Cross-Country Greek Journey

The day was a stressful one. I woke up not knowing where I was going to be spending the night; I had some idea that it would be Greece, but other than this I was lost. I had stupidly left all my arranging until the previous day, forgetting it was a Sunday and that all the places selling ferry tickets would be closed. Therefore, I had to get up early to confirm that my preferred route was possible, buy ferry and train tickets and notify my accommodation that I was going to arrive in the middle of the night. Fortunately, everything worked out alright; someone must have been placating Metra, the little known Greek goddess of public transport, on my behalf.

I had to get a train from Athens to Patra, which was fairly uneventful excluding a frantic 15 seconds at the station as two trains pulled in next to each other at exactly 12.06, the specified time for my departure. And then there was the fact that I had to change, having not been notified by the unhelpful and grumpy gentleman at the ticket office. Other than this, however, it all ran smoothly. In Patra, I went to a cafe with two college freshmen from Colorado who I had met on the train, and sat there talking for the greater part of the afternoon.

The ferry was a nice one - no restaurant and no WiFi, but it was less than three hours. On it I met a group of Kefalonian school students, who began the conversation, as is the norm I have found, with 'what football team do you support?' Within minutes there were nearly twenty crowded round me. What was my starsign? What did I think of the Greek entry to the Eurovision song contest? Did I know Zac Effron? And so it continued. Whilst I enjoyed talking to some authentic Greek islanders, especially getting the chance to actually meet a 'Iannis' from Kefalonia, and learning some Greek phrases, I was so tired that I couldn't help but be a little relieved when the ferry arrived and I could clamber into a taxi.

Cross-Country Greek Journey

Patrai, Greece