Greece


Travelogue

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Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7



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Part 3: On the frontiers of tourism

For our very first attempt at island-hopping, we pinpointed the Western Cyclades, lured by our guide book which described these islands as "on the frontiers of tourism". We decided to make our first landfall at the island of Kythnos. Our guide book had said that domatia (guest room) owners would meet the boat and listed a few hotels, so, in the true style of island-hoppers we didn't bother to book any accommodation.

But we had not allowed for one very important aspect of the Greek culture - Festivals. We had inadvertently chosen August 14th as our departure date, which is the day before Assumption Day, during the Feast of Assumption, a time when Greeks return to their roots, visit their place of birth and their relations, and hold big family reunions.

Consequently, when our taxi driver deposited us in Pireaus, as near as he could get to the Milos Express at 7am just as she was beginning to load vehicles for her bi-weekly trip to Santorini, a ferry from Paros backed in beside and commenced to unload at the same time, resulting in truly magnificent chaos. Cars lined up for the Milos Express became mixed up with those from Paros and no-one could get in and out of the quay, which became a seething cauldron of farting taxis, bellowing buses, juggernaut trucks and semis, nifty handcarts and kamikaze mopeds, not to mention the countless darting private vehicles, all with honking horns and shouting drivers.

Part 4: One room left


this travelogue is part of the subside travelzine
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