Day 12 - Travel Day - Athens to Chania, Crete

The night before I used WhatsApp to contact the Taxi driver that we had used when we landed in Athens. I scheduled a pickup around 10am on the morning of Day 12. He was outside right on time and we piled into his double-parked Mercedes with the efficiency of a Formula 1 pit crew. And we were off to the Athens airport. Our driver was putting the pedal to the metal on the drive to the airport. 

We got dropped off right outside of the SkyExpress terminal and went inside. We got lucky and there was a very short line for luggage drop off at SkyExpress. We handed off our bags and made our way to the security checkpoints. I was going to take out my stream gear but they told me to just leave all my gear in. So I left my gear in and my bag went through and got flagged again. Typical. Then when I waited for the guy to do the next inspection he just glanced at the screen and handed me my bag. Deanna was not so lucky. Her bag went through and then they flagged it. Then they ripped her entire backpack open and tested her deodorant for explosives, lol. After repacking her bag we headed towards our gate. 

We stopped and had some food at some random deli that wasn't very good. The coffee was terrible too. We then continued to go to our gate and hang out. We were super early, so we had time to eat some chips and drink a small bottle of wine. 

When it was time to board we all loaded onto busses and shuttled over to our small plane. The plane was comfortable and only 2 seats to each side so we had no neighbor in our aisle. Super score. The flight to Chania was less than an hour. During the flight the attendants were sprinting to get us waters and snacks and then right back at it to pick up the trash. Impressive hustle from those ladies. 

When we landed we made our way out of the terminal to the rental car area. I had reserved a car online through some random site with a random company. We were looking for a place called CarWhiz but it was nowhere in the terminal. After searching around we asked someone at the Hertz counter and he told us to go outside and down the road. So we started off down the road towards where we thought it was located and started to see all the flags of rental companies in the distance. 

The walk over there was a bit sketchy. The sidewalk would disappear at times and you'd have to walk in the street on a very primitive shoulder area with your luggage while cars are zooming by. When we found CarWhiz we were on the sidewalk, but the area between the office and us was a dirt hill with shrubbery. I picked up both of our suitcases and just charged up the hill. It was lame. 

When we went inside the tiny portable office, a couple was at the counter paying for damages from crashing their car into someone else's mirror. Yikes. I filled out a few things and we were on our way in our little rental Suzuki thing. I made sure to take a couple pictures of any scuffs or dents on the vehicle. 

The drive to Chania was an interesting one. It felt like we were driving through the desert outside of Cabo San Lucas or Puerto Vallarta. After awhile we were above Chania looking down on the port city. It was gorgeous from up on the mountain driving down. We pulled up next to our hotel, the SanSal Boutique Hotel and found curb parking. We went inside and started checking in. The guy working the front desk was really helpful. His name was Manolis and took the time to go through a map of the island to show us his recommendations for swimming, restaurants, and other things to consider. We felt welcomed immediately. 

We took the elevator upstairs to the 5th floor to our room. We walked in and were immediately in awe of the view. We had a corner unit, with balcony that opened to the Sea. We also had a window to the West that was in perfect alignment with the sunset on the horizon. 

We noticed we didn't have luggage stands so I called down to see if we could get one delivered. While we were getting settled I went into the bathroom and noticed there was a curtain hanging that was installed for privacy. I went to close the curtain and when I pulled on the curtain rod the entire thing fell from the ceiling. It was quite a disaster. We've been here five minutes and I was thinking we may have to leave our room now. We can't possibly poop without privacy! I was so worried about this that I walked down to reception to describe the issue. Manolis mentioned he would try to get someone to look at it. I went back upstairs and took photos of the situation and sent them to him via WhatsApp. 

Then I still had to... use the restroom. So Deanna agreed to sit with her back facing me so I could use the bathroom in private. It was awkward and not sustainable, so hopefully they would be able to fix our bathroom curtain. ha ha. 

We freshened up a bit and head down the elevator and out into the street to find some food. We did some research ahead of time about places to eat, but decided to try a recommendation from Manolis at reception. So we started strolling down the main avenue along the waterfront. Along the way we passed the National Aquatic Center, some small restaurants, hotels, monuments, and some street cats from time to time. 

