![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
We're in Greece!
Feb. 28th, 2010 12:55 pmDay 1: today's travel challenge was that we had a confirmation number for our ferry to Crete, but by law we needed paper tickets. These can be claimed from the ferry company's office, but by the time we got from the airport to the port, the office was closed. A man in a nearby travel agency pointed us towards a kiosk that was still open. Phew. I'm an intrepid enough traveler to put myself in a situation like this -- where I can't see how we can get what we need but am relatively confident that there must be some kind of system that won't leave us stranded -- but not so intrepid that it's not at all stressful.
We're on the ferry now, after a quick dinner of authentic Grecian spanakopita, courtesy of Starbucks. This ferry is something else. From where you board there's an escalator up to a fancy hotel-like reception desk (made of marble!), whence a bellhop shows you to your cabin. Our cabin definitely ranks up there in swankest rooms we've stayed in -- it even has a teeny private WC and shower. Given that our last overnight boat experience was the ferry from Ko Tao to mainland Thailand, in which we slept on bedbugs-infested pallets jowl-to-cheek with dozens of other backpackers and Thai travelers, we feel pretty spoiled.
Next up: 3 days on Crete, seeing the ruins of Knossos and lounging around pretty seaside towns. And hopefully picking up a little more Greek. While it's surprising how little the language has changed since 2000 years ago, biblical Greek still isn't all that handy for ordering spanakopita or telling endless touts that you're actually ok without a clearly counterfeit Sony camera, thanks.
Unrelatedly, three separate Qatar Airways employees asked me how many weeks pregnant I am. Apparently in the last week I've gone from people being surprised I'm pregnant to people worrying I might be past the 32 week cutoff for flying!
We're on the ferry now, after a quick dinner of authentic Grecian spanakopita, courtesy of Starbucks. This ferry is something else. From where you board there's an escalator up to a fancy hotel-like reception desk (made of marble!), whence a bellhop shows you to your cabin. Our cabin definitely ranks up there in swankest rooms we've stayed in -- it even has a teeny private WC and shower. Given that our last overnight boat experience was the ferry from Ko Tao to mainland Thailand, in which we slept on bedbugs-infested pallets jowl-to-cheek with dozens of other backpackers and Thai travelers, we feel pretty spoiled.
Next up: 3 days on Crete, seeing the ruins of Knossos and lounging around pretty seaside towns. And hopefully picking up a little more Greek. While it's surprising how little the language has changed since 2000 years ago, biblical Greek still isn't all that handy for ordering spanakopita or telling endless touts that you're actually ok without a clearly counterfeit Sony camera, thanks.
Unrelatedly, three separate Qatar Airways employees asked me how many weeks pregnant I am. Apparently in the last week I've gone from people being surprised I'm pregnant to people worrying I might be past the 32 week cutoff for flying!
