Here is a story of the craziest 48 hours that I have experienced while traveling. In October of 2022, Chris and I spent 9 days island hopping in Greece for our honeymoon.
Here is a story of the craziest 48 hours that I have experienced while traveling.
In October of 2022, Chris and I spent 9 days island hopping in Greece for our honeymoon. While we were at dinner in Paros, Chris got a call from the shuttle service we had arranged to pick us up the next morning in Santorini. The shuttle service lets him know there is a strike going on with the ferry workers and that a lot of ferries have been canceled and asked if we had booked a new ferry and what the details of our arrival would be. Plain and simple, we had no idea. Chris got off the phone and we started looking up what he was talking about and if it effected us as well as alternate options to get to Santorini. We quickly found out it did and booked a different ferry, without a problem. The only issue was we had originally been on an express ferry and now we were scheduled for a ferry that was much smaller and had several stops.
The next morning comes and we head to the port and see the smallest ferry, i immediately was nervous, i get sea sick easily. The first ferry we took was about the size of a cruise ship and this one was probably a tenth of its size. We board the boat and head to our seats to find out the seats sit at sea level. I tried to read and relax but had to close my eyes and try to sleep. We were on the boat for about 3 hours and I was doing my best. Finally, I looked at Chris who was also struggling and said I think I’m going to be sick. This was the wrong call, once you admit it might happen, you’ve sealed your fate. I ran to the back of the boat and a holster had switched the bathroom sign and when I opened the door it was a cleaning closet.
Once we arrived in Santorini, luckily the shuttle service we had arranged was already there. He helped us get our luggage in the van and we headed off to our hotel. From the port, you can not see anything but a long and winding road, leading to what looked like nowhere. He had water bottles for us and let us know it would be about a 20 minute drive. Already being motion sick, I was terrified of what this ride was going to be like. Chris held my hand the whole way and thank goodness cause that was the only thing grounding me. I’m sure that if I wasn’t already motion sick, this drive would have been fine.
While we were on the ferry, Chris got a message on what’s app from our hotel saying that someone would meet us outside of the McDonald’s on thr Main Street. We had finally made it to Fira and could see rhe McDonalds ahead and the tallest man was standing on the sidewalk. He flagged us down and confirmed we were Chris and Katie and then asked where our bags were. Before I knew, he had our bags and was high taling it up and down steps and around corners, navigating the maze of streets in hyper speed. Atleast it felt fast but this man was well over a foot taller than me, I’m 5’2 on a good day with shoes on. He talked to us the entire way to the hotel, asking us how our trip had been and what we were looking to do while we were there. He lets us know that the hotel is up ahead and all you can see from the walkway is a gate to a patio, a beautiful patio but a patio none the less. He opens the gate and leads us to a table where he tells about the area and how to order breakfast, which will be delivered to our room.
He asks what our plans are for our time on Santorini and we let him know we had tickets to the Greek wedding show that night and then want to rent an ATV for the rest of our time there. He asked if we booked it yet, which we didn’t and he pulls out a price sheet with different size ATVs and lets us know that if we wanted to, he could book it for us. We tell we will think about it and that we’d like to put our bags in our room and relax before we head to dinner. At this point I am still wondering where the rooms are. He leads us to the narrowest spiral staircase going down with rock walls on both sides. We end up on a level below and there are 2 doors and he unlocks a wooden garden gate door to a small veranda a jacuzzi overlooking the caldera and another door to our room. The room was built into the side of the rock wall, high arched ceilings ginormous bathroom. The concierge set out luggage down and told us to let him know what we decide on the ATV. We relaxed for a bit as I still needed some time to feel a little more human again. Pm our way out we decided to stop and tell him we would like him
To book the ATV for us. He nodded in response and said, “I know them, nice people. What time do you want it to be ready for you? We let him know 9am worked and that we would put our breakfast order in via what’s app and went out for dinner before the Greek wedding show.
We enjoyed a fantastic dinner during sunset on a rooftop restaurant near the venue. The Greek wedding show was amazing and way more interactive than we ever thought as well as came with food which we did not realize, but was a pleasant surprise. We had sent the concierge our breakfast order via what’s app and let him know what time to bring it. The next morning we hear a knock at the door at the time we told him and he asked if we wanted to eat on the patio, which sounded lovely. A minute or two later he returned with the latest tray full of food and drinks, yogurt, fresh fruit, an omelette, tea, coffee and a basket full of bread. The cost of the room included breakfast everyday but we had no idea it would be this amazing. We asked if we could sit on the lounge seat next to the jacuzzi and he set our tray down and told us he’d be back for it later and not to worry about it, as well as to meet him upstairs a couple minutes before 9 to walk to meet the people for the ATV. We sat in the sun and enjoyed our breakfast before getting ready for the day.
At quarter to 9 we headed up to see our concierge, he was in his small office, that looked almost like a closet carved into the rock. As soon. As he saw, he smiled and said,”You are ready? Great” and started up the steps and out the front gate. We wondered back through the maze of streets while he told us they’d meet us near the McDonalds that. He has met us at. He pointed to a bank with an ATM and let us know that is a good one to take money out of to pay the ATV company in cash, so we headed to the bank. Moments later, we look over at where we left our concierge and two men on street bikes pulled up and started talking to our concierge. We walked back over and he turned to us and said, “They’ll take you to the ATV.” and gestured like, go ahead, get on the bikes, as if this was totally normal. Chris and I looked at each other in shock and then each climbed on the back of one of the bikes, waved to our concierge and off we went. I had no idea what we had got ourselves into, but now we were separated and one of us had a slightly large amount of cash in their pocket. What felt like forever but was probably only 3 minutes, we arrived at an ATV shop. My nerves settled, slightly, maybe this was okay, We got off their bikes and they asked for the cash, gave us both helmets and linked to an ATV that they had out and waiting for us near the entrance to their lot. We paid them, out on the helmets and were on our way.
While this ended up being the wildest travel expense and makes for an incredible story, it was an emotional roller coaster to live through, but it’s definitely one we shared many times. Moral of the story, you never know what you will get into or see while traveling.