Flying over The Persian Gulf, Mediterranean, and Athens - October 2024

"Pardon monsieur!" 

"Ne Rien" 

"Merci" 

A mix of French, English, and the some Arabic signs around, was an indicative of me entering Francophone world already. 

Inside the airport, the gate, and the airplane was air conditioned and pleasant. So was morning sun shining over the Air France. Knowing from the experience, I could sense it was a summer like weather outside in the open of Abu Dhabi airport, even in a late October. 

As soon as the airplane took off, a sense of nostalgia kicked in, looking to the Northern direction, in search of a glimpse of Northern coasts of Persian Gulf. Although I had in plans to go there, after a trip to see my brother and his family in Paris, a week sounded as long as those 10 years, and even a glimpse of Iran was something. I had to give up on that as soon as the airplane took off and embark on a path over southern side of The Persian Gulf and then into Arabia. I had to wait. 

But soon my mind realized another sorrowful fact: the plane path was going to go over Sinai Peninsula now, only 50 kilometers from Palestine/Israel. My heart became heavy! Going near a war zone where thousands of humans perished. 

The beauty of the scenes of the Mediterranean Sea, was a great contrast to the ugliness we human being can inflict on ourselves, our fellow humans and the nature. 

And then Athens, stood since the time of Aristotle and Plato, spreading all and around, since, but most recently far more exponentially. 

And of course, the Greek countryside: