The Day My Passport Had A Holiday (Acropolis Not Now)
We were up with the birds this morning, George’s trusty henchmen knocking on the door at 6am, at the ready to carry all of our bags up the steep stairs. They were amazing! (No need for the gym in Santorini!) It was a gorgeous clear Santorini morning and the sunrise was showing off its brilliance as we left Oia and headed down the mountain prepared to meet our plane. We were dropped at the airport for what was probably the shortest flight of our lives. There was barely time for the Ryanair flight attendant to stage her range of infomercials for various perfumes, cameras and mascaras she was spruiking onboard. It was like watching The Morning Show live. It was even more ‘no frills’ than Tiger Air, if that’s possible. There were no tv screens and we didn’t even have seat pockets on the backs of the seats in front, which is perhaps one of the reasons our day unfolded as it did.
It must’ve been about a kilometre walk to the baggage claim once we’d touched down in Athens. About 7 travelators in, Toby clasped his hand over his mouth and said “Oh no! I’ve left my passport and headphones on the floor in the plane!” Oh great. No need to panic yet, we’d just landed. Surely the plane would be there for a while. Couldn’t we just hurry back to the plane and intercept the cleaners before they took everything to lost property? Wrong. Ross and Toby tried but the way was blocked and security guards sent them back to the lost baggage counter.
From there it was a waiting game. We checked with the police and called the Australian Embassy in Greece, who were very helpful but told us they were closed all weekend and being Saturday, we’d have to wait until Monday to be seen. Even then it would take a further 24 hours’ turn around to get a new passport. This was not good. After the cleaners had been through the plane, we checked in with lost property but alas, no passport or headphones were found. This was really not good. They suggested we speak to Emirates to see whether they’d allow Toby to fly without his passport. Luckily I had made colour photocopies of all our passports before we left home so at least we had his passport details. They had to get all sorts of police and customs clearances for Dubai and Bangkok where we had stopovers. It was all going to take time.
The other option we had was a long shot but the plane had flown on to Bergamo in Italy after dropping us off. Once they had touched down, the plane would be cleaned again. There was the slimmest of chances that they’d find it this time around but it was highly unlikely. We’d landed in Athens at 9am and the plane was due to land in Italy at 11:30. I called the Bergamo Airport and left my number and then I texted some friends and family to pray for a miracle.
We got very well acquainted with the Athens Airport and the €2 we invested in 2 baggage trolleys was money well spent! We wheeled those bags across every square inch of that big airport. Soon my phone rang and I heard a cheerful “Biongiorno”.
It was the Bergamo Airport ringing to say: “You’re not going to believe this, but we’ve found the passport and the headphones!” It was a miracle and a massive answer to prayer. We were so grateful to God! How strange that the first round of cleaners didn’t find it but the second lot did! If you want a job done well, get an Italian to do it. Amazingly, the plane was headed straight back to Athens so instead of processing it at the Lost and Found in Italy, they said they’d pop it back on the plane for a round trip back to Greece! The Lost and Found lady at Bergamo was fantastic and so eager to help. She said the cabin crew were all over it so just to sit tight and wait for the plane to come back. ‘Prego!’
We’d had a big day of sightseeing planned in Athens today – the Acropolis, Acropolis Museum, Temple of Zeus and the Parthenon. There was heaps to see. We’d checked the forecast, packed our walking shoes (Ross had his boots on) and were quite looking forward to exploring the city. Our plane was due to leave at 11:30pm so we planned to stick our bags in lockers at the airport and hit the town. Instead, we spent thirteen and a half hours in the not-so-exciting, climate controlled, busy Athens Airport, not even setting foot outside! We were starting to be on first name basis with the staff. It was kind of funny in a tragic way – a Greek tragedy!
By the time the much anticipated plane from Bergamo touched down, and we eventually got our hands back on Toby’s well-travelled passport (still can’t believe we got it back!) it was 4:30 and Sam was due to fly to Paris at 5:30pm anyway. There was no point in leaving now. We passed the time playing cards, sampling the best snack foods Greece had to offer and wandering aimlessly around the airport. There was actually a small archaeological museum – the next best thing to the Acropolis for sure. We farewelled Sam who’s having a couple of days in Paris on his way home and the four of us limped, exhausted towards our plane at 11:30; in for the long haul.
We laughed to think Toby’s passport had probably had a more exciting day than we had.
Thanks for reading along with us! We’ve had such an AMAZING holiday and feel very lucky to have been able to have experienced so many beautiful new places and to have had the privilege of doing it as a family.
