As expected, I took a ferry from Venice to Greece, but that is about the only part of my ferry ride that went as planned.
I got to Venice well enough. I got to Venice and it was pouring. I decided that I had to purchase the ferry tickets because I was becoming anxious. I walked around and asked and walked and finally found Minoan Lines. I decided to just buy a ticket and get on board because I was tired and the boat was leaving soon.
On the way to sea, we passed by Venice and I was filled with regret. It was so beautiful. Why hadn’t I stayed? I thought I had made a horrible decision. Would I ever get back to Venice? Or would I just see it in movies. Venice looked so much more majestic than Bologna.
I see why the travel guides recommend against taking the ferry. Everything was overpriced on the boat. I slept on a lounge chair for a few hours. Then I walked around. Then I slept on the floor. I kept waking up, expecting to get to our destination around midnight. It was so cold outside that I couldn’t stay out for more than 10 minutes. It was pitch black. Peering from the arm rails, all I could see was the white crests rising from the boat. Then I woke up and saw that morning had arrived.
My luck wasn’t that bad after all. It turns out that if I had gotten on the ferry as planned – after staying a night in Venice – then I would have missed my plane from Athens to Naxos. Since I had been under the impression that I would get to Athens a day early, I had been planning on getting an early ferry to Naxos or site seeing in Athens. Now, I though maybe I would get a hotel room and go shopping for a wedding present.
All this being said, my vacation planning sucked! I should have taken a plane. Or, should have not gone to Bologna or Italy? Who knows. I am constantly second-guessing myself, but luckily it hasn’t been debilitating. I just didn’t expect to be on a boat for 28+ hours.
Here’s a profile of the passengers on the ferry: Lots of Greeks. They smoke a lot. I think a majority of the Greeks were truck drivers. There were a lot of old folks, including in that group some German, Scandinavian, and British. There were some backpackers.
I finished reading Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris. I liked it but couldn’t help wondering if his other books were better. Halfway through reading Citizen Girl by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus, I was worried I wouldn’t finish it. Happily, it finally engrossed me.
