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Published: October 16th 2008
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Heading for the Hotel Isole 7am
Gord finally got to see Socrates St without all the shops and confusion. We've never checked into a hotel in the day time for a 5 hour stay....felt kinda illicit!!! Attempting to catch the *&$%# Ferry to Crete
“I tell you no take the feddy, the feddies here is sheet.”
From Louisa, the morning after the night from hell.
It’s not like we weren’t warned…every reference by locals to our taking the ferry to Crete was accompanied by a smirk and “eef the boat show up…” I have restrained myself from editing my last blog in hindsight, where I wrote about being so excited about our Grand Adventure!
We arrived back in Old Town around 7 and headed for our fav little place the Walk Inn for a shared plate of Pasta Carbonara and Greek Salad. I posted only one blog and decided it was much more interesting to chat with the barkeep Sophia than send another blog to you! Gord had departed to deliver our rental car to its 9pm drop off at the port.
We had been told by the car rental person that there was a cafeteria and a place to store our luggage while we waited to board the ferry. I walked over to the port around 10 to find Gord sitting in the rental car. Turns out not only is
Dinner at the Walk Inn
We were so glad to get back here one last time! there no cafeteria and luggage storage place, there is no Ferry either! Gord asked the port authority guy where the ferry is we get on and was told it hadn’t arrived yet, it would be 6 hours late due to bad weather but should arrive at 4 a.m. Well…a bit of a set back, but no matter, it’s all part of the adventure we thought. We walked around the port a while, leaving our luggage in the car, assuming now that it wouldn’t be picked up until morning. We saw a beautiful tall ship called the Wind Spirit, and various Cruise Ships and ferries that go to Turkey. We found out where our ferry would dock when it arrived…so we were all set.
There was an outdoor seating area beside the closed “waiting area snack bar” and since it was a nice evening we sat outside for a bit, sorting pictures and writing in our journal. (I don’t think I have mentioned that I left my journal on Don’s desk back at the Chios Rooms. I had torn a few pages out of it to leave notes for Don and our French friends and left it there. It
waiting for our boat to come in
Whenwe still thought we had only 6 hours to wait! is on its way to Canada now, so we’ll see who arrives first. Had all the address’s in it for when I ya’ll postcards! I now do my journaling back to front in Gord book.) We even found public bathrooms or WC’s (water closets) close by, which we were pretty happy about since such things are rare here. I was particularly happy because I had been drinking water like crazy all day; think all that sea bathing had dehydrated me. Round about midnight a gal roared up on her scooter and went to use the WC, or so I thought. She actually was there to lock them up as I found out on my next restroom break!
We decided we would stretch out in the car as best we could and get some sleep. We tried to call the number on our rental agreement to keep the car for another day since it was now our hotel, but there was no answer. Just to be safe, Gord went back to the port authority office to double check on the ferry. Apparently the port authority guy likes to dole out bad news in small pieces…the ferry would be arriving
Iraklio here we come!
Prettiest sight I've seen for a while! at 4 am, but the Wednesday crossing was cancelled! We would now be departing Thursday at 4am. Gord asked, are you sure? He said, “Of course… my brother have same ticket you.”
I’m sure everyone has had experiences like this when things are going from bad to worse, it’s late, you’re tired and your world starts to take on an unreal quality and you become almost giddy. We sat in the car for a while and tried to figure out what to do. Came up with an idea to call the airlines and see about getting a flight (a positive thing, there were lots and lots of phone booths around.) Tried local numbers, no answer, tried the 800 number, call blocked! So we called Gord’s sister Ronnie who is a Travel Agent in Hamilton to see if she could get us flights for Wed to Iraklio, Crete. By now it’s 1230am. Found out later that it took Ronnie multiple calls to find out the Airport code of Iraklio because in Canada it’s spelled Hiraklio. Flight idea did not pan out based on info from Canada, but thanks for trying to help Ronnie!.
Around 130 we finally
settled down to sleep in the Hotel Hyundai. Just got all comfy when there was a big crack of thunder and it started to rain. We laughed hysterically. We could hardly wait to see what would happen next on this, our Grand Adventure!
Heard a bunch of cars and buses at 330 and went over to see that our ferry had indeed arrived, ½ hr early even…things were looking up! We were under the delusion that we could still get into our cabin, maybe in the morning after they cleaned the ferry. Ha…ferry guy told Gord we could get on at midnight. We decided we would call Louisa who we knew arrived at her hotel around 7 am to set up for breakfast, and throw ourselves on her mercy for a room for the day. Then it was back to Hotel Hyundai for a bit more sleep(?).
Woke up and called Louisa just before 7 and met her at Hotel Isole where she very kindly made up a room (full house except for this one) conveniently vacated by people catching a ferry to Turkey. You already know what she had to say. I don’t think a bed ever felt so good! Already the whole night from hell was starting to fade a little and we were smiling, just a little, about it. I slept till around noon then trotted over to the travel agency to confirm the ferry info and see if we needed new tickets. He was gracious enough not to say I told you so, tho he did grin a little when he saw me walk in, and gave me an alka selzer like fizzy thing for my headache!!. I suddenly had the bright idea to check for flight info here, on the ground so to speak, and found out we could be on our way to Crete in about 2 hours. I roared back to the Hotel to wake my poor weary husband and we quickly packed our stuff and ran for a taxi.
We arrived in Iraklio, central Crete, 330. Everything has gone incredibly smooth so far. Picked up our car, another silver Hyundai Atos, found our way out of Iraklio and headed south to where we are now in Matala. We had planned to ferry to Sitia which is Eastern Crete, so will leave that part of the Island for our next trip. So far we have stayed mainly on the east sides of Islands…now we plan to keep heading westward slowly until we get to Hania (Chania) where we fly back to Athens from on 23 Oct. Time for my yogurt, honey and walnuts, then my walk! The landlady here tells me there is a lovely 25 minute hike to another beach…just up the road and over the hill…that’s where I am heading. Bye for now, B & G (future contenders on the Amazing Race now!)
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Mitch
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The most annoying thing about travelling is the travelling part. I believe I had a couple posts like this on my blog. Trust me, you will look back on these moments very fondly!