Do you know how far away Athens is from Boston? Consider that I was picked up at 2:00 pm for a 6:05 pm flight, then it was a 6 hour flight from Boston to Paris, where I had a 3-hour layover, including going through immigration, then it was another 3 hour flight to Athens. Add it all up, remember that I NEVER sleep on planes, and it makes for one long day! I went to sleep about 9:00 pm Athens time but now it’s 1:05 am and I’m wide awake!

To fly from Honolulu to Boston, it was first a 5 hour flight to San Francisco with a 3 hour layover, followed by a 5 hour flight to Boston. I guess the Boston-Athens route was even  farther.

I was met at the airport by Go Ahead Tours, my 6th trip with this organization since 2015. It was surprisingly overcast and not at all hot, maybe in the low 80s, and I kept my jacket on. A family of four was also met by the same driver, and we loaded up the luggage in the van. On our way to the hotel, the sky became very dark and it began to rain — hard. I had checked the weather before we left, and thought with some confidence that I wouldn’t need my umbrella, so I shipped it off to Hawaii with the music I bought at the Boston Early Music Festival.

All of a sudden, the noise of the rain got harder and louder and then one of the other passengers exclaimed, “IT’S HAIL!” Oh my goodness, that was ICE hitting the windshield!  I thought of my umbrella on its way to Hawaii and thought I’ll have to buy yet another one to add to my collection of at least a dozen umbrellas at home!

By the time we got to the hotel, it had subsided, and the rain even stopped. I must say that the hotels I’ve stayed in with Go Ahead have been excellent, and this one is no exception. It is definitely a four star, very posh hotel, a far cry from the rather old, tiny apartment I stayed at in Boston.

After showering, I went outside to find an ATM, and luckily there was one just across the street. On an impulse I stopped at a small Greek souvenir store next door, and bought several beautiful embroidered coin purses, each only 1 € each! I bought five, all different colors!

In the evening we had a Welcome Dinner to introduce everyone in the group, and I was seated next to a man who is a parishioner at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Cleveland. When I told him I was an organist, he told me that the Cathedral is getting a Skinner organ to complement their existing Flentrop instrument, and that their organist is Todd Wilson, a performer whose career I have followed for many, many years.

After dinner we were invited to go up to the ninth floor where you can get a good view of the Acropolis—but I’m afraid my photo doesn’t do it justice.

So, why am I in Greece where presumably pipe organs are not used in the Greek Orthodox Church?

Because it’s there!