Thursday, September 5, 2013

Enroute Santorini & a sunrise swim

Selena, Nina, Brenda and I had our breakfast together before I headed off for my ferry to Santorini. Brenda was still staying for another night before she headed to Berlin then back to Argentina. Meanwhile, Selena and Nina were off to one of the Greek islands, off to their island hopping stint. I was on the road, for my 6 pm ferry trip to Santorini. ooh yeah! 

I said goodbye to Brenda when we got back from breakfast. I knew she was sad to be left there as she wasn't really planning to extend there for 2 nights. But when we first met, that's when she decided to extend coz at least she had company. She always asked me how Berlin would be and I told her she'll find it fine coz there's a lot of happenings around. 

I left the hostel around 4 pm and took the train to the Port of Pireaus which is the main port of Greece, center of trade, largest passenger port in Europe and third largest in the world. 

My ferry ride was 6 pm so I decided to be there around 5, with the hope that the line at the ticket collection booth wouldn't be as long. When I got there, man, it was chaotic. It was then that I found out that my ferry was delayed and was leaving 8 pm instead. okay, now at this point, as much as I'd like to stop myself, BE WARNED that the Blue Star Ferries are delinquent when it comes to schedule. Well, as they say, hey it's greek time. But Hey too, the delay wasn't acceptable at all. We were scheduled to arrive at Santorini around 2 am, but we ended docking around 4 am. <sigh> people were so pissed off already. 

I found a chair just beside the entrace/exit lobby. I thought it was strategic by the time we docked. Through the night I had different sleeping positions on that 1 couch seat. Talk about being flexible or what. By the time we were to dock, I felt like I had a stiff neck.

I didn't have accommodation at the hostel. I knew that the beach was just a 5-minute walk and since the heat was enough for me, I decided to just head to the beach, sleep there and wait for check in time. When we got off the ferry, apparently, there was a bunch of us heading to the same hostel. 2 other girls, from Argentina, didn't have a booking for the night. Josh (from the US) and his Mom, Kirsty (from Aus), and the sisters Ashley and Shannon (from US) all had a bed booked. Oh and I won't forget the 2 teenagers from the US who were with the Mom, who also joined us in the shuttle to the hostel. 

By 5 am, I was surprised that Josh got out of the room and said, yup who's up for a sunrise swim. We all ended up walking to the beach and waiting for the sunrise. That moment I was glad I had company. And instead of sleeping, we just talked, went for a sunrise swim and took heaps of photos as we watched the first few rays of the sun shed its light on the magical island of Santorini.

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