Greek Adventure, Part 1: Off to a Bad Start
I should be on a plane to Athens right now, but instead I am sitting in an empty terminal at JFK Int'l Airport in New York.
Our Delta flight to New York actually arrived early. We were stoked because we had a quick turnaround to catch the connecting plane to Athens. However, after we landed, our gate wasn't ready for us, and we were stalled for nearly an hour. We had 15 minutes to run to the opposite side of the airport to catch our connecting flight. Our annoyed Delta flight attendents, restless from trying to calm several other passengers missing their respective connecting flights, assured us that we would catch the plane. (Side note: Wesley was coincidentally on our flight.)
We finally got off the plane and Sergio and I hauled ass to the gate. I mean, we were sprinting for nearly half a mile from one side of the airport to the other. We weaved in and out of families, jumped over luggage, spun through lines -- It was like a skateboarding video, minus the skateboards.
Well ahead of Dad, Mom and Nina, we got to the gate and were greeted by a rude lady at the gate's service counter who said, "You can't get on this flight. Your luggage will never make it. You need to go to the ticket counter to get tickets for a different flight." Well, that's just fucking great.
Sergio and I walked back, huffing and puffing. We relayed the bad news. Dad and Mom tried talking to the bitch at the gate. We could see the plane still connected to the terminal. The bitch wouldn't budge.
After some navigation difficulties at the unfamiliar airport, we found the international ticketing terminal. Delta agents insisted the delay wasn't the company's fault, which is true. Our Delta flight arrived early. The FAA had the problem moving traffic on the runway, and that caused our flight to end up delayed. So, because this wasn't technically the airline's fault all we got is a flight tomorrow at 6 p.m. EST to Berlin and a connecting flight to Athens. The problem now is that we're using a seperate European budget airline to get from Athens to Crete. Because we're missing that flight tomorrow, those tickets are lost and we have to buy a whole new set of tickets from that airline -- thus doubling our costs with that airline.
Fuck. We're losing a whole day, and this trip is becoming more expensive. So, we're making the most out of our makeshift home for the next 24 hours at Terminal B, Gate 11 while Delta continues to pass the blame.
We've got what we carried on, so basically I have a couple of books an iPod and my cameras. Dad has his laptop so I paid for 24 hours of Internet for $10. What kind of airport doesn't have free wireless Internet these days? Bellingham Int'l Airport does, JFK Int'l Airport in New York doesn't, go figure. We have no cell phone because Sergio was the only one who brought one but accidentally drowned it on the plane when his Snapple bottle leaked in his backpack. We're tired. We have no toilettries and no change of clothes. This is going to be a long night.
Greek Adventure, Part 2: We made it through the night, barely.