When we arrived at the restaurant, named Manos Taverna, we were seated by the edge of the boat docks. It was a nice view of the water and boats. Just a few feet behind us was the wall of octopus drying out in the heat of the Sun. The octopus are full of water, so it's tradition to dry them out a bit. 

We ordered a Greek salad, fresh calamari, steamed mussels, swordfish kebab and some drinks. All the food was good. My calamari was super fresh and tender. The bonus was that inside my squid was an anchovy or sardine the squid was eating. So I wound up eating that too. It was creepy, but I had to do it. Then at the end of our meal the server brought us a bottle of Raki liquor and a sweet cake with ice cream on top, for free! Apparently it is tradition in Crete to do this at the end of your meal at a restaurant. (This routine would repeat itself at nearly every place we would end up eating for the remainder of our trip). Raki is a pretty strong alcohol made from grape skins and seeds. After the first shot, which is a bit hard to process, it gets smoother and more enjoyable. 

After dinner we went back to our hotel room and put on our swimsuits. We went up to the bar and enjoyed our first swim in Chania and the amazing sunset that followed. 

Remember all photos will be linked here: Full Photo Dump

Day 9 - Travel Day - Riomaggiore to Milan to Athens

Day 9 was a big travel day for us. Luckily we did some packing prep the night before so the morning of our departure from Riomaggiore wasn't as hectic as it could have been. 

We woke up and finalized the last pieces of our luggage and ate the last bits of food from our fridge. I'm glad we bought that pizza for the morning and for our travels. Our hotel host offers assistance with luggage from the hotel to the train station, so we waited for our helper to arrive. (Link to our hotel, Creuza de Ma)

When our helper showed up I hoisted my 50 lb suitcase on my shoulder and followed him down our hotel stairs as he carried Deanna's suitcase. We wound our way down the path and into the marina. We bobbed and weaved our way back up the hill into the town hallways for the last time and onward through the "underwater" tunnel. We finally emerged on the other side of the mountain at the Riomaggiore train station. I gave him a little thank you and we took our place on a bench waiting for our train. 

It was already pretty hot out at 10am, so we were glad to see the train show up with out too long of a wait. We jumped on and found a corner to stand in by the stairs and entryway. La Spezia was just the next stop away, so it was only about a 5 minute train ride. 

When we arrived at La Spezia station we hopped off and started walking through the thick crowds at the station. People were congregated in large tour groups and it was difficult to get to the exit. It was quite frustrating, but we eventually popped out the other side into the town of La Spezia. The goal here was to pick up a rental car that I had reserved online. The rental car place was only a few blocks away so rather than get a ride I decided we'd walk. We began rolling our luggage along the sidewalks and down into the main promenade of the town. This area was really cute. It was full of shops, fountains, art, and a generally nice vibe. I wish we had known what La Spezia was like, it would have been worth spending some time here. 

We found the Budget rental place and went inside. At this point my entire back was covered in sweat as well as the place on my shoulders where my backpack straps rested. Inside the car rental place there were already people at the counter and some people waiting. The folks working the counter desk were one man and one woman, both probably in their late 60s or 70s. The woman was only answering the phone and talking forever and the man was taking mental pauses here and there and getting distracted by little things the woman would say constantly. It felt like an hour for him to finish the current customer that was at his window, but he eventually did and the next person started getting help. It probably took him about 20 minutes to process him and get him his rental. 

Deanna waiting in the front of the rental office

Sweat

When it was my turn I went up to the counter with all my documents out. They both were very excited to see that I was from San Francisco. They mentioned in broken English that they had been to Sausalito many years ago and loved it. They also mentioned a restaurant by name, but I don't remember what they said. After a few minutes of the man going through my reservation he said "oh no, problem, we don't have your car." I wasn't surprised to hear this, so I just rolled with it and said "ok, no problem, I'll take what I can get."

