Andros: Part 2

So, to continue the story:

Julie and I finish up our rounds in the Rafina cafes and head down to the ferry that has been docked since around midday. Based on the looks of the ship, it seemed that we were just hitching a ride on a huge cargo ship over to the island, but once we got up closer we saw that it was actually quite luxurious. Escalators up to the main seating area with comfy couches and a little snack bar/cafe area--not half bad.

We found a spot and sat down eager to get going; there was weather on the way and we didn't want to get stuck in it. Within 5 second of our butts hitting cushion a voice called out to us in English: "Hey, where are you guys from?" Could it be? Another American on their way to Rafina?

Turns out it was a 20-something year old guy named Matt who had grown up in California but was currently living in Athens, had been for the past couple years. We got to talking with him and found out that his family owned a house on Andros and he was just going to check in and make sure it hadn't burned to the ground. As the conversation went on, he started to tell us about all of the different villages on Andros and reassured us, to the contrary of what we had been told in Rafina, that Andros was a beautiful island with tons of stuff to do. By this point, Julie and I were getting pretty excited and continued to pepper him with questions about everything from the island's bus system to the best place to eat once we got there. The one drawback that he did point out to us was this: almost nobody on the island spoke english.

By midway through our conversation, both Julie and I, and Matt for that matter, had realized that we might have a little trouble getting around once we landed so, Matt made a proposition: A greek speaking guide(him), a bed, food and transport to his house on the island for up to 2 nights, for 40 euro a night. Sounded like music to our ears as you might imagine, we agreed and looked forward to a night of new friends and good food, little did we know... (had to put that in there)

When we got off the boat, it was snowing and the wind was unbelievable, we ran. Matt was driving a scooter/motorcycle thing and couldn't give us a ride with him, so we split up while he went to the grocery store to get food for dinner. He arranged for a bus to take us to another spot on the island where a taxi would be waiting for us to finish the journey to "Stavria," Matt's house. Julie got into the back of a small van that was stuffed full of people fresh off the ferry, I hopped into the front seat--I was quickly approaching 36 hours without sleep.

As we drove, I slowly began to realize that I had forgotten the directions Matt had told me, I had no idea where we were going, I couldn't understand the greek signs or words of the driver and, on top of all of this, my eyelids were getting extremely heavy. I tried to remember the name of Matt's grandfather, repeating it over and over in my head, but it wasn't right, I knew it wasn't. I resigned myself to having forgotten the one direction we had gotten, I just hoped that Julie was aware enough to have remembered...she was.

Let me just say, for the record, the chances of me making it to that house that night would have been slim to none without Julie in the car/bus with me, she saved the day, big time.

We reached the taxi meeting point after about 45 minutes on winding mountain roads and blinding snow. We jumped out and made the quick transfer of baggage into the trunk of the cab. I sat down in the front seat again, Julie in the back with another greek girl who, by the grace of god, spoke english. There was amazing greek polka music blasting from the car stereo as we shut the doors and began the second leg of the journey, I was loving every second of it.

Turns out, it was the cabbie's first week on the job, we couldn't find the house. A few phone calls later and after a lot of high volume communication between the backseat girl and the driver, we finally located the house in time for the faint single headlight of Matt's scooter to appear coming up the hill behind us.

We unloaded our gear and ran for the house, it was freezing cold and snowing with high winds...the blizzard had begun. We made it to the front door and Matt tried the key in the lock. Didn't open. He tried again, same result. We were locked out.

to be continued...


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On another note, I have managed to edit a few shots from Andros and they are posted here.