I
took a "Eurostar" train from Rome to the ferry
port of Bari. I had to pay an $11 supplement to my Eurorail
pass for the privilege. There was nothing Eurostar about
this train - slow and many stops.
After
finally arriving at Bari, while waiting for the bus to the
docks, I met two Koreans and a Chinese guy named Jack. The
bus driver from the train station to the port dropped us
off at the ship not knowing we had to buy tickets so we
all had to trudge back about 500 meters along the pier to
the ferry office. After that, we had about two hours before
departure and Jack and I set off to find something to eat
in town - no luck, it was Sunday and everything was closed.
I had a two reheated dishes of spaghetti at the port office
snack bar and watched the sunset from the balcony.
After
the lousy experience of the night train to Paris, I was
not looking forward to this overnight ferry travel to Greece.
When we got one board and I saw the dorm bunks I could use
for free and I decided to upgrade to a cabin. I was glad
I did. I had a two bunk cabin to myself and a good night's
sleep.
We
arrived at the Greece port of Patras the next day about
noon with one minute to walk a quarter mile to the train
station to catch the next train to Athens. When I got to
the station the electronic sign at the station was flashing
the train's name and departure time but there was no train
on the track under the sign - only one sitting one track
over. I should have known from the size of the town and
the station that if there was ANY train sitting at the station
on ANY track about the time one was to be there that it
was the one.... but I didn't and didn't ask and let it go.
My first and only train catching mistake. The next train
was in two hours.
Jack
and the Koreans and some Japanese girls showed up and Jack
and I decided to go get something to eat.
The
train to Athens was the worst looking train I've see so
far. Five cars long, dirty bathrooms, no non-smoking sections,
no first class. On top of that... Jack and I got kicked
out of the seats we had chosen (twice) because people had
reservations. Finally we found unclaimed seats and settled
in for the 5 hour ride. This train moved slow and every
so often it would have to pull off to the side to let another
train go by in the opposite direction.
About
halfway there the train started filling up. Pretty soon
most seats were taken. Jack was sitting in the of seat opposite
and facing me and there were two young Greek women sitting
next to us. Across the isle and on my side was a young couple
about 27 years old. Facing them was another young man and
an old woman.
The
train was running a half hour late by now and we were still
making stops. At one point the guy across the isle (part
of the couple) made some remark to the other young guy across
from him and they both started laughing and looking at Jack.
Jack just smiled back. This continued for the next half
hour. I could not tell for sure but I thought they were
making fun of him and this was an instance of racism I had
read about in the guidebooks (though I'd expect this in
Germany or somewhere north and not against an obviously
Asian tourist). The strongest indication that they were
making fun of Jack was the snickering of the young man sitting
opposite the "couple guy".
The
"couple guy" had also been speaking off and on
to the two women sitting with Jack and I. We also found
that one of these women spoke a little english. At one point
the communication barrier was broken when the young Greek
woman began translating for the "couple guy".
She said that this guy admired Jack and wanted to know about
him. Turns out Jack's last name was Chen and this was close
enough to Chan and Jack looked enough like Jackie Chan to
excite the "couple guy" who said he wanted to
be Jack's friend. The conversation continued with the young
Greek woman translating. Jack gave information about himself
and the couple guy responded and suggested places to stay
and visit in Athens as well as dishes to eat. All the while
the "couple guy", and more so, the guy sitting
across from him, laughed and in a way that was not reassuring.
I
didn't think the two women sitting next to Jack and I were
anything to worry about - they seemed to genuinely be interested
and care about Jack. But the "couple guy" and
the other guy, I was worried about. If they should offer
Jack a place to stay, I would want to try to get my concerns
to Jack discreetly. From were he was sitting, Jack couldn't
see the way the one guy laughed and even if he could I wondered
if he could interpret the type of laughter.
Meanwhile
the train still lagged. An hour late by now. We would be
arriving at 9 PM or later - way past dark. Turns out the
couple left before we reached Athens. After they left, one
of the young Greek women spoke in a voice soft and low to
the other and kept glancing over towards the "laughing"
guy to make sure he wasn't listening (and he was trying).
I could only interpret this to mean that my assumptions
about the derision and attitudes of the two young men were
right and the women shared them.
