Not a Very Merry Ferry Experience
Written at 8:07PM on 9-28-06, in the Mediterranean Sea between Greece and Italy
We awoke, or rather I should say, I awoke to another stormy morning in Corfu, Greece. I say I awoke because Jacob had gotten up about three hours earlier, whereas I slept in until roughly 12:30PM. (This was on account of staying up until about 3:30AM). Throughout the night I’d heard indications that the storm had not abated, but I was unready for the torrent that confronted me outside. Sidewalks flooded, rain pouring off the canopies, and heavy sheets of rain pressing inward against the windows. What an irony that Greece should have been the sunniest place I went to and was instead the rainiest!
There’s really not much to be said for the day. I finally got all my blogs reposted, which took a couple hours. Thank goodness there was an open wi-fi signal at Sun Rock! Unfortunately I won’t be reposting the pictures, as it would take a lot more time and I’ve only got a month left anyway. I’ll continue posting new pictures, there just won’t be any from the countries I’ve already been to.
Everyone pretty much spent the day in the common room of Sun Rock. There’s a TV and dvd player, but unfortunately about 90% of the dvds were scratched beyond recognition. I’m not kidding. It looks as though someone took a knife to the disc side of the dvds. I assume this was a product of having a six-year-old and seven-year-old child who spent most of their day playing in the same room as the hostel’s common room.
Having two young boys around (one of which was autistic) made for both an interesting and distracting day. On the one hand, when the kids are settled down, they can provide entertainment. Several of the hostel’s staff members often played with them—the seven-year-old was especially interesting. However, I must say the effect was far less than interesting when they would play computer games with the sound blaring, or else turn up the cd player to maximum volume while we were trying to watch movies. I took it all in stride, accepting that as just part of the hostels homey environment, but others would get a little more frustrated.
Most of the day was spent watching movies. The selection was limited, so everyone resigned to watch The Quiet American again. Since we’d had to contend with kids and computer games while watching it the day before, I think everyone felt they had missed some of the plot. We managed to negotiate for relative silence while we watched it. Personally, this would have been the fourth time I’d seen it so I spent the time working on supplemental material for my novel, glancing only occasionally at the movie.
After that we put on a movie called The Good Thief, with Nick Noltey. Noltey’s voice is just about the most gravel-like voice around. This would have been difficult to understand even with good sound quality in a silent environment. But with the Beatles playing in the background (the seven-year-old kid insisted upon it), it was near-to-impossible. It didn’t help that the movie was fairly confusing anyway. We struggled through it, finishing only after a brief interlude for dinner.
There were brief pauses in the weather’s onslaught, but they allowed for little more than the opportunity to step outside, get one’s feet wet in the puddles, and then return inside, feeling bitter and resentful at the weather. While somewhat disappointed by the weather, I remained optimistic. I had lots of stuff to take care of on my computer, both on and offline. These days gave me the opportunity to get done the things I needed to, while hanging out with some really cool people.
Jacob and I made a brief excursion to a nearby market to get food for the ferry. The market, however, barely constituted a market. It had only the barest of essentials. That’s excluding the entire wall of liquor. The building was hardly larger than the size of a dorm room—food was on one side, miscellaneous cleaning and hygeiene products on another, and liquor on the other side. Gives you kind of a general impression of the amount of drinking to eating that goes on. Probably 50% of the market’s business comes from backpackers in the nearby hostel. I suppose most of the nearby houses are fairly self-sustaining and go to the larger cities to buy groceries, so that’s why. Jacob and I managed to scrounge up so acceptable snacks for the ferry ride, but is was much less than we’d hoped for.
Dinner consisted of the usual salad and bread, with a main course of chicken and potatoes. I struggled with the potatoes, craving to eat the best possible meal I could before setting out on the ferry, but in the end, I had to surrender the tubers to Jacob. Over dinner I spoke more with the Canadian, who I’d not really had the chance to get to know thus far. The guy, Aaron, was from Vancouver, B.C. and the girl, Milaine, was from Manatoba (sp?) in one of the center provinces of Canada, which I don’t recall right off hand. Aaron was traveling around Europe on a general tour; Milaine, who I spent most of the night speak to, was working as a nanny in Luxembourg. She had the sweetest deal! I was envious. She worked with a great family in Luxembourg and still had the opportunity to travel all over Europe in her spare time. She was a really cool person and I regret only talking to her the day before I left. I suppose that’s why you should always make an effort to get to know everyone in the hostel. You never know what kind of great people you’re going to meet.
