Greece: Day Two

S

 aturday, 21^st July 2012

Today I travelled from Athens to Meganisi. I set my alarm for 4:30am to be ready to catch a taxi to the bus depo at 5:30am. It seems as though I had already lost track of time as I set my alarm for ‘weekdays only’ forgetting it was Saturday, and was woken up by the hotel concierge telling me that my taxi had arrived. I quickly threw all my things into my suitcase and left he hotel feeling slightly less put together as I would have liked. Oh well. The taxi took me quite quickly to the bus station, 140km per hour- quickly… with no fitted seatbelts. Oh well.

Kiffisus bus station is a maze, and if you ask anyone for directions they are sure to lead you astray and even if you don’t want directions, they will give them to you anyway. I arrived at 6:00am to ensure that I bought a ticket for the 7:00am bus. I arrived to wait in a line for 45 minutes, as the ticket office was not open yet. By the time I got to the counter the tickets were all sold and I had to put my name on the list. As the bus was about to depart my name was called from the office. I bought my ticket, 33.50  and climbed aboard the coach to search for a seat. There were no seats and I was told to sit on the floor. On the floor?! My mind was screaming ‘occupational health and safety hazard!’ oh well! What can I do? I parked myself in the aisle and prepared to spend the next 6 hours folded into a space on the stairs.

Not sure if you are getting this so far but I’m a bit of a control freak. Ok… lets not kid, a lot of a control freak. I have spreadsheets for everything I find disorganisation severely stressful. Greece has quickly pushed me into the ocean of disorganisation and I’m finding myself saying ‘oh well’ a lot and really forcing myself to just ‘go with it’.

Two men joined me in my spot on the stairs. Leonardis and Giorgios, Leo and George. Neither spoke much English but with my limited Greek and their limited English we managed to find our way through discussions around politics and how good it is to live in Australia. Is seems that many Greeks are trying to find a way out of Greece in pursuit of jobs and a better life. Unemployment of under 25 year olds is sitting at 27% and tourism country wide is down a minimum of 30%. Its sad seeing the effects of the financial crisis first hand, petrol prices are steadfast at 1.75 and many shops have been forced to close.

The bus from Athens to Lefkada

The bus ride to Lefkada is very beautiful as the road weaves it way around the edge of the ocean. To get to Lefkada the bus crosses the channel between Southern and Northern Greece. The Rio- Antillio Bridge, a huge feat in bridge construction, crosses this channel. This bridge was completed sometime in 2003 and ceased the operation of the car ferries that previously operated between the two towns.

The Rio-Antillio Bridge

I arrived in Lefkada at 12:30pm and jumped into a taxi to take me to Nidri where I caught the ferry to Meganisi. I love Nidri! It’s a small town nestled along the coast of Lefkas and gateway to some of the most beautiful Ionion islands including the Onasis island, Skorpios and island from the movie Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, Kefalonia. I enjoyed a toasted sandwich and frappe as I sat and waited for the 2:00pm ferry. As I was walking onto the ferry I could hear a scooter behind me incessantly tooting it’s horn, I turned to look and it was Lakis. A good friend of my father’s and father to three of my good friends. I was now cool by association and rode the ferry for free! Score!

After in excess of 24 hours transit I finally arrived at my house Meganisi. Half the village came to greet me on my arrival and I was bombarded with the following same questions:

How is your father?

How is your uncle?

How long are you here for

Are you alone?

Wait… Aren’t you married?

The dreaded question; how do you explain to an 80 something year old women that you ended your marriage. They come from a generation where you make a choice and you stick to it. Divorce was unheard of in their time. Oh well, smile and bear it. 

More to come.... Konstantina xx