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It was a windy night last night and I kept thinking about the ferry crossing and the waves that the wind might bring. On one of our previous ferry trips in Thailand there were major waves and everyone was getting sea sick. We hope that won't be the case tonight.
It is a kind of odd departure for us today as we don't have to be up especially early. Our taxi is coming around 11 and we have done most of the packing already. As we our having our final morning coffee here, the sky clears us, but then shortly after it blackens again on the side closest the mountains. Finally, just as we are starting to carry our bags down to the main floor, we start seeing lightening and hearing thunder, followed by a heavy pelting of small hail stones. We have to wait a while until the taxi comes down the drive and stops right in front of the entranceway making it easier to get the bags loaded without getting everything soaked.
As we head up the coast, the sea looks sort of strange with the water a much lighter blue than the black sky. It seems
a much quicker journey in the taxi than by bus and we are quickly at the marina in Lefkada where the bus station is located. I am always a bit concerned when our journey involves more than one connection, but we get the bus tickets without any problem. The first leg is a 3 hr bus ride to a town called Rio where we have been told we can catch another bus for a ½ trip to the port of Patras.
The reason we had to take a taxi to Lefkada is that today is a national holiday and the local buses don't run. As we have arrived early we have some time to kill and watch some of the Independence day parades on the bus terminal TV before our bus arrives. On our way out of town we pass the local parade before turning onto the causeway and draw bridge which link the island of Lefkada with the mainland.
On mainland Greece, the bus takes a route along the shoreline curving in and out of little bays and towns, rising to spectacular heights in between with a view far into the distance. In the high hills we
pass olive trees and sheep before dropping back down to the next small seaside town.
By about 1:30 in the afternoon we have moved inland and the land is flatter with larger farms and the mountains off in the distance. By about 2:30 we there is inch deep slushy snow at the side of the road, despite the outside temperature of 10 degrees Celsius. Another 15 minutes later, and we have reached the mountains again and are following the edge of sheer cliffs with a 100 meter drop off the the ocean on one side of the bus. The bus eventually drops back down closer to sea level and we stop for a rest break within sight of a large modern cable bridge leading to the Patras side of this inlet. After a few more minutes we reach a junction of two highways that we are told is Rio. We quickly unload our bags from the hold and watch as the bus heads off for Athens.
I had pictured some sort of a bus terminal here, but instead there doesn't seem to be any indication of how to get to the port. We asks and are told that
the bus for the port stops across the highway, so we wheel our stuff across.
It is a bit confusing which bus to take, but one driver indicates that he goes to the port so we load everything aboard. Unfortunately, he doesn't sell the tickets about but makes some indication that we can pay somewhere else. Despite that fact that we have been told that this junction is 20 - 30 min from the port, the bus takes us in the opposite direction, all the way through town, and then back. Time is ticking away as we have been told we should pick up our tickets at least 1 ½ hours before the departure. Finally we reach the port area and the driver indicates that this is our stop. He doesn't seem too concerned with making us pay and as we are running out of time I don't ask.
Where we have got off turns out to be across the street from the train station in the port area. We hurriedly wheel our bags across the road and manage to show a policeman our tickets and ask where terminal 5 is. He indicates a large modern glass building, about
½ km away down the shoreline. With time ticking away, we struggle to wheel all our bags to the distant terminal.
The terminal is a very modern building, and we quickly find our ship line kiosk. At first they can't find our reservation, but then I show them the information that I have and they find the correct reservation number.
We get our tickets and find out our boat is a few hundred meters back up the shoreline from the direction we just came, though on the other side of the shoreline fence. Though the boat doesn't leave for nearly 1 ½ hours, we decide to board now so we can finally settle in. At the ferry there is a brief passport check before we board.
The ferry is more like a cruise ship with an escalator to carry you up as you board and a hotel like lobby with a large spiral staircase leading up and down to the other levels. Our room is small but functional. As most of this voyage will be overnight, we have picked an inside cabin, though I think we sort of regret not having the view, now that we see
it.
With our cabin set up, we now set off to explore the ship. Joshua is keen to find the swimming pool, but not surprisingly it turns out to be outside on the deck and empty of water in this spring season. We settle in toward the stern deck watching departure procedures as really black clouds build up over the town of Patras. A tug boat arrives and the boat is towed away from the dock and towards the breakwater before departing under its own power.
Joshua and Benjamin head back to the cabin. Evy and I go up the the top level bar and have a glass of wine while the boat steams out of the inlet. While we are there, the TV show “House” comes on the large screen TV and we call the kids up to watch at one of the tables. It is a bit of strange version of the family living room.
We have brought some food with us, but the cafeteria turns out to be not too expensive (though still pricey compared to a mainland restaurant) and so we have dinner there rather than face sandwiches again.
After dinner, I
got went back up to the lounge where the movie “ A Beautiful Mind” is playing on the TV. By now the ship has cleared the inlet and the waves are rocking the boat, with glasses in the bar going flying every now and then.
Sleeping on a moving boat always seems to be a rather strange experience as you a continually rocked back an forth. The movement and actions of the boat seem to seep into your dreams. I vaguely aware of us stopping for some time in the port at Igoumenitsa in the early morning hours.
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