May 4: Amorgos to Athens

I was woken up around 4:00am by a bright light filling the room, followed by a loud clap of thunder. For the next 30 minutes I was treated to the most fantastic lightning show and thunder concert. I'm not sure how, but I did manage to fall back asleep until my alarm went off at 5:45am.

I was up and packed and ready to go for 6:15am. I carried my suitcase downstairs, where the driver was already waiting with the van. About 6 other people came down from their rooms as well. They were a group of Americans who had been attending a yoga retreat at Aegiali's Hotel down the hill and were supposed to leave yesterday, but all of the ferries to/from Amorgos were cancelled because of the wind. There were no rooms at Aegiali's so they had spent the night at Vigla Hotel. They had had to rebook their flights, hotels, etc. because of the cancelled ferries the day before - ouch! I asked them if they had trip interruption insurance and only one of them did - or knew what I was talking about. Clueless.

The ferry was running a bit late so I got to admire Aegiali from the port:

I was hoping that I could catch a video of the melody the Blue Star ferries play when they are docking. It's quite jolly and distinctive. Sadly, the Blue Star Paros wasn't playing it when it docked at Aegiali.

It's a 7-hour ferry ride on the Blue Star from Amogos to Athens because it's the "milk run". After Amorgos, it stops at Donousa, Naxos, and Paros before heading to Piraeus. There's no internet on board, and the entertainment options and amenities are limited, so it's a boring journey. I spent a few extra dollars to rent a private cabin with a bed so I could sleep for the first part of the sailing.

We arrived at Piraeus around 3:00pm. The ferry docked at a different gate than usual, possibly because a cruise ship was docked at it's normal gate. Anyway, I had to call Alexandra, the taxi driver, to tell her I was at a different gate. Thank god for cell phones, because she zipped over to get me, and I was bloody lucky to get a taxi. The gate was at the farthest end of the port and nowhere near the bus, subway, and regular taxi stands. As Alexandra pulled up a bunch of people lunged to get in the car and she had to wave them off. I felt like a fucking rock star getting into the back seat. As we drove off, I saw at least 50 people from the ferry dragging their luggage along the road looking confused and stressed as they tried to find their way from the gate to somehwere where they could get transportation.