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OUR
HANGOVERS were horrendous. I had told Joy that you can drink as much of
this local wine as you want without aftereffects, but I had been wrong!
Still
dizzy I jumped out of bed and threw on some clothes in order to
accompany Helen to the automatic teller at the bank so I could give her
some money to help them over their financial hump.
Afterwards
we took a taxi to Alex’s local TV station for a tour. The "local
news" set was not being used at that moment, so Alex sat us
down and videotaped us in a mock interview, asking us questions about
California and Oregon, the Urantia Book, and having me reminisce about
my time spent in Corinth years earlier. Afterwards Alex presented us with
a copy of the tape. His girlfriend Vera and sister Christina were both
working at the station as videotape editors.
After
a quick meal of chicken and spaghetti back at Krokida 7, Joy and I
packed our bags, said farewell to the Markellos family, and made our way
on foot through the streets of Corinth to the train station. We agreed
that we had way too much baggage—me with my laptop and videotape camera, a
travel coffee pot, breakfast bars
in case we would run out of food (not
even a remote possibility!), too many clothes we would never wear plus
books and papers we would never read.
After
waiting on the platform for an hour watching the ever-entertaining
parade of Greeks going about their daily doings, we caught a train to
Pireaus, the port town south of Athens. We were scheduled to sail on the
“Nissos Kypros” (pictured above), a ferry that would take us on a three-day journey
from Greece to Israel, at 6 p.m. I had spent weeks negotiating for these tickets over the
Internet with a Greek travel agent named Dimitris and we were looking
forward to a restful and interesting three-day cruise, with Cyprus being
a port of call. After Israel we intended to visit Cairo, then Crete and
other Greek islands, ending up in Athens before flying home.
Our original plan was to sail from
Athens Israel via Cyprus, to Egypt, Crete and some other islands, then
back to Athens . . .
Pireaus
was a zoo. Finding a taxi to the boat was a nightmare. When finally we
arrived at the dock where the boat stood waiting for us, we were
casually informed that it would not leave for at least three more days
as there was a customs strike. I flew into an indignant rage but this
did not impress the Greeks, who merely shrugged their shoulders and
shook their heads.
I
tried calling Dimitris, the agent, only to discover he was on Crete and
powerless to change the situation. He advised me to call the shipping
company, who told me to call the agent, who suggested I call the
shipping company, etc. We were spinning our wheels in frustration when
an angel in the form of a taxi driver came along and offered to help us.
“Are
there any boats going anywhere tonight?” we asked.
“There
is only one boat going tonight, to Hania, on Crete,” he replied.
“Then
let’s go there instead!” we agreed.
He
led us to another driver who took us to purchase tickets, and the next
thing we knew we were on an overnight boat in a luxury cabin headed for
Crete. This cost us around $50 each. We wandered around the many decks,
explored all the public rooms where passengers had staked out sleeping
spots, had a drink in the bar and ate moussaka in the
second-class dining room. By 9 p.m. we were
fast asleep with the boat purring along over the water.
*
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CLICK
HERE TO RETURN TO CALENDAR
or
read on by clicking on any of the following
links:
1.
From Los Angeles to Amsterdam
2. The Flight to Greece
3. Ancient
Corinth
4. The
Citadel
5. To Piraeusthis
page
6. Hania on
Crete
7. A
Day in Limbo
8. Back
to Athens
9. From
Athens to Cairo
10. Cairo
11. The Pyramids
12. The Bus to Israel
13. Jerusalem
14. Bethany and Bethpage
15. An Old Palestinian Hotel
16. The Drive to Galilee
17. Capernaum and Environs
18. The Ancient Boat and Nazareth
19. The Golan Heights and Mt. Hermon
20. The Eastern Shore and Scythiopolis
21. Mount of the Beatitudes
22. Ptolemais and Caesarea
23. A Day in Piraeus
24. Santorini
25. A Rainy Day
26. An Eventful Day in Athens
27. Return to Amsterdam
28. Going Home
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