It’s All Greek To Me
When you travel, you can’t avoid days lost in transit and today was one of those days. Our ferry bound for Athens was originally leaving at 1:15pm so with check-out at midday, we figured we’d have time for some lunch before we left. We had a text yesterday from the ferry company, confirming our seats and the time of departure. Today though, we got a couple of subsequent text messages informing us firstly, the ferry would be leaving at 2:15pm and then secondly, that it had shifted to 3:15pm. George was so lovely, allowing us to leave our bags in our place and even hang out there until we had to leave.
After a lunch of local gyros, we started our bag-wheeling trek across the bumpy pavement and headed towards the Sea Bus wharf. If yesterday had been windy, today was cyclonic! Great gusts of blustery wind were almost blowing us off our feet and the white caps on the normally serene bay indicated we may have been in for a bit of swell and a bumpy ride. Buying our €2 tickets, we could see Destination: Sea Bus up the end of the wharf but were accosted on the way by a guy in a beanie and tracky dacks, assuring us that his Glass Bottom Boat was also a Sea Bus, and ushering us inside. He had pretty limited English but kept saying: “You going to Newport? New Port?” and pointing in the general direction of the port. We were currently in the old port so we guessed it was the new one we were after. Though still not really sure whether we had been abducted, the boat left the wharf and did indeed motor along towards the new port. There were only 3 other people onboard besides us and we all enjoyed the novelty of gathering round the boat’s clear glass bottom, peeping at the ocean floor as we sailed.
There was a huge ferry waiting at the port when we arrived. Looking more like an ocean liner, it was a far cry from the Manly ferries we were used to. They were loading great hulking trucks inside it! Sadly, this wasn’t our vessel and as we watched it depart, bobbing up and down in the wild weather, we hunkered down for a lengthy wait in the cold - our ferry delayed by a further 45 minutes due to the “weather”. Ross had the “worst coffee of his life” from the Wharf Cantina and my cup of black tea turned out to be chamomile tea which I wasn’t expecting. As people pulled on jackets and jumpers, there was one guy laughing at the cold, swanning around with his shirt off.
Eventually the Sea Jet “Champion” poked its big wide bow over the horizon and there was a frenzied rush wharf-side, with everyone sprinting to form a haphazard queue. The commotion on the ocean was doubled due to people disembarking by foot and by car at the same time people were mobilising to get on this thing. Crowds were teeming down one ramp to escape while people (& lots of barking dogs) surged up the ramp on the other side to scramble for a seat. We entered through the bowels of the ship - like an enormous warehouse - and while cars secured parking spots, we found our comfortable seats upstairs. Ross’ seat must have been exceptionally comfy as he drifted off into a peaceful snooze that almost lasted the entire journey.
The woman in command of the PA system obviously loved being on the mic - the 3-and-a-half hour journey from Mykonos to Athens almost just one long announcement (in Greek too!) punctuated occasionally by a blast of the foghorn. I think parts of it were in English but it all sounded Greek to me! Our fellow passengers seemed to be nodding in understanding while I remained essentially in the dark. There was also an extremely long safety video in Greek (the sign language interpreter on the side was marginally helpful). Going well beyond the usual: “your life jackets are under your seat”, the incredibly detailed safety briefing even went as far as to tell us which coloured areas assembled where, if the ship started to go down (at least I think that’s what they were saying!). At one stage a man dressed entirely in red, carrying a big white basket - the contents of which still remain a mystery - stood right in front of us making a loud announcement and offering up the basket. I had no clue what that was all about.
As predicted, the seas were rough and I did feel a little queasy I must admit. The scenery as we passed lots of the other Greek islands up-close was beautiful though and gave me something to focus on so I didn’t have to reach for the puke bag.
Approaching Athens, everyone was psyched to get off that ship as fast as they possibly could, standing up in premature preparation and thumbing their noses at social-distancing, from a long way off. It was actually quite confronting being shoulder-to-shoulder, in such close proximity to a crowd like that again. Our brains have been so tuned by Covid over the past couple of years, to avoid this kind of thing, it felt uncomfortable to be squished against total strangers. A cacophony of coughs could be heard, (mingled in with all the barking dogs) once the voiceover lady finally switched off, as we pulled our face masks tightly on and prayed we wouldn’t catch a whiff of anything serious.
Exit was back through the basement and with all the cars now revved up and ready to drive off the ship, it’s a miracle no-one passed out from carbon-monoxide poisoning. It was carnage at the baggage shelves as eager-to-leave passengers grabbed their belongings en mass. I kept a hold of Ross so I didn’t lose him in the throng.
As we entered the fray in the bright Athens sunshine, we were accosted by a guy yelling “Taxi? Taxi?” We did need to catch a cab to our accommodation so we nodded and followed along. He grabbed my bag and we buckled in to his yellow Athens taxi. We had started to like this fellow, his impromptu tour of Athens consisting of pointing and loudly calling out the name of a building, followed by a big thumbs up. Olympic Football Stadium!…thumbs up. Acropolis!…thumbs up. Every time we passed a church he’d squawk: “church!” and cross himself. I asked him if he was a church-goer and he said “oh yes”. When it came to the end of our ride, we realised he hadn’t had a meter running at all. He told Ross our 18 minute journey would cost a cool €100. What the? Rossco must have looked shocked and he laughed and said “just joking”. He then charged us €55! Up in our hotel room I Googled what we should have paid and it was clear we’d been had. What a scoundrel! The Smart Traveller website warns: Be especially cautious at crowded attractions, on public transportation, and in taxis, where drivers sometimes scam their passengers. Athens’ taxi drivers, especially those who pick up from the airport, or port, are notorious for gouging tourists, charging their passengers far more than they’re actually owed.
Yes. It would have been helpful to have read this earlier. Chalk it up as a rookie error. At least we won’t fall for that trick again.
As we wandered to our hotel, it seemed we weren’t in one of the most savoury areas in town. It had a bit of a red light district vibe. I’d booked it because it had a great view of the Acropolis but hadn’t realised it was in the rough end of town. It turns out it is just a short walk away from nicer areas and boy does it have an amazing view of the Acropolis!! You can see it from the bed. You can even see it from the shower! At night it’s all lit up like a Christmas tree and looks spectacular.
Rossco had a jog to the phone repair shop and they’re hopeful they can fix his waterlogged phone. Fingers crossed.
Athens is much warmer than Mykonos and enjoying the balmy evening, we had a lovely walk around the leafy area at the base of the Acropolis, streets lined with restaurants spilling out into the cobblestone streets and lots of souvenir shops, gallieries and boutiques. So nice!