I was observing their systems while they worked and noticed that they would take a copy of everything and put it in a never ending "to be filed" stack. They would then take another copy of some forms and put them over in the back on top of a filing cabinet also in a rather large stack of other forms. Then the lady would look through her basket of keys to see what keys they had. So apparently they weren't tracking their cars at all on the computer, but only through the basket of keys in front of her. 

When our order was complete we both followed the man outside as he lead us about a block away to a really small and uninspiring looking car. We piled our stuff inside and got in. This car was as stock as it could be and stick shift. So I started it up and backed out of our very narrow spot and into the very narrow and crowded street behind us. I shifted back to 1st gear and we were on our way. I quickly remembered how to drive stick liked I had never stopped. 

Our road trip wound through lush green valleys, by small towns, through deep tunnels, and through well known places like Parma. We stopped at a highway side Automart to pick up some food and drinks before getting back on our way. It took about 3 hours to get to Milan. At the Milan airport I think I did 3 laps around the airport before finally making it to the right rental car return driveway. It is not very clearly labeled for Budget returns. The dropoff was fast and we got our luggage and started into the terminal. 

We arrived probably about 4 hours before our boarding time. We made our way to the baggage check in area but nobody from Aegean airlines was there. I asked a nearby employee from another airline about it and they mentioned that you could only check bags within 2 hours of your flight time. "oh." So we went upstairs with all of our luggage and had some wine and a snack while we waited for time to pass. When it was around 2 hours away from our boarding we went back down to the Aegean airlines gate and hung out in front of the line. 2 ladies appeared soon and started prepping their lines. Within a few minutes a line of about 30 people was already formed behind us. Thankfully we were first! 

The lady called us forward and we were on our way in about 2 minutes after dropping our suitcases. We were both hungry so we stopped at Wagamama to have an early dinner. I had a curry chicken katsu and Deanna had what appeared to be pad thai, but she didn't order that. It all tasted pretty good and I had a sake with my meal. 

We went over to gate A3 which was indicated by the departures board and our paper tickets that we received. We bought some chips and waters and took a seat by an annoying kid and his dad. Our gate was currently boarding a different flight and airline so we sat by and watched as they were all loading. As time passed something started to feel a bit off, so we went over to the gate to double check that we were in the right place and boarding group. The gate description had not changed to our Airline or flight number. It still said Ryanair or something else. Panic started to set in for both of us. Our flight was boarding in 19 minutes!

We walked over to the departures board and watched as the Athens line item updated and rotated between the various Athens flights. Our flight popped up and the gate indicated was A78! YIKES. So we started a very brisk walk through what felt like the entire airport in search of gate A78. Along the way we would stop and double check our flight again to make sure nothing changed. Still A78. We were sweaty and stressed but pulled up to our gate with 2 minutes to spare before they started calling for boarding groups. Disaster avoided. When we got on the plane we were seated in the emergency row that was only 2 seats, which was amazing. I had forgotten that I was able to make changes and get us good seats for that flight. That took away all the stress of having to run across the airport to make our flight. 

When we landed in Athens and made our way to the baggage claim I stood there while I received 2 phone alerts about our gate change to A78 from A3. Then I received an email about the gate change. Thank you for the prompt updates Aegean airlines. lol. 

We grabbed our bags and proceeded out of the airport exit and found a gentleman with my name on a sign. I confirmed he was our ride from my scheduled taxi service and we followed him to his waiting Mercedes taxi cab. The cab was very clean and smelled nice. Our driver put his foot to the floor and got us to our Athens hotel in pretty quick fashion. 

Our hotel, the Niche Hotel Athens, sits atop ruins from the Valerian Wall (click for info). We checked into our hotel and went up to our room. The room was very nice and clean. We called downstairs to ask for them to bring up an extra luggage stand for our suitcases. I'm not sure why every hotel room doesn't already provide at least 2 luggage stands in the rooms. It's logical to assume that more than one person will be in a room and that more than one suitcase will want to be off the ground. We constantly have to ask for these when we travel. It's annoying. 

We were pretty tired, so we didn't go out and were already mostly full from our early dinner at Wagamama. We decided to go to bed. 

That is the end of day 9. 

Remember all photos will be linked here: Full Photo Dump