speaks great English and is a warm, kind man who seems to have endless appreciation for his wife – in part because of her dedication to caring for their family.
They recognized Yiannis may have retired and bought himself a Mercedes to enjoy, but Maria is far from retiring. Helping her oldest prepare for the Paralympics is her current focus. He races bicycles with one leg and is becoming well recognized for it in Greece. He's in a series of commercials for a brand of bottled water and has a substantial following on social media. Not only that, he has a serious girlfriend who he's considering marrying. Maria's happiness in sharing all of this was abundant.
In the course of time, they wanted to know all about me, my divorce, my kids, the renovations on the house and the happenings on Patmos. They also shared information on the house, neighbors and many memories. I was relieved to learn that my water pump that moves the well-water into my house was replaced just six months before I bought the house. I had been wondering about that very thing the day before. I learned the history of the lawn and gardens, the neighbors' water tank, the garbage that used to pile up behind the pizza restaurant – all the little details of a home.
To my relief, both Maria and Yiannis were pleased with the changes I have made to the house. I wasn't sure how they might feel about seeing their place changed, even if it was dated. Maria especially loved the kitchen floor and bathroom – which are marked changes. "It's simple, but very nice!" she kept saying along with "Poli-aureo" (very beautiful).
Maria and Yiannis would like to have me and the kids over to their house to swim when we pass through Athens in August.
"I believe in relationships," Maria said many times. She keeps an open home in which her three twenty-something-year-old boys come and go with their friends and girlfriends. Maria loves it. Yiannis has become accustomed to it.
So we'll see if we can work out a visit.
Just as importantly, I want to open my home to them. I reiterated to Maria that it would be such a joy for me if they went to Patmos and stayed at the house. Apparently, Yiannis had promised her when they sold the house – against her desire – that he would take her to Patmos anytime she wants. His plan was to stay at the guest rooms Christos has and operates near Mostra. Maria couldn't get on board with staying in a guest house in Patmos after having felt like a resident for all those years. However, the idea of staying in my house – the house of all of her memories – sounds much better and she was so grateful for the opportunity.
First she has to get through the family trip to Paris in late August, early September in which everyone including her other sons, their girlfriends and her parents are going to support Nikki. Then maybe Patmos to sit with her memories and offer thanks.
Sometimes people just spark – in different ways for different reasons. Maria and I both felt a certain spiritual connection when we met and I suspect Maria and Yiannis will remain friends for many years. While in totally different ways, for totally different reasons, Maria and I found ourselves swimming through and out of our grief in the same place at the same time. That's a special and unique thing under any circumstances, but in Patmos, it's binding.
