Breakfast was good, but it should've been for 16 Euros. Last night after I got settled in, in compartment 7-140, I went to the rear deck and stood in the wind to watch the sunset on the Mediterranean. It was beautiful. The sun slipped behind wispy clouds as it got closer to the horizon and a warm orange glow shone through. As the sun set, it turned pink and then the color deepened. The glow through the clouds looked like a large orange arm submerging the sun under the water. Then, as the bottom of the sun peeked below the clouds just above the hilly horizon, it looked like a bright red smile. I missed the Mediterranean sunrise, so I hope I'll be able to see another one some day. The coastline view is clearing up--those aren't hills I see, they're mountains covered with scrub vegetation, small bushes, and lots of bare places with streaks of sand and rock. We should arrive in Igoumenitsa in 2.5 hours then in Corfu another hour after that. We're off the coast of Albania approaching Greece.
It's now 12:30, and we're arriving in Igoumenitsa. Igoumenitsa is a vacation town nestled in the base of small, smooth, green mountains in a harbor. I noticed several European tourists on the ferry. Some people got off here. Others will continue to Corfu or Patras (like me) later today. Igoumenitsa was a nice beach town with a large natural harbor and many 5-6 story condominium buildings. The streets along the water had 2-3 cars in motion at any one time, so it was a quiet, relaxing atmosphere, and I bet the houses on the lower slopes of the small mountains have great views of the harbor. It was sunny and warm, but not hot. I stood out on the rear deck and watched the cars, tourists, and cement trucks unload. There are no trains in Igoumenitsa according reception, so I'll continue on to Corfu and then Patras.
We are now in Corfu. The Minoan Lines brochure says "Corfu has the most extensive tourist infrastructure in Greece." Corfu has an old fort on a point that appears to be from the middle ages. The buildings look older than Igoumenitsa and almost all are tan colored stone or stucco with the same white, orange, and yellow kind of palette Venice had. The architecture is much simpler though. There's another tower fortress in the middle of the town.
I made it to Patras and immediately took a bus to Athens since the last train of the night had already departed. I barely caught the last bus and arrived in Athens at about 1:30 AM. The cabbie at the bus station may have overcharged me a bit, but he helped me find a hotel in Athens and the train station at 1:30 AM--not bad for 10 euros. The hotel was a complete dive though, and my room on the 7th floor resonated all night with the sound of shrieking motorcylces from the streets below.
2 comments:
Your words paint pictures. Nice. Seems our American greenbacks aren't worth much in Europe now. 16 Euros = about $30 U.S. bucks, right? When you crossed the Med. Sea, did you think of all those characters in history who gazed on that sea? Wow, that sunset must have been something. You said there were no swells on the sea during your crossing. In Chapter 27 of Acts, Paul ran into a huge tempest called Euroclydon, off the coast of Crete. Guess they named hurricanes too. He was shipwrecked on Melita. Did the fort in Corfu look anything like the forts in Florida? We were overcharged once in Paris returning from Moulin Rouge by taxi. We were cutting up and blowing a duck call through the streets of Paris. I guess he thought we were tipsy, but we were sober as a judge--just having fun. Anyway, he kept driving around and around. When he got us to our hotel, I paid him and said, "I know you overcharged me, and I will always remember you taking advantage of a fun-loving tourist. Was it worth your reputation?" So there! Regarding the motorcycles in Athens, I know what you mean. Motorbikes have ruined the romance of Paris. I hear they are using tons of regular bikes now. The government is putting up stations everywhere so you can pay for the bikes. That's a good thing.
Thank you. I plugged in the conversion rate at the time of my trip. The fort in Corfu was different from the ones in Florida, I didn't get to see it up close, but it sat on top of a cliff overlooking the harbor instead of spread out over the tip of an island like in Pensacola.
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