Planes, Trains, and Fines

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I had unsuccessfully tried to get through to Olympic Airlines from our hotel to see if we could switch to an earlier flight out…so it was an early rise to check out the flight situation. We were unable to change the flights over the phone though, and the lady suggested going out to the airport as soon as we could to see what they could do…she was fairly certain our flights could be changed from there.

Thankfully, it was only 8am, so by 9am we were on the train to the airport. After switching trains at the last suburban stop, a ticketing officer asked for our tickets. We dutifully handed over the tickets we had purchased the previous day, which lasted a whole 24 hours, only to find out you had to buy SEPARATE tickets to ride the airport train.

The officer told us that she would have to fine us - 60 Euro EACH!! Can you believe it! We didn’t even realise that we needed the separate tickets - didn’t even think about it. We had to pay there and then, as we weren’t going to be in Oz in twenty days, and didn’t want to be blacklisted or anything, so a good wack of our spending money was already gone.

At the airport, we did manage to get on the earlier flight, as there were around 30 spare seats. The second panic set in when the girl at the ticketing booth said that we only had Israel’s ticket. I told her, ‘That’s all I have - that booklet.’ She kept saying that my ticket wasn’t there, only his, and that we would have to buy all new tickets for me. Finally, she realised that MY tickets were at the back!

Our last disaster of the day happened after arriving in Santorin - we were collecting our luggage, waiting for Izzy’s case, when a little guy stuck his head out of the conveyor belt curtain and said, ‘That’s all.’ We said - no it’s not!! Izzy’s case had been left behind or sent elsewhere, as it was nowhere in sight. So with only the clothes he was wearing, we got into our little shuttle up to Thira, the capital of Santorini.

Leonard, the driver, said that problems like the lost luggage happened ALL the time with Olympic, and that we might not see his case for three days!! I should have listened to all the advice on packing half our clothes in each case, so if one went missing, we would still have some clothes. So we arrived at our destination, one suitcase lighter, but here nonetheless.

Thira is amazing! Our hotel hangs onto a cliff-face and goes down about 8 levels. There are tonnes of little apartments set into the cliff, all looking out onto the Caldera - an inactive volcano. Our cave house is quite large, and we have to go up a very steep spiral staircase to get to our bed…not too many toilet runs through the next few nights.

After a walk through the shops, past the waiting donkeys, which are used to transport people up and down the stairs from the boats, we found Izzy some boardies, and hit the pool The water was bloody freezing, so we only had a quick dip and then caught the afternoon rays - which last till around 6:00pm. Thankfully, Olympic had found our suitcase, and were dropping it back to us that night. Yeah, clean undies for Iz!

As the sun set over the hills on the island in front of our balcony, we relaxed with a few drinks and a plate of cheese and crackers, pinching ourselves every few minutes. Was this real? Were we sitting on a Greek Island, watching the sunset before us? It really was a view too good to be true!

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Photos

Verandah View
The island is a volcano known as the Caldera.