THE LAST SWIPE

Even though yesterday’s luggage moving day was exhausting, we were so glad we had done that. Today all we had to do was go down to the gangway early and then we took our hand luggage off with us. We swiped our cruise card one last time and away we went with our possessions like two Bedouins into the early morning light. Leaving the ship early and in a hurrying ensured that we would make the 7:30 sailing of our ferry to Santorini. As it was, the port at Piraeus is huge and we actually had to take a taxi from Gate 11 around to Gate 8 and then we were safely aboard the ferry for the 5 hour ride to Santorini with 45 minutes to spare. Other than lengthy, there was nothing outstanding about the ferry ride. We made a few stops at other islands - Paros, Naxos and Ios – then it was Santorini – the last stop.

We got to our hotel about 1:00 and it was good to have a place to be for the last leg of our journey. The reception desk at our hotel is down about 65 stairs from a small gate on the street. Then I know I counted 315 to get up to our room and then a further 578 to get back up to the street. (actually only 200 altogether) The hotel is on a cliff and though the view is spectacular…it is tiring getting back up to street level again. So we took our time to settle in and then we went into town for a bit. I’m sure there are still more items to buy before we leave for home!! It was cool today and there were times that the sweatshirt jacket came out. We wandered around town for a while, had dinner and then came back to the hotel – we are a ways out of town, but the public bus ride is E1.60 and the taxi is E5.00. So we will take transit as often as possible. The plan for tomorrow is get up have breakfast - that’s the best plan we have had for days!! At some point we need to buy another piece of luggage – (after researching, that is our best and cheapest option) but we have several days to figure all that out. We are able to be in touch more frequently now…..as there is free internet….but the days might finally be quieter and less hectic. Either way, you can be sure you will read about it here!