OK, I got behind on journaling our trip. Part of the reason is I got sick with a very bad head cold and have not felt like journaling. I will try to get it all caught up in this post.
Day 23 – Monday, May 15, 2023 – We are in Delphi today and are touring the sights. I was able to walk up halfway to the Archeological site of Delphi, before I had to find a spot in the shade to rest. Jay continued on without me. I really don’t mind waiting for him, because he is still young and active and can make it up the hills. When he comes back down we walk back to town and have lunch. He wants to walk and see this other site, but I am not able to so I tell him I will walk back to the hotel and he can go exploring on his own. I give him a few Euros in case he needs money and off he goes. I just as that he messages me using the app “WhatsApp. I get back to the hotel and decide to sit in the lobby and read. While I am sitting there, there are some workmen outside doing something and they cut off power to the building. The alarms start going off, the lights are out and the internet is out. After about 30 minutes, the hotel staff are able to get the alarms turned off. I don’t really mind the powers out, I just sit in the lobby and read my Kindle. After a while I go upstairs to my room. They eventually get the power to come back on. Jay returns and we go get dinner.
Day 24 – Tuesday, May 16, 2023 – We check out of our hotel in Delphi this morning after breakfast. We are driving back to Athens to drop the car off at the airport. Our road trip through Greece has come to an end. Getting the car back to the airport is not difficult. I have to explain to the attendant that we changed cars in Thessaloniki. We are leaving our two big suitcases in storage at the airport. We will pick them up in 3 weeks when we leave Greece. We decided the two big suitcases were too hard getting on and off the ferry, so we put just what we need in the small suitcases that we purchased in Thessaloniki. The storage place is at the end of the arrivals hall at the airport. We check the luggage in. I was going to have us take the train to Pireaus Port, but instead we opted to take a taxi. It took a little bit of him looking, but he finally figured out where we wanted to go. We are staying one night at a hotel In Pireaus Port and then taking an early morning ferry the next day. The taxi driver got us to our hotel, we checked in and then went and had lunch. After lunch, we went back t0 the hotel to rest before venturing out for dinner and then calling it an early night.
Day 25 – Wednesday, May 17, 2023 – Our ferry is scheduled to leave at 7:25 this morning. We are taking the Blue Star Ferry Delos. We got up early and checked out of the hotel. The ferry gate was right across the street, so it was very convenient. Because this is the first departure of the day, we were able to get right on the ferry. I am using etickets, so they scanned my phone. The important thing to remember is to make sure you put your luggage in the right stack. They have different areas to leave luggage depending on where you are embarking. We are going to Paros which is about a 4 hour ferry ride. We went up to the 6th deck and sat outside. It seemed to go by pretty quickly. When you get close to the port they announce that we have arrived and the passengers disembarking should make there way downstairs. It is absolute chaos trying to get your bags. You then all leave the ferry in a herd. We had a car reserved, so we made our way to the car rental place to pick up our rental car. Then it is off to try and find our apartment rental. We are staying in an apartment with a washer so we can do laundry, if we need to. The apartment is located just outside of Noussa down a one lane dirt road. It is on the 2nd floor and has this huge terrace, that allows you to see down to the coastline. It is really a breathtaking sight. There are also two bedrooms so both Jay and I can have our own space. I am starting to feel ill. We get settled in and eat dinner.
