… that travelling as a passenger on a Greek bus is a guaranteed cure for constipation. I noticed last night that the driver was … errr … somewhat relaxed in his attitude to the road, other vehicles, road signals (including traffic lights) and the speed limit as we went to the Holiday Inn, but that was absolutely nothing compared to the driver of the X96 that took me to Piraeus this morning.
The day started as it meant to go on, with the alarm bell ringing just as I was about to fall asleep. But another quick shower brought me round and then I ate a hearty breakfast, seeing as I wasn’t sure about when I might next be in front of some food.
Despite the early start, it took until about 09:30 for the shuttle bus to start and that took me back to the airport where I found an X96 already there and waiting.
Once we were all on board and the driver had checked our tickets, off we … errr … hurtled. It seems that €5:00 is the standard fare on the express buses which, for the 75 minutes to Piraeus, is an absolute bargain.
I couldn’t tell you which route that we took though, because I had my eyes closed for most of the way. I’ve never seen anything quite like this. A big articulated single decker, driving flat-out, overtaking almost everything in sight, passing stop signs and red traffic lights as though they weren’t there. Like I said earlier, a guaranteed cure for constipation. Forget your white-knuckle rides on the funfair – pay your €5:00 and come for 75 minutes on this bus.
However, in spite of the driver’s best efforts, I arrived at the docks just in time to see the 11:00 ferry to Agkistri disappearing out of the harbour. Next boat at 12:55. Still, it gave me a good chance to fall into major dispute with the junk sellers who infest Piraeus harbour. One fellow in particular felt the full force of my ire and even if he didn’t understand the language, he cannot have failed to understand the message.
It also gave me a good opportunity to have a nosey around the harbour. In Europe there’s an age limit of 25 years on ferried plying for hire, but Greece (in view of the incredible number of routes in operation) has negotiated an exception. Consequently there are all kinds of time-expired ferries laid off other routes and which have been bought by Greek operators and I know for a fact that many of the old ferries from the English Channel in the heyday of the routes in the early 1990s are out here. I’ll have to have a look at the names of some of the ferries that were parked up here and trace them back to see where they came from.
The hydrofoil Flying Dolphin XVII came in eventually and once we were all stowed aboard, off we shot out of the harbour, only to break down with a bang and a clatter (my dreadful luck was doing it again). But that was eventually fixed and off we shot again, smelling of diesel fumes and exhaust gases.
One thing for which the Saronic Gulf, upon which Piraeus is situated is well-known is its collection of ships. It’s where old merchant ships no longer capable of operating under modern maritime regulations are laid up until the various breaking yards in Turkey can take them in.
I’m not pretending that all of these ships in this photo are laid up – in fact you can see quite clearly that one or two have steam up – but the Bay is littered with stacks of ships just like this and in the absence of the possibility of a trip to beaches in India, this is the place to be for any lover of maritime transport such as Yours Truly.
The ferry made a brief stop at the island of Aegina, which is pretty enough, and then we were back at sea and going on to Agkistri
One thing about the Flying Dolphin that I can’t understand though is that while there’s a small bar on board, it was all closed up. Nowhere to buy a coffee or anything. As I have said on numerous occasions in the past, it’s not simply the question of lack of refreshment, it’s also a total waste of a busines opportunity. A captive audience on a ferry for 55 minutes and no means of enticing them to spend their hard-earned cash.
I was met at Agkistri by a driver from the place where we are staying. He came in the company car, the oldest Fiat Panda to be still in existence and a worthy successor to the original 2CV of the late 1940s (and built for the same reasons too). Now I’m installed in my little room which, although tiny, has all mod cons as well as a balcony overlooking the sea, and I can’t think of any way that I could be more happy and more comfortable than this.
After all of my exertions of the last few days, I crashed out right after dinner and that was that.
