Having more or less successfully negotiated the Athens Metro Airport line, I found myself aboard an Egyptair Embraer 170 for the hop to Cairo. Yet another aircraft designed for the vertically challenged, but the service aboard was exemplary. Friendly crew, out to please although the "English" announcements were hard to follow.
The guy sat next to me, dark glasses, stubble, nasty suit and even worse cologne had the air of a wannabe pyramid salesman, though even he proved sociable enough. I was tempted to speculate that he might be paying a visit to his Mummy, but away with that thought!
This is a dry airline, which is probably a good thing as even George Best would have turned his nose up at my liver had it been offered to him as a transplant. Once past the over-sweet fizzy pop and juice, the meal was smoked salmon with cheese and salad. If they can do that on a puddle jump, then I am looking forward to the offerings aboard the 8 hour leg to Jo'berg.
Now I am relaxing in the transfer area listening to flight departures for cities where no sane person would venture without at least an AK 47 in their back-pack. Tripoli, Beruit, Sana, Nairobi, Algiers. Not Sidari though. All very exotic nevertheless.
I was mildly concerned at the prospect of flying with Egyptair via Cairo, but these fears have proved groundless. The airport is quite small, but clean and modern. Dubai it ain't, but who cares? After all, the tickets were mindbogglingly cheaper than Emirates or Sath Efrican Airways.