Day 26 – Thursday, May 18, 2023 – Today we are scheduled to go on a independent tour to the islands of Delos and Mykonos. They are to pick us up down at the main road at 9. I am not feeling that great, but we have paid for the tickets and Jay wants to go. We get picked up and they take us to the port in Noussa. We then get on a boat that already has people on it that boarded in Naxos. The boat takes us to Delos first. We have several hours in Delos. Because it is National Museum Day in Greece, we do not have to pay to get in. We walk around for a bit, until I am just exhausted. I am really feeling bad and my nose is running like crazy. I find me a place to sit, but there is no shade on Delos. Jay goes on and does his exploring and I wait, blowing my nose and drinking water so I don’t get dehydrated. It is finally time to get back on the boat and go to Mykonos. The first thing we do on Mykonos is eat lunch. Then we have about 1 and 1/2 hours before we have to get back on the boat. We decide to take a taxi tour of the island. This old man asks us if we want a taxi. I say yes and he says he will take us around the island for 80 euros. I say ok. He calls someone to come pick us up, I think it may be his son. He takes us around to a windmill and tells us a litte about it. Then we go to a church and a beach. I am not really into any of this because I feel terrible. Finally, I say it is time to take us back to the port. He then tries to up the price to 130 euros because we went over the 1 hour. I had 100 euros in my hand because I did not have the exact change. I then got into an argument with him. I finally said, to take the 100 euros because that is all I had and we got out of the van. We walked back to the boat. I fell asleep on the boat going back to Paros. When we arrived at Paros, I was expecting everyone to get off the boat. I had forgot that it originally came from Naxos and not everyone would be exiting. We almost missed getting off the boat. When we went downstairs, the boat was pulling away from the dock. Their was a crew member on the boat and another one on the dock. The boat was about a foot from the dock. The crew member on the boat grabbed my arm and kind of tossed or threw me to the crew member on the dock. I managed to land on my feet. They did the same thing with Jay and one other person who was also about to miss getting off the boat. Because we were so late getting off the boat we missed our bus back to our apartment and had to take a taxi. By this time, I was feeling pretty bad and I went to bed. Jay made dinner of rice and woke me up to feed me, then I went to sleep. During the night, I may have had a little fever because at one point I had chills.
Day 27 – Friday, May 19, 2023. Jay woke me up this morning and suggested I go to a pharmacist and get something for my cold. I agreed because I felt terrible, and my nose was still running. The pharmacist gave me some medicine and wrote the dosage in English on the package for me, because everything on it was in Greek. We got lunch and then went back to the apartment where I took some medicine which of course made me sleepy. So while I was sleeping, Jay walked into town. He came home and cooked supper and woke me up to feed me. I basically spent the whole day asleep.
Day 28 – Saturday, May 20, 2023 – I still am not feeling that great, but it is our last day on Paros, so Jay wants to do some exploring. I would drive somewhere, Jay would get out and go explore the area and I would wait in the car. we got lunch and then supper and finally went back to the apartment to pack.
Day 29 – Sunday, May 21, 2023 – Our ferry to take us to Naxos today is scheduled to leave at 12:55. We have to check out of the apartment by 11. We load up the rental car, tell the apartment owner goodbye and drive to the port about 12 minutes away. We return the rental car and still have a while before we need to board the ferry, so we sit down in a restaurant and Jay orders breakfast and I have orange juice. I eat Jay’s bread. This time it is total madness getting on the ferry. Everybody all at once. We find the place to leave our luggage and head upstairs. We finally find someplace to sit. The ferry from Paros to Naxos is only about 1 hour. Again, it is total chaos when it is time to disembark. We leave the ferry and go to the rental place and get our rental car. The B&B we are staying in is in town so it is not far. The owner is waiting outside for us and helps us with our luggage. His wife is very nice. She shows us on the map all the different places to see. I go take a nap and Jay goes exploring. He comes back to get me for supper.
Day 30 – Monday, May 22, 2023 – I had a very restless night. Every time I would lay down, I would start coughing really terrible, where you end up just gasping for air. I finally ended up sleeping propped up in bed, so I was not lying flat. This morning, the host fed us some type of apple pie and bread with jam. Then off we went exploring. We drove over to Kourosflerio, to see a statute, but missed it. Next we headed to Kouros. These were along some very curvy mountainous roads that were only one lane wide in some places. Thankfully, there was not much traffic. Then we drove to Lionas Beach. At the beach there is a resstaurant and an elderly man stands on the porch and waves at all the cars. Of course we had to stop and eat lunch. The old man and his wife do not speak much English. Every time I spoke to the wife, she would just smile and laugh and pat me on the back. The old man told me he grows his own vegetables and then he shared with us his family photo albums. We enjoyed our lunch and he waved goodby. Our last stop was to drive to Panormos down the coast. More narrow mountain roads. Once there we turned around and headed back to our B&B for dinner.
Well that catches us back up.
