An Appetite for Adventure

The original plan was to fly from Naples to Athens, store our luggage to see the Acropolis and the Parthenon, grab our bags and then get on an overnight ferry to Chios, the eastern-most of the Greek islands. The ferry docked at around 4AM and we were going to just get a hotel room once we got to Chios.

The more I mulled over this plan, the more I realized this was a nightmare — or a massive argument — waiting to happen. We scrambled to book a hotel in Chios and decided we were being too ambitious thinking we could get into Athens and back and still make the ferry. While waiting for our flight in Naples, a lightbulb went off: You can buy suitcases at airports! We could barely wait to arrive in Athens if only because we could say farewell to the broken suitcase ordeal.

Sure enough, we scored a relatively affordable suitcase to replace the busted one. Sean’s exact words to the cashier were, “We need something as big as possible for as cheap as possible.” In a shop full of €1500 Tumi specials, she managed to hook us up with some bottom of the barrel model that did the job just fine. We were even able to confirm our Chios hotel at the free internet kiosks at newly built Athens airport.

After a uneventful 1.5 hour bus ride to the port of Piraeas, we ended up at the wrong departure gate for our ferry. And, of course, this just happens to be the sketchiest and most isolated of all the gates. After being assaulted by gypsy children huffing Axe body spray aerosal, nearly getting assaulted when trying to entire a restricted military zone and schlepping our bags in the brutal heat for a good mile, we finally boarded our ferry.

Greek ferries are an adventure unto themselves. Often disregarding the schedules released only a week before departure, unique characters abound, especially in economy class. Only two ferries per day head out to Chios, a 9-10 hour journey away. Since we missed the more amenable noonish ferry, we slipped out of port at 7PM. Arrival estimate: 4AM. Fun times. After eating and watching the sun dive into the ocean, we tried to dose, only to be awoken by a man screaming into his phone as if he was shouting across the ocean to whoever was on the receiving end. Top this off with the fact that everyone in coach class was egging him on, including a bunch of very inebriated twentysomethings. Making yet another key decision, we headed to an empty vestibule where other passengers lay sprawled out on makeshift beds, finding a quiet, if not quite comfortable, night’s rest. We arrived in Chios at 4AM, grabbed a cab to our agro-tourism hotel and promptly passed out, happy we made it in one piece and vying never to do an overnight ferry again.

[08.06.02] Athens & Ferry to Chios