Later
after reaching Athens and walking about seven blocks to
the hostel, Jack and I went out to find some dinner and
I shared my concerns with him. He too, had reservations
about the "friendship" he had struck up with the
"couple guy".
The
hostel in Athens was no great shakes, but it was only $8
a night and had internet access and was on a quiet street
- though not such a great neighborhood. Actually, much of
Athens is pretty disgusting - not much old town, dirty streets,
haphazard construction everywhere. And, aside from a couple
museums (that I declined to bother to see), the only two
things to see are the Acropolis and the ruins of the ancient
Angora just below and north of the Acropolis. I bought a
$12 pass with multiple stubs to visit up to seven sights
and ended up only visiting three.
The
second day I went back and visited the ancient Angora area
again because there was a bench in there next to a very
well preserved temple
that had an excellent view of the Parthenon atop the Acropolis.
The Agora also had a newly built full size replica a long
hall building. On the west side of this building down a
long open double columned causeway, at the very end, was
a modern water fountain next to the men's room that had
the coldest most refreshing water I tasted on this trip.
The walk down this causeway, as the sun set, going from
sunlight to column shadow to sunlight, was mesmerizing....and
well worth the several times in two days that I made the
journey to the water fountain. I tried to use one of the
remaining stubs to get into the Acropolis area again for
sunset the second day, but they were wise to me and I had
to watch the sunset again on the hill just west of the Acropolis
entrance with the rest of the twenty-five or so, low rent
crowd.
The
next day I had to make an 8:30 ferry to the island of Naxos.
I almost missed it because my watch alarm did not wake me
even though I tied it around my neck (close to my ear) with
an elastic cord. This was the best I could come up with
to get it close enough to wake me. I had noticed many times
before that it would not be loud enough to wake me when
sleeping in hostels when I was wearing the requisite ear
plugs to muffle the sound of my roommates. Other than forgetting
that finger and toenails grow and that I'd need something
to cut them, the watch was the only gear mistake I made.
Everything else I packed was everything I would have wanted
to pack.
Anyway....
I made the Naxos ferry, even as I was having reservations
about leaving Athens that day as I had a few outstanding
trip business things to take care of by email and I wondered
if there was an internet connection on the island. Not that
Athens was so great - internet wise. Other than two machines
at the hostel, I saw only one real internet cafe in two
days - though I did come across a bar called Cafe Internet
and Joe's Internet Cafe - neither of which had a computer
inside.
After
a six hour ferry ride I arrived at Naxos and departed the
ship with the four other people traveling to this island
that day and was immediately approached by people offering
places to stay. I finally accepted an offer to ride with
this guy to see his place when he agreed to return me to
the tourist office (which the guidebook said could help
with finding a place). The guy's pension room was very nice
and with a kitchen but not much view and I talked him down
to $15, but left saying I might be back. Another pension
hawker must have followed us in his van because he came
up to me as I walked away from the first place. Turns out
his place was in a much better location, had a kitchen with
stove and refrigerator, a large balcony facing south which
could view the sunset and sunrise and a roof terrace with
and even better 360 degree view. I talked him down to $20
a night and have been here 4 days and contemplating 6 more.
That
night I walked to the remnants of an ancient temple and
watched the sunset .
The
town square is two blocks away. The closest internet cafe
is 200 ft from my door (this small town has at least 8 internet
access points and they are as fast as Athens and cheaper).
A little further is a very good pizza place.
The
town itself is very charming and is honeycombed with many
small winding whitewashed alleyways leading up and down.
The first full day here I rented a 90cc scooter for $9 and
toured part of the island. The second day I hiked to a peak
east of town in the morning and then wandered about the
alleyways of town in the afternoon. The 3rd day I rented
a mountain bike for $3.50 and road to a beach and fortress
south of town.
Today
it rained and I spent a lot of time taking care of online
business (and writing this). The weather forecast for Greece
is rain for the next week. Yesterday it was supposed to
rain - but it turned out to be the sunniest yet. I'm trying
to decide wether to move on to Crete (and rain), stay here
and read and ride and walk between rain, or head back to
northern Europe and train it around for a couple weeks.
Tough decisions.........
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