A Traveller’s Tales
By Helen Grubner. Filed in Uncategorized |
Wednesday 15 May-Thursday 16 May 2024
Wednesday began with a walk, catching the first bus of the day to Chania and arriving there with just 10 minutes to spare. Second bus to Heraklion, then another two buses to Sitia… some 300km all up from the west to the east coast of Crete.
In Sitia, as I started to walk in the direction of the Port, I thought it was probably a good idea to have a late lunch/early dinner whilst waiting for my 1930 hours ferry departure for Rhodes. Spotted an idyllic setting at Zorbas where I sat down at a table in the sun by the waters edge. Ended up regretting my choice of eatery as the service there was appalling and when a loose top on a pepper shaker came off, exploding pepper over half of my salad, I was only offered another plate to put the inedible food on.
The uneventful but long and tiring journey on ferry boat PREVELIS took 11 hours. I couldn’t sleep and the aircon meant I was frozen to the bone. After arriving on Rhodes around 0630 hours today, I walked the 1.2km to my accommodation at Knights of the Old Town. They had messaged me to say I was welcome to leave my luggage at reception and if my room was ready, they would be happy to offer me an earlier check-in. However, I could find no reception area and no one to greet me. When I eventually called them, they apologized and said someone would be here around 8. Finally, at 8.30am, two cleaning ladies arrived and much to my delight, I learned that no one had occupied Room 8 last night and it was immediately available.
I’m only here overnight as tomorrow morning I catch a ferry to the island of Kastellórizo. With a coffee, a hot shower and a rest under my belt, around 01400 hours, I set out to find food, more specifically, a restaurant called La Veranda, which I read about on TripAdvisor. On the way there, a woman approached me in the street and we got chatting. Arinna is South African, but she lives in the USA. She wasn’t in need of food but decided to come with me for a beer. Travel is not only about seeing and experiencing new things and places it is very much about meeting people and my encounter today with Arinna seemed somehow meant to be.
Arinna moved on, but I stayed a while longer to finish my Moussaká and beer. Then I noticed a couple at another table who were about to take a selfie, so I offered to take their photo. Paul is from London but lives in Zurich and his partner Lucille is South African. We ended up spending a couple of hours together, drinking beer and conversing about Greece and a lot of other things. I had such a lovely time with them and Arinna earlier and all totally unexpected.
After saying our farewells, I went on a little walkabout around the Old Town, but to be honest, I’m completely knackered now and it will be lights out for me as soon as I have finished this Blog… Living for today.
