The Greek way is naturally slow and on their own time. This can be seen at restaurants especially but also in almost everything you do. It really is their way or the highway. And being a tourist you are completely forced into this being alright as you are a guest in their country. This doesn't mean that you always enjoy it but you make the best of whatever the situation may be.
This morning we were up and at it to do the big drive 2 doors down to return the quad for 11 am. Our usual lunch place wasn't open quite yet, this was a shame as we don't usually plan and this time we actually planned our morning and it ended up falling through due to that fact. But oh well we decided to have extra time to lay in the room before heading to the bus stop to go to the port.
The buses on Santorini are all coach buses. The bus we were waiting to catch was scheduled to arrive at noon. Exactly an hour before our ferry was supposed to leave. But as we are in Greece and schedules don't matter the bus did not arrive when it was supposed to. Waited15 minutes and it still didn't arrive. This was concerning and not a part of travelling I enjoy. I like to be early to ensure I will make it and have time to relax.
Out of the blue a car pulls up and asks us if we were going to the port. We looked at eachother and said yes. He said get in. We asked if he was a taxi as he didn't have a taxi sign and he said yes. Then seeing a private services sign in his window of some kind we asked how much. He said 15 we said no to much and said 10, which was already double what we would have paid to go on the bus. He said 12 we said no he said okay 10 get in. Being in a rush and the bus being now 20 minutes late we made a quick decision.
So we did. A kind of unusual thing for us to do but we did. He was a very angry Greek man, driving the windy roads very quickly, taking shortcuts we didn't knew existed but popping out at roads we knew due to driving them yesterday. He continued to try and convince Luke that 12 was a reasonable price to get to the port. Then blared his horn at some cars and passed them and the quads continuing to blare his horn as he turned a corner down a two way street. At this point I was trying to look out his window as I was cozy in the back seat with our packs, and trying to figure out what the thing on the window said without getting sick. Helicopter and airplane private service. Then he got a phone call, yelled, sweared, hung up, and continued to swear for a few minutes, yelling and beeping at more cars speeding past them and then turning off to go down the incredibly windy cliff at high speeds.
As soon as we turned off he asked where we were from. Then promptly handed Luke a brochure and said now we are in business. He mumbled a bunch of things to Luke and kept saying good money, now we are in business. Not knowing what he was saying Luke politely took the brochure and took a look through it. Said would pass the information on if he knew anyone coming to Santorini. We are in business, if you are heading to Santorini and need a plane or helicopters, we know a guy.
By the end of the mumbling and chatting and trying to all the sudden be nice to us we were reaching the port. A hodge podge of cars trying to get down, and a policeman directing the way. He was getting angry at the cars stopping and then saw the policeman and told we needed to get out. As we were exiting he kept saying quickly, quickly, and practically left before Luke gave him anything. But Luke only gave him 10. And he sped away.
Looking at each other we began to laugh. What an experience. We are fairly certain that he was on his way to the port to pick someone up, saw us on the side of the road and decided he could make a few extra bucks. Drove us to the port as promised, and saw the cop and kicked us out because he isn't a taxi and wasn't allowed to taxi us. All in all a hilarious story. At least we thought so.
We walked the short distance into the main part of the port laughing and joking about it the whole time. Getting to the main ticket office to pick up our tickets that we booked online the guy said to Luke it would be 13 minutes late... Alright no big deal but ha Greek time as usual. We decided to grab a quick bite to eat as we had a half hour at this point and at least we were at the port.
We shared and shovelled a Greek salad and fries down and got to the gate with ten minutes to spare. A boat came and went and still no announcements for our boat, but the terminal was full. Well like I said we are in Greek time. We waited an hour and then finally the boat showed up. Glad it did. On the ferry we were watching some national geographic show about Yellowstone in the winter time and how the animals live. Itwas a long 50 minute ferry ride and we pulled into Ios.
Our hotel had sent a shuttle upon our request so we found the guy and hopped in. Getting to the hotel he helped us with our bags so we tossed him a few dollars. Inside the hotel was a Greek guy from Toronto we started talking with. He was also talking / more or less translating with the he shuttle guy. He said Canadians are the only ones who tip. He said cause we we are the nicest. He took us to our room and we ventured around to take a look at our place.
It's got a nice pool. With a pool bar. And a nice view to look at and to watch the sunset. So we won't complain a bit. We ended up going back to the room and getting our bathing suits on. We sat by the pool for a few hours taking it all in and enjoying the heat. I will also say. Luke said he loves the heat when he was talking to the shuttle guy. So that's a win for me.
We had a relaxing afternoon and stayed by the pool till sunset. Then headed for an evening meal together. Was a great way to end another day. As always enjoy every moment.
And so the adventure continues..,
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