Sailing for Adventure

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Wednesday April 2 - 3 - Italy to Greece
April 2 and 3 were very long days. I arrived in Bari and made my way down to the docks and got a place on the boat to Patras, Greece without a hitch. I needed to get out more money and had about 4 hours to waste, so I headed back into town to find an ATM or Bankomat as they are called in Italy. I found one about 15 minutes later, stuck my card in and waited. It didn't come back out. Neither did any money. I am nearing panic mode after I have hit every button on the machine and both prayed that my card will come out and cursed at the machine. Neither one seemed to help. Willing myself to calm, I walk around to the bank. Closed. I walk around the next corner and find some people. I must look very panicked, because a man comes up to me and asks if anything is wrong. Unfortunately he doesn't speak much more English than that. Through gestures and speaking slowly, I managed to convey that the Bankomat had eaten my debit card. After saying this I realized that "eaten" is probably not used to describe what a machine does to one's card. Anyway, he showed me that the bank would be open at 2:30. Great, 40 more minutes of stress and wondering who I should call first if I can't get my card back. After the most agonizing 40 minutes of my trip so far, I entered the bank and made my way up to the counter. I asked if he spoke English. My answer, of course was, "A little." Well, a little is better than none. So once again I repeat my story. He laughs when I say that the machine ate my card. I, however, do not find it funny. So, he leaves and 5 minutes later comes back with 2 cards. Then he asks for ID. ID is the one thing that I have in abundance. After showing him 2 of my 5, my card is back in my hands, and a very relieved Erin can continue on her journey.
The boat wasn't that exciting. The two things that kept running through my head were the song Sailing for adventure from Muppet Treasure Island and the quote from Titanic about life boats. The Muppet Treasure Island one was more preferable if only because it didn't involve anything sinking. The ship was really nice, but as I am cheap and didn't want to pay extra - with my rail pass I basically got to ride for free - I didn't have a bed. I got to sleep in the lounge which was open all night. This meant music and lights and people talking and smoking all night. The smoking was the worst. Suffice it to say, I didn't get much sleep. So, noon the next day I board a bus and hit the road to Athens. It was a long ride, not very enjoyable. We watched a Lonely Planet video on traveling in Vietnam - I thought that was a bit odd. We arrived in Athens later than I expected and were just dropped off on a random street - or so I thought at the time; later I learned it was right next to the Parliament building. Anyway, I made my way to the train station only to discover that the next train to Thessaloníki - where I was meeting Kia and her boyfriend James - didn't leave until 7:30. So I spent some quality time in the train station. The train ride itself was long and I had trouble sleeping as this man who sat in front of me kept wanting to discuss the upcoming election. Finally, at midnight, we arrived and I grabbed a taxi to my hotel, got in a very small elevator, and reached Kia and James. I have never been so happy to see native English speakers in my life.

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