Mykonos Disaster

Well...Craig's and my trip to Mykonos was a huge disaster. Let me just first state, that the day started out with a mile long walk around the port to get to our ferry because the Athens taxi drivers went on strike AND they blocked all the buses in. We decided to take the 5:45pm ferry instead of the 7am one. We ended up taking a highspeed one, so it only took us 3 hours to get from Piraeus to Mykonos.

 

We got in around 9, and what do you know...the whole island had a blackout. It was pitch black. Our plan was to find the hotel where our friends were staying. Instead we were mobbed by people trying to get us to stay at their hotels, and we ended up going with this one lady back to her villa. It was beautiful and cheap, but my friend was worried that it would be too far away from the downtown area. The lady kept telling us that nobody downtown would have any rooms available and to just stay the night and figure it out in the morning. At this time, the electricity had come back on. Craig wanted to leave, so she dropped us off at the bus stop. The only problem was we didn't have any cash...and the nearest ATM was downtown...so we walked probably 3 miles down the main road with our luggage to the city center.

 

We got there and tried to get ahold of our friend, but the call cut out. We walked all over downtown looking for either a hotel to stay at or for people we knew. Everywhere was booked, and we didn't find anybody. We decided to get a cab to take us to a hotel that might have somewhere to stay, and we ended up waiting in the taxi line for over an hour. By this time it was after midnight, we still had all of our luggage, nowhere to stay, and didnt' know where our friends were. In the taxi line we ran into this couple from Belgium that was staying back at the first villa. We decided to ride back with them and just stay there for the night. We got all the way back, and we could not find the lady. We were in the more remote part of the island once again with nowhere to stay.

 

We walked down to the market, which had been open when we drove by in the taxi 10 minutes prior, but of course it was closed. We had no choice but to start walking all the way back to the city. We found the bus stop and this time we had change, so we hopped on the bus (now it was about 1am), and he dropped us off at some strange location. Craig started to freak out and have a panic attack about the whole situation, but I was just laughing about how ridiculous of a failure it was turning out to be. I knew we would be fine.

 

We came across a hotel, and checked to see if there were any availabilities. There were! However...it turned out to be a luxury hotel, and the room was 300 Euro. I thought we should leave and keep looking because that is a ridiculous amount of money, but Craig's anxiety was too much for him to handle and he refused to leave. I said that I didn't feel comfortable paying for half of that bill, and he said that he would pay for the entire thing. He was afraid he would pass out from his anxiety. I felt really bad, but I knew he couldn't be rational about the situation while he was having a panic attack, so I was trying to be the voice of reason and say that spending that much money for the hotel would impact the rest of his trip, but he absolutely refused to leave, so we ended up staying there. Not only did we stay in the luxury hotel, but we were given the biggest room they had. I have never seen a bed so big in my entire life. Four people could have easily fit in there. I took a shower and went to bed, but I had a really hard time falling asleep because Craig's anxiety was so bad that it was causing me to have anxiety.

 

The next morning we got up and had breakfast, but Craig just wanted to leave the island and head back to Piraeus. I was really bummed that we literally did nothing in Mykonos, but I didn't want to put him in any position of having another panic attack. We got our tickets for the ferry, and as we were trying to figure out which way to head to the port, a Greek man in a tiny scooter truck contraption asked if we needed any help. He told us he would give us a ride. Craig was sitting in the back of the truck, and as I went to hop on the back, the man insisted that I sit in the front with him. The cabin of this scooter-truck thing was absolutely tiny, and I was cramped in their with this large man. It was the most ridiculous moment of Craig's and my life. I have a picture of it. I can't wait to post it. It is so funny. We arrived at the port, and had about an hour to kill. This time we did not take a highspeed ferry, so it took us about 5 hours to get back to Piraeus. Fortunately, I was able to knock out for a great portion of the time, which was nice because I can't usually sleep while traveling. Once I woke up they were playing Monk and House, which are two of my favorite TV shows, so I was content. We arrived back in Piraeus, and had to walk the mile back to the ship. Once we entered security getting on the ship, we got "randomly" selected for a drug test. Good news! I passed! I got all the drugs out of my system!!! (Kidding...I don't do drugs). I saw on the list though that somebody earlier failed it. I don't understand why people would risk losing such a once in a lifetime opportunity for something so stupid.

 

Now I am back in my cabin. I took a shower, and now I'm watching Toy Story 3. I'm really bummed with how Mykonos turned out. It was an absolutely beautiful place, and I would have loved to have actually taken advantage of it. I did manage to get some pictures, not many, but a few. Hopefully someday I will be able to return and actually experience it. For now, though, I'm just going to laugh at the whole situation, and enjoy the rest of my time in Greece.