Leaving Iran, Arriving Greece (or, Out of the Frying Pan, Into the Fire!)

This morning just about everything in Esfahan was closed due to Friday prayer. So instead of just walking or riding around we decided as a group to have a restful morning. It was nice to lay in bed after 8am (for the first time this whole trip!). Afterwards I got everything all packed up for our flight to Tehran. We met for a quick lunch in the hotel's coffee shop, and then it was time to load up the van for our trip to the airport.

We arrived and got all checked in for the flight, and a little later went through security. After a short wait we boarded the plane for the 45 minute flight to Tehran. By the time we got to baggage claim, the bags were already on the belt, so the flight was smooth and everything arrived on time. We drove to the hotel (the same hotel we had stayed previously) and got checked in. My flight to Dubai leaves at 4:10am and I have to leave the hotel at 12:10am so I don't get to have too much time in my hotel room!

Since I had left a bag at the hotel, I spent some time reorganizing in order to distribute weight evenly between bags. Before long it was time for our farewell dinner, which we had at the hotel restaurant. After saying our goodbyes, I returned to the room to kill the four hours before it was time to leave for the airport.

My driver was waiting for me at the appointed time, and after the 45-minute drive to the airport, I was thrown to the hustle-and-bustle of the early morning chaos that was the Tehran International Airport. Security checks, check-in counters, passport control and eventually a nice comfortable lounge with decent internet access. Before I knew it, it was time to board my flight, which was on time. After a little under two hours, we arrived in Dubai.

I had a three-hour layover in Dubai, but was lucky enough to find a vacant lounge chair in the lounge, had some breakfast, and before I knew it, it was time to board my flight to Athens!

I had a row to myself and an extremely nice and attentive flight attendant who was from Korea. Yes, the flight was at 9:55am, but that did not stop me from having both red and white wine before lunch. The one major drawback of Iran was the illegality of alcoholic beverages, so it had been three weeks without wine, so I had some catching up to do.

The flight was on time and when I arrived in Athens, my driver was waiting for me. He drove me to my cute little boutique hotel in the heart of Athens, and I got checked in, shaved showered and generally felt a ton better after a long day of traveling.

I then took to the streets, passing by the parliament building, the tomb of the unknown soldier, and just missed the changing of the guard (by 5 minutes). I kept walking along crowded pedestrian streets. The unemployment rate in Greece is 25.4%, and this is noticeable as you walk along. There are homeless people begging on just about every street corner. Not only that, there are large groups of policemen stationed all along the really crowded streets. I'm sure this is response to the riots they had here earlier this week in response to the new austerity measures. It is a very different Athens to the city I visited in 2000 and noticeably worse off than when I visited last summer (although there were strikes then as well, so things were definitely moving in this direction).

At any rate after walking all over I decided I wanted some Indian food (even though Iran and India are close geographically and do have a shared culture to a certain extent, the food is nothing alike, and I had been craving some chicken tikka masala. I found a very nice restaurant near the hotel where I had a yummy meal and then gingerly made my way back to the hotel. I've only gotten about 3 hours of sleep in the last 36 hours or so, so I turned in early, excited for my tour of the Acropolis and the Acropolis museum tomorrow!