Flight to Thessaloniki, Greece, to begin the "Ancient Lands of Alexander the Great" adventure.

A welcome surprise waited for us at the Heraklion Airport… not the terminal itself, which was quite crowded with low ceilings and a long wait time in line at the gate for the 20-minute late plane. But when we got on the Airbus 320 bound for Athens, we had business class seats in the 2nd row! More leg room and a small meal of rolled salmon on a piece of bread, and a small chocolate wafer for dessert. Economy class did not. 50 minutes later we landed in Athens and of course, we got to get off the plane first. 30 minutes later, we got on another plane bound for Thessaloniki. Same amenities, only we had '1st row' business class seats. Less than an hour later, we landed in Thessaloniki, first off the plane, first on the shuttle bus to the airport terminal… and the bus takes off before letting anyone else board. Peggy and I had exclusive use of the bus. When we arrived at the terminal, we asked the driver why, and all he would tell us with a deep Greek accent was that there would be another bus picking up the other passengers. Oh, and Basil, our illustrious tour leader, and Connie, of our 3-person pre-trip group to Crete, were also on the same flight… in economy class. Luck of the draw apparently.

We had a room at the Mediterranean Palace Hotel, yet another swanky hotel in the bustling, business district of Thessaloniki. It was the beginning of our regular tour of the lands of Alexander the Great… and where we no longer have exclusive use of Basil leading our small group, as our group number would soon increase to fourteen…