So I spent most of the night talking to Milaine. Jacob tried to go to bed early, as we had to get up at 5AM, but he didn’t succeed. He’d been fairly melancholy for the whole of the day. I didn’t blame him. He’d come all the way from Munich only to get stuck in a hostel while it stormed outside for three-some-what days. Not a great way to end your trip.
We ended up sticking around in the common room until about 2AM. By then, there was only Nikky (the Australian), Trey, and John (other Americans) left, and they were playing some card game we didn’t know. We were both tired and resigned ourselves to a few hours of sleep before forcing ourselves awake to catch the ferry. So that’s what we did. As soon as I shut my eyes, I felt as though I was forcing them open again to the sound of my watch’s alarm. At least the rain had stopped. We finished packing up and met the hostel proprietor who would be driving us to the other side of the island to the ferry’s port.
The car ride was a bit hair-raising. I think it’s a general philosophy among Mediterranean-bordering countries to drive like a maniac. Maybe it’s something in the water. Who knows? All I know is that I was staring out in front of the car, simply waiting for some person or car to appear and send us hurtling forward. (There were no seatbelts.) Needless to say, we survived, arriving at the port at about 5:30.
Jacob gave his girlfriend a call and then we wandered over to may our 24 euro “tax” to get on the ferry. The sky was clouded over again, and in the distance, thunder was rumbling. At least it was warm. Down on the docks next to where we would board the ferry, there was a pack of three dogs. This pack, apparently considered cars its mortal enemy. It didn’t matter the size of the car, they would run in front and start barking. One would take point while the other two trotted along the car’s sides, as if looking for a vulnerable spot in the “creature.” It was funny to watch, but none of the drivers appeared all too happy.
The ferry showed up on time and we promptly boarded. On board, we were directed to a place to stay. This ferry, it seemed, was more exacting of its rules than the other one. Apparently we would not have the opportunity to sleep inside on the carpet and would instead be forced onto the actual ship’s deck. It began to rain just as we boarded, but fortunately part of the deck was covered. Jacob and I were among the first on and quickly staked our territory, guarding it with the ferocity of those dogs we’d just witnessed. Nobody contended our claim, regretfully. Content with our space, we laid out our bed materials—for me, this consisted of taking all of my clothes and laying them out in a vaguely rectangular area. I can personally attest to the fact that a couple pairs of pants and shirts do not make for much of a mat. It would have to do, though.
I wasted no time in sleeping into my bed liner. Jacob seemed in no hurry to sleep. I was determined, however, to spend as much of the abysmal ferry ride in a semi-unconscious state. Popping in a couple Mr. Tylenol PMs, I promptly drifted away. (It didn’t really take much, as I’d had only about two and a half hours of sleep). There’s not really much to be said on how I spent my time between then and now. I really did sleep most of the day, from about 7AM until 5PM. I would wake up off and on, exploring the ferry some and eating. Whether from a lack of sleep or the drowsing effects of the Tylenol, I was out of it.
The deck has turned out to be a pretty lively place. Nearby are several large groups of people, one of which has a guitar and has been serenading the other deck-goers with various songs in a language I don’t know. At any one time, there’s at least half a dozen people sleeping. This ferry isn’t nearly as luxurious as the other one—not that the other one could really be called that. It was luxurious in the same way you might say an apartment in the Bronx was “relatively nice.” Anyway, it will suffice. I downloaded a movie while at the hostel, so Jacob and I will probably watch that after a little while. I suppose you could say that it will be the “highlight” of the ferry ride. Oh, and it’s started to rain and thunder outside again. I just hope it’s not like that when we get to Venice.
From Venice I will leave immediately for La Spezia and from there, to the small town of La Ramaggiore (or something to that effect), which is the first (or last) town on the Cinque Terra. The hiking will be a welcome change after about 36 hours of traveling. Jacob gets to look forward to about 48 to 72 hours of traveling, all things considered. After arriving in Venice, he catches a train back to Frankfurt where he’ll get on a plane and head home. I find myself a bit envious of his departure. I still have a month worth of experiences to look forward to, but it would definitely be nice to know where you’re going to sleep and know you have a shower waiting for you in the morning. I just try and remind myself that when I get back I have to get a job—and considering that fact is definitely a good argument for continuing on here in Europe for as long as I possibly can. Besides, there’s so much more to see!
Tags: Corfu, ferry, Greece, Sun Rock, Travel
gregbilsland
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