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Published: June 20th 2009
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Got the ferry to Mykonos at 7am. Seemed like chaos when we arrived into the port. People everywhere approaching you to stay in their hotel. Took a little while to get a taxi, as no signs or any semblance of a queuing system in place!
Arrived in our
confirmed hotel; Staff looked suspect to see us and kinda didn't talk with us when we announced our names. Something was up here! The manager politely informed us that the hotel was not the €19 which I had managed to book it for online, but rather €190 at the luxury end of the market. Negotiation skills to the fore again! Truth be told, I had kinda guessed it was a mistake when I booked it... but I knew my rights or so I thought! i.e. that the price advertised; was the price the service had to be offered at. Well that might work at home in your local night club, but not in an exclusive hotel in the Greek Islands. Our BATNA (Best Alternative To an Negotiated Argument) was to look shell-shocked and really poor, which wasn't hard since we were probably the first people ever to arrive in this hotel with
San Marco
A room with a view backpacks! I think the manager felt sorry for us and was concerned that perhaps we couldn't afford the taxi fare back to town, so he let us stay for a very reasonable price; which we are sworn to secrecy on of course 😊
The following day was a relaxing day; two paste-y white milk bottles lying by the side of the pool in 40' degree heat, sun-bathing, reading & gulping down water by the litre. The Greek hostess, who had spent many years waitressing in Chicago, (which was the reason for her really strange twang...calling people 'hun' and being prone to pouring lots of 'Cowa-offiii') let us know in no uncertain terms who was in charge here and who was not! We hadn't a care in the world until she informed me that I should really come out of the sun or put up an umbrella. Having never been sunburnt before and normally taking to the sun like a duck to water, I 'noted' her comment rather than acting upon it. 5 Hours later I had managed to burn my ears, feet, back, hands and my head (which I had shaved the week before). I had never seen anyone
Fashion weekly
Another hectic day! manage to burn their ears before so this was a new one for me ....
After spending a couple of days here having cake and fine wine we decided to head on to the island of Santorini for a gawk. We had been told there was a high speed ferry which would take us there in 3 hrs.
Got ferry to Santorini on the Friday and arrived that evening about 7pm. Similar to Mykonos, the port was chaotic and there were so many locals there trying to sell you a room. Luckily we managed to find our Hostel owner, who thankfully drove us to the hostel on the other side of the island. The room was probably the worst room in the entire hostel and a bit of a let down after coming from San Marco in Mykonos. We got some food in God's Garden restaurant which was fabulous and wandered about for a while to get our bearings.
The following morning we decided to stay on in the same hostel but luckily we got to change rooms and moved to the penthouse suite (sic) probably the best room in the hostel. The son of the hostel
owner had a Quad Bike shop next store so we rented a quad bike from him for 48hrs and drove about the island which is about 30 km long.
We headed off to the Red Beach and managed to break the quad bike... and had to ring the guys assistant from Armenia to come out and help us start it again. He didn't seen overly concerned and it appeared to be the highlight of his day.
Santorini is a fabulous place and the scenery is really awe inspiring. Picture postcard stuff here. We spend most of the day just exploring the island and taking in the surroundings.
That night we just spent some time in the internet cafe sorting out where to go next and trying to book accommodation ahead. Istanbul looked promising but it seemed a journey away. 7.5hr ferry ride to Athens, 6 hr train to top of Greece and 12h overnight train to Turkey. Anyway we took the plunge and went for it!
The following night hotel owner John drove us back to the ferry port after some persuasion which was handy. We boarded the night ferry at 10pm and headed onwards with
our travels.
Some Triva
- Did you know that there are over 900 Greek Islands to choose from.
- Many beaches in Santorini have black sand
- The rules are the opposite to Ireland in Santorini for quad biking. Here quad bikes are legal only on the road and not off-road!
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