One of the most fun and maddening things you can do while in Greece is travel to the islands by boat. I mean by public transit type of boat. They're crowded, slow, noisy and often not particularly clean. But you get the most spectacular views and if you're on the slow lines, you get to dock at several islands before you reach your destination.
The arrival and departure, at whatever hour, is an event to be savored. People and trucks disgorging at exactly the same time as people and trucks are trying to get on. If you're already on deck, well, it's quite the people-watching adventure. If you're on ground zero, it's quite another adventure all together. That's when you learn to use even your soft-shelled suitcase as a weapon of mass destruction in the mad dash up the stairs. If you don't have a cabin, which I rarely do, then the object of the game is to get to the cherry spot under the stairs so that you have some measure of space, privacy and dimness for a moderately restful sleep.
People who travel with friends or family have elaborate plans for getting to the spot of choice. If they've traveled on that ferry before and know the lay of the land, you can see them giving hand-eye signals the minute the barge is lowered as they get into fight positions. It's quite an event. I've come away having given and acquired bruises on more than one occasion. A screaming match is absolutely required, complete with hand gestures and bystanders. Which is often a trick to get people to look the other way while other members of your party jump ahead, over young and old alike. Take no prisoners, show no mercy. I miss those days. I'm hoping I'll be able to treat my friends to some of these events. They're there for the people as much as for the beaches, so I feel it my duty and part of the hospitality owed to strangers by the natives.
But back to my planning. I've had my dad mobilized for a month or so now trying to find the latest information on ferry schedules and itineraries. Apparently they aren't posted. Still. Tourist season started earlier this month and, apparently, no one has any idea how to get from one place to another if it involves a boat. Yippee. So here we are, the three of us with all our hotels booked from Athens to Santorini to Crete, but not really sure if/when we'll make it to each destination. Luckily, the prospect of being stranded on Santorini, or Crete isn't such a horrible thing to contemplate, even though we'll get it all figured out in the end. Who said traveling on the beaten path had lost its edge? Let the games begin.
Six days and counting.
3 comments:
Wow! I totally missed out on that experience... hand signals? I can't wait to hear your stories!
Sounds like "Bum Fights", except it's the majority of the population. What's next, a stabbing due to a disagreement over a wandering goat? Grandmothers kicking you in the shin because you shaded their sun? Sounds like a harmonious paradise!
Just kidding of course; am sitting here feeling much envy, and will be checking the blog often. You three are gonna tear the place up!
Let's just say, Ouzo Fountain, that I've seen you in action in crowed settings and you could easily play the game. I wouldn't get too haughty if I were you, goats or not.
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