Three Ferries to Greece or Two Innocents Abroad In A Honda Accord

Saturday 18th November 2006

We had an relatively good nights sleep considering we were slap bang in the middle of Volos town centre.  In the morning Dave spoke with the guy behind the desk who said it was OK for us to stay another night.  This was a weight off our minds as we then didn't have to find another hotel in the locale.  While Dave was chatting with the man at reception he was turning customers away like they were going out of fashion.

We left the hotel and checked that the car was OK outside Nick's, then did some retail therapy in the local supermarket.  We then walked passed the hotel and the hospital to the beaches at the end of the road.  It was blazingly hot and although all the beach bars were closed, there were people on the beach in swimwear and at least one brave soul in the drink.  We walked back to the church of Agios Konstantinos by the marina and after lunch in a local taverna we meandered back to the Hotel Sandi.

On the way we passed the University building and saw a huge banner in Greek draped across the railings.  As we walked back there were people standing and waiting at some of the harbour front ouzeries for tables because they were so packed with customers.  Back in our hotel room we looked in the Lonely Planet guide and discovered that November 17th was the anniversary of the Athens Polytechnic protests and the killing of students by the Military Junta.

We wandered out for an evening meal with a hankering for pasta and we went into a pizzeria but left immediately as it had a smell of rancid fat about it.  Further along the harbour towards the University building we found an Italian restaurant called the "Gondola" which had the same name as our friends Sam and Hazel's Italian restaurant in London Colney.  We sat outside on our own and this prompted the waiter to ask where we were from.  When we said England he gave us a resigned smile as if only mad English would sit outside on a cold November evening as we were obviously not Greek, as they were all indoors in the warm!!

The pasta was excellent and we chose a red Naoussa from the wine list and after coffee we went back to the hotel.  All night long cars were screaming up and down the road with their horns blasting and motor bikes were racing up and down the main streets.  Needless to say we didn't sleep well and we were travelling off early the following morning.