Driving in Greece
was a real pleasure after our previous troubles – the motorways
were pretty much empty until we got close to Athens. The only
downside – which may also have been the source of the benefit –
was the tolls, which we seemed to have to pay every hour or so. They
weren't extortionate – a few euros at a time – but arrived with
such regularity that they quickly added up. In contrast to our
experience with French toll collectors, the Greeks were almost
uniformly grumpy, stubbornly resisting my attempts to get a smile out
of them.
Like yesterday, we
picked a town pretty much at random to pull off the motorway for
lunch. This time, we weren't as lucky with the lunch options and
wandered for a while around the central square looking for somewhere
to eat. Eventually, we found a bakery, where the woman behind the
counter called over a guy who was doing some building work on the
shop next door to translate for us.
We ate in the town
square and then went for a coffee. In general, the coffee has been
pretty good in Greece, but is expensive compared to France. The
standard price for an espresso seems to be two euros, but it often
comes with a free bottle of water.
After lunch, we
drove into the outskirts of Athens, all craning our necks for a sight
of the Acropolis. As we neared the port, Piraeus, the traffic became
increasingly chaotic, which worked in our favour as we didn't really
know where we were going and had to make some rapid unscheduled
lane-traverses. But we did eventually reach the ticket office, bought
what we needed and then went for a walk into Piraeus itself, where we
grabbed some bread and a rotisserie chicken for dinner on the
four-and-a-bit-hour crossing and had another coffee.
Unfortunately, our
ferry was right on the other side of the port, and after buying the
tickets, we had driven out one of the exits. Not wanting to re-enter
the traffic maelstrom of the outside world, we looped back in and
then drove the wrong way down the marked lanes until we reached the
area where the taxis were parked, at which point we were able to
start driving legally again. We then proceeded to get lost in the
port and thanked our lucky stars that we had plenty of time to spare.
On the way, I joked
that it would be nice if they just let us on the ferry – it was
still a few hours before sailing time – and lo and behold, when we
got there, they did exactly that! Without the car, however, so after
staking out a nice spot with a couch and few chairs, we sat and
fretted over when to go down and drive it on. All went smoothly,
however, and with the car safely stowed, we ate some dinner and then
Kate lay down for a bit of a nap.
When we arrived on
Syros, a little before 11pm, Sally was a bit disoriented, but I eventually set her right.
We called Jacky, whose house we would be staying in for the next
month, and then drove over the top of the island towards the little
settlement of Kini. Following a combination of Jacky's and Sally's
directions, we found the mermaid fountain where we were due to meet
Jacky and a few minutes later, we finally met the woman with whom we
had been corresponding for the past few months – a very cheerful,
friendly Englishwoman with a passion for cats.
We followed her in
convoy to her house and then, with the girls safely tucked up in bed,
the three of us sat up for an hour or two, drinking tea, chatting and
patting cats.
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