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Slower ferry
The scene just off the ferry is one of chaos. There is traffic police blowing whistles trying to direct traffic, and they have their hands full to say the least. Surprisingly we both slept well. I got up early to ask about ferry times to Mykonos, as this was our planned first stop. Unfortunately, but luckily as it turned out, we just missed the ferry to Mykonos. The guy on reception said to come back and see him at nine o'clock and he would send us to a friend of his who sold cheap ferry tickets.
We went to Adrianos Travel and learnt that if we had have caught the ferry to Mykonos, our further travel plans would have been limited as it isn't the peak season and therefore not all of the ferries run. The guy who served us was really nice, and we ended up booking our whole week of travel including accommodation. We think we got a really good deal, but I guess we'll find out for sure when we get there. We don't really mind even if we have paid a bit more, because it is a relief (and unique) for us to not have to worry about such things on arriving somewhere.
This meant we could get to Mykonos via the port of Rafina which was about an hour away. We didn't have to get there
Sun or moon?
It's actually the sun, but it gives you an indication of the pollution that surrounds Athens. until 15.30, for a 16.00 departure. This left us with a bit more time to see Athens, and there are a few museums that have free entry, so we settled on the War Museum. The museum was interesting without being too brilliant, it was mainly artefacts such as old uniforms, weapons, etc. There wasn't a lot of reading material on the Greek's war history, but we rushed around a bit, conscious of our need to get to Rafina on time, so we probably didn't do the museum justice. One of the sections was also closed, which didn't help.
The walk to and from the museum was probably more interesting as we passed heaps of embassies. Some of them had guards with machine guns, while others stood armed and camouflaged in the garden of the embassy grounds. It was a bit bizarre, but we didn't have time to ascertain which countries they were serving.
Before we grabbed our bags from the hotel and headed for Rafina, we though we would have one last gyros, and one last chocolate natural yoghurt. Our favourite gyros was at a store called Everest, and is at the corner of Athinas and Ermou streets. The chocolate
Red wine & Fire-Water
Don't worry Mum, I wont be acquiring a taste for ouzo. yoghurt was at a cafe called Kpivos, and is on Eolou (Aolou) Street. Both gyros and yoghurt were excellent and cheap.
Then it was back to the Hotel Tempi, of which I can't speak highly enough of. The rooms are just basic, and we shared toilet/shower facilities, but the main asset is how friendly and helpful the people on reception are. The location and cost is also a bonus. I highly recommend the hotel.
It was now time to leave so we headed to the train station which proved to be cheap and easy. Getting off the train and walking up the stairs we had to find the bus terminal. As we got to the top of the stairs a man asked where we were heading (without prompting again), and then he escorted us to our bus.
Getting off the bus at Rafina we were excited about our island hopping. We had a bit of time to kill, so we grabbed a quick drink before heading over and waiting to get on the fast ferry. We waited with a group of older ladies, with one of them telling us that the ferry wasn't running due to the windy weather. Walking
Fast ferry
The ferry we were meant to catch. over to the ferry and asking confirmed the cancellation of the ferry due to strong winds. We were told the next ferry wouldn't leave until 7.30 the next morning. Our bubble had burst.
We went to the ticket office of the fast ferry and it was confirmed that the next ferry wouldn't leave until tomorrow morning. I decided to ring the guy from Adrianos Travel for advice, and to see if he could contact our hotel on Mykonos to tell them about our delay.
It was easy enough to get a phone card, but for some reason the public phones weren't working. After a fair bit of stuffing around the guy we bought the phone card off let us use his phone. The guy at Adrianos Travel was really helpful again and directed us to catch a slow ferry to Mykonos, and to ring him from Santorini, where he would organise to reimburse us.
The slow ferry didn't leave until 19.45, so we had a few hours to kill. We perched in a little bar/cafe and sampled some of their drinks. I had an Irish beer called Macfarland which was really nice, and it is a Red beer whatever that
means. Beck tried some Greek red wine, and I had some fire water or ouzo. There was a time not that long ago when I couldn't drink ouzo at all, and here I was drinking it straight, but it's safe to say it wont be a common occurrence in the future! We sat in the little bar for a couple of hours, and they kept bringing us little snacks; chips, bread, cheese, olives, etc. It was really good and cheap.
Before we got on the ferry we thought we'd chase up some dinner. So we headed up the street for yet another gyros. Really good again. Returning to catch the ferry we were greeted with a scene of absolute chaos. People and cars trying to get on the ferry against the wave of cars, trucks and people trying to get off. There was traffic police blowing whistles and directing traffic, but it was hard work. We were nice and relaxed so we thought it was quite funny to watch the unfolding pandemonium. We probably should have joined in though because all the good seats on the ferry were snapped up. This left us on the top deck, although we found
Irish beer in Greece
Waiting for our ferry patiently! ok seats out of the wind. At the back of the ferry there was a view of the sun going down behind the pollution, so much so it looked like the moon.
The ferry didn't leave on time, and we tried to read/write on the top deck, and our comfort levels were helped with a hot chocolate. There was a stop at an island before Mykonos, and when people got off we managed to grab some comfier seats. By now it was getting quite late, and it was passed the time we were meant to have docked at Mykonos. Beck managed to get a little bit of sleep in which was good.
The ferry stopped, and I woke Beck up so we could join the procession of people filing off. Outside we were met by domati owners offering us their hotels, and they left us alone when we said we had booked accommodation. The domati owners were thinning out the further we got from the ferry, and I still couldn't see any sign being help up saying Hotel Marios. Finally one of the domati owners asked me what town our hotel was in. I replied Mykonos Town, and he told us to quickly get back on the ferry, as this island wasn't Mykonos!
We luckily managed to get back on the ferry, and after about another half an hour we were in Mykonos.
At Mykonos there was no one waiting, but a rival domati owner gave us directions, and when we got closer a guy from a restaurant kept us on track, and we managed to navigate the narrow and windy streets to Hotel Marios. The lady apologised for not meeting us, showed us our room where we duly crashed to sleep.
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