Day 9 - Corinth
The streets of Corinth were full of stray dogs. On our way to the bus station to visit the ancient city, Chandra decided to pet one of the friendlier looking of these strays.
Suddenly at least four dogs were following us at all times. They also got into fights with each other, barked a lot and almost got hit by a few cars. We were definitely causing a ruckus. The Greeks we walked by tried to yell at the dogs to get them to be quiet, and a couple of men had to break up a dog fight around us.
We went to where we were told the bus stop was, but the kiosk there didn’t sell tickets for Ancient Corinth. We finally asked in the nearby cafe. There was only one person who spoke English. He told us it was the right place, and to wait and he would tell us which bus to get on. We went around the corner and there was another kiosk there that sold our ticket. And then every Greek person in the cafe seemed to know we were trying to go to Ancient Corinth - because every time a different bus pulled up, someone would say yes or no to us. Sometimes they were wrong, but it was nice of them to try!
We finally got on the bus and walked around the ancient city for a while in the pouring rain. After wards, we went to eat lunch. We were the only people in the restaurant. We sat down and ordered.
Within the next ten minutes the restaurant was full. The waiter said we were his lucky charm and the reason they were so busy.
We walked back to the sketchiest bus stop ever and got the bus back to Corinth. We grabbed our luggage from the hotel and wandered off to find the bus stop, which was supposed to be nearby. We walked around in circles for a long time, until finally we pulled the same trick of following buses. We got a bus station, and she told us we had to wait on the corner, and we had to take the bus that would drop us off at the main bus station near the canal. We went back to the corner, which happened to be in front of a bakery. Chandra went inside to get some drinks and some baklava for us. She came out with two sprites, but no baklava.
Apparently she’d been trying to tell them what she wanted, and they didn’t understand, because they told her “No,” sold her the sprites and she left, confused.
I really wanted baklava, so I went in. I looked at the girl, and I pointed to the baklava and said “δυο” (pronounced ‘theo’, meaning two). I was catching on to a bit of Greek, I guess. I got the baklava and came outside. Chandra was amazed.
We eventually found our way to Olympia that night, though we were yelled at in Greek by the bus station cafe worker and the lady in the bathroom.
It was late, we got the last bus to Olympia. We were wandering the streets, heading towards where we thought our hotel was. A Greek man on a bike rode by and said hello. We said hello back, and continued on our way. He followed us. He eventually came up besides me and said “You are Montgomery, right?” I blinked, confused and a bit creeped out. “Yes… How did you know?”
“You are going wrong way. My hotel is this way. You have reservation,” he replied. I guess we were late and he decided to track us down. Makes sense, since we were his only guests that night.
Day 10 - Olympia to Athens
We went to see the ancient city the next morning. We were surprised that the group of people ahead of us were decked out in Harley Davidson paraphernalia. Apparently ancient ruins really are for everyone!
Chandra got attacked by a giant bug while we were walking around. She screamed like a girl, which I suppose is forgivable, and I had to save her from it. She didn’t make my job easy, however, bouncing up and down and twitching the whole time I was trying to get it off.
We took the bus back to Athens that afternoon, since we were flying out the next day.
The bus arrived at a completely different station from the one we had been at before. I’m convinced this station was barely in Athens at all. But we had to get off, so we wandered around trying to figure out how to get into central Athens. Eventually we found a bus which would drop us near a metro station.
It did, indeed, drop us off in the city centre, near a metro stop called Omonia. We’d never been there before, and we soon found out why. All the things people say about Athens being a dangerous or dirty city made sense in Omonia. We were being watched, the entire time. We finally asked a non-threatening looking man how to get to the Metro. Thankfully, the Greek word for metro is metro, or we would have been extra lost.
When we finally got to the station, we found some new “friends.” Two men came into the train next to us and looked us up and down rather forwardly. One of them followed us out of the metro when we got off. It was creepy.
We had to catch the tram to our hotel, which was outside the city. I was starting to get more than a little annoyed, trying to drag my suitcase through all of these strange places, a fact that I was taking out on poor Chandra. I snapped at her about where we were standing in line and moved.
The tram finally came and we joined the crowd to get on. Usually, I keep my purse in front of me at all times so I can watch it. But in trying to get my bag and myself onto the crowded tram, it was still behind me. I went to grab it back when I saw that the man behind me had his sweater draped over my purse and his hand on my wallet inside. I gave him a look and the bastard smiled. I yanked my purse away from him, too flustered to say anything to anyone, and by the time I turned around again he was gone.
When we finally stood safely in the tram, I told Chandra what had happened.
“It’s another adventure!” she said. I gave her a look that said I was not impressed.
“I’m done with adventures.” I said dryly.
The end. Mostly. Except for us almost not getting back to England because of volcanic ash. But we did, eventually!
Chandra’s attitude was contagious, though, and in the end I did agree that our misadventures were the best parts, because they gave us great stories to tell when we got back.
history, roman, travel | Hezabelle July 7, 2010 | 
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