Northern Greece, Albania & Macedonia: Ancient Lands of Alexander the Great Day 18

Day 18 - Friday, October 27, 2017 - Flight Home by way of Vienna, Austria; Frankfurt, Germany; to Denver, Colorado

The wake up call came at 1:30, a short night indeed! We were down to the lobby fifteen minutes early. Anna was there to send us off. She had arranged for a van to pick us up at 2:00. The driver had not arrived so she was scrambling to make sure we had our transportation to the airport.

Just on time, the driver pulled up at the hotel and within three minutes five of us were all loaded and on our way to Alexander the Great Airport for our 4:30 flight to Vienna.

Three of us were flying business class so we were invited to the Austrian Airlines Lounge. When we arrived we asked if we could bring our two friends. The hostess hesitated but then agreed so we all had a quiet wait for our flight.

The full flight boarded at 4:00 and everyone was onboard by 4:15 but we had to wait and we were not off the ground until 4:32. Our airtime was only an hour and a half, just long enough to close our eyes for a few minutes.

When we landed in Vienna we had to go through passport control and security because Macedonia was not yet in the European Union. We found the Austrian Airlines Lounge and had about 2.5 hours to wait for the next flight.

At 8:15 we went to our gate, F21, to start the second leg of our journey. The hour flight was full but the passengers boarded quickly. The doors were closed and we backed away from the jet way on time.

The weather was cold and rainy although this did not bother our on time arrival in Frankfurt. We had no concerns going through immigration or security in Germany.

Just after the pilot announced that the final bags were loaded and we would begin our flight, he came back on the intercom to tell us that because of crowded air space, we were going to be delayed.

After 35 minutes, we backed away from Gate Z15 and began our wait on the tarmac. Once we were allowed to take off we followed the Rhine River north and then headed out over the North Sea, flying almost directly over Rotterdam.

After our ten hour flight we could finally see the Rocky Mountains. We knew we were getting close to Colorado. The plane landed at 4:00 and we went directly to the Global Entry kiosks. What a great way to reenter the country.

After picking up our bags we caught the next shuttle to the Pikes Peak parking lot. Because it was Friday afternoon we took the E470 toll road around Denver.

We had dinner at Café Rio in Castle Rock, got a few groceries, and we were home by 7:30. Buddha welcomed us at the back door and scolded us for being gone for so long.

It will take us a few days to get our sleep patterns back to normal and our thoughts together from this journey but in no time at all we will be planning our next adventure.

Thank you again for following our trip to the Ancient Lands of Alexander the Great.

No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his old, familiar pillow.” – Lin Yutang

Accommodations: HOME