Surprisingly, we made it onto our ferry from Bari, Italy to Patras, Greece. For about a month, we've been saying that we really have to figure out these ferry reservations. It just so happens that it works out when you wait until an hour before the ferry boards to buy your tickets.Lucky us. :)
We are now relaxing on our deck seats, playing Rummy while we wait to sail towards paradise. We both didn't really know what to expect of the ferry, but it definitely impressed both of us. It's a lot bigger than I thought it would be and there's even a swimming pool and full scale restaurant on our deck. I'm crossing my fingers that I still don't get sea sick.
***
We spent the rest of the night playing Rummy and listening to music at our table on the deck and tried (rather unsuccessfully) to fall asleep amidst all the laughter of loud Italian and Greek families on board. It was actually really nice to hear so much laughter. It seemed that everyone on board was really excited to be with the ones they loved on holiday.
It was a tad chilly on deck, but we did our best to layer on some clothes and squeeze onto the seats to catch a couple hours of zzzz's.
The next morning, we awoke in time for the sunrise, which is a spectacular experience when you're in the middle of the ocean. I tried to pick out my favorite shots for you to see. :)
The rest of the morning on the ferry was spent soaking up some rays on the pool deck before we landed in Patras at 11:45 am. We got off the ferry and found our way to the port offices to purchase tickets for the ferries to the Greek islands. As usual, we headed to the information desk to inquire about directions. Brent politely asked how to get to the train station and mentioned that we saw what we thought was a free bus to the station as we made our way over to the offices from the ferry.
"How often do the buses come around," Brent asked.
"Well, hmm, ya know, it's a Greek thing." was the man's casual reply.
We needed no further explanation. And we decided from that moment (after the man kindly informed us to just follow the train tracks till we hit the station about a 1/4 mile up) that we liked the casual friendly attitude of the Greeks.
We soon happily discovered that the train from Patras to Athens was free with our Eurail Pass. What a novel idea! (It's been quite frustrating with all the booking and reservation fees we've had to cough up in Spain and Italy.)
Before hopping on the train, Brent had his first taste of an authentic Greek gyro. I think his tail was wagging. Give Brent a gyro and he's a happy man. :)
On par with the "it's a Greek thing" mantra, our train showed up over ten minutes late. This would NEVER happen in Spain or Italy. We soon found our why these Greek trains become exponentially tardy throughout the day....
We had to make one change before we got to Athens at a station called Kyato. Even though the man at the Patras stationed assured us that "everyone changes there...you'll see where to go", we didn't really know which train to hop on. While frantically running under the platform to get to our train on the other side of the tracks, we heard the oh-so familiar warning bells that the train doors were closing and the train was about to depart. We fell back in stride a bit, but when we reached the platform, we saw that the train had not yet departed. We ran again towards the one remaining open door, that closed right as we reached it, but it easily opened up again with the push of a button as a man working on the train motioned to the conductor to wait for us to get on. Thinking we got in by the skin of our teeth as the train lurched forward, we felt the train brake again as we saw a couple frantically run towards the train doors to be let on.
The doors opened once again for the couple and they walked right in. No wonder the trains are always late. "Oh hold on...one more person" is the casual (yet not so timely) atmosphere around here in Greece.
We love it.
It was a tad chilly on deck, but we did our best to layer on some clothes and squeeze onto the seats to catch a couple hours of zzzz's.
The next morning, we awoke in time for the sunrise, which is a spectacular experience when you're in the middle of the ocean. I tried to pick out my favorite shots for you to see. :)
The rest of the morning on the ferry was spent soaking up some rays on the pool deck before we landed in Patras at 11:45 am. We got off the ferry and found our way to the port offices to purchase tickets for the ferries to the Greek islands. As usual, we headed to the information desk to inquire about directions. Brent politely asked how to get to the train station and mentioned that we saw what we thought was a free bus to the station as we made our way over to the offices from the ferry.
"How often do the buses come around," Brent asked.
"Well, hmm, ya know, it's a Greek thing." was the man's casual reply.
We needed no further explanation. And we decided from that moment (after the man kindly informed us to just follow the train tracks till we hit the station about a 1/4 mile up) that we liked the casual friendly attitude of the Greeks.
We soon happily discovered that the train from Patras to Athens was free with our Eurail Pass. What a novel idea! (It's been quite frustrating with all the booking and reservation fees we've had to cough up in Spain and Italy.)
Before hopping on the train, Brent had his first taste of an authentic Greek gyro. I think his tail was wagging. Give Brent a gyro and he's a happy man. :)
On par with the "it's a Greek thing" mantra, our train showed up over ten minutes late. This would NEVER happen in Spain or Italy. We soon found our why these Greek trains become exponentially tardy throughout the day....
We had to make one change before we got to Athens at a station called Kyato. Even though the man at the Patras stationed assured us that "everyone changes there...you'll see where to go", we didn't really know which train to hop on. While frantically running under the platform to get to our train on the other side of the tracks, we heard the oh-so familiar warning bells that the train doors were closing and the train was about to depart. We fell back in stride a bit, but when we reached the platform, we saw that the train had not yet departed. We ran again towards the one remaining open door, that closed right as we reached it, but it easily opened up again with the push of a button as a man working on the train motioned to the conductor to wait for us to get on. Thinking we got in by the skin of our teeth as the train lurched forward, we felt the train brake again as we saw a couple frantically run towards the train doors to be let on.
The doors opened once again for the couple and they walked right in. No wonder the trains are always late. "Oh hold on...one more person" is the casual (yet not so timely) atmosphere around here in Greece.
We love it.
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