Day 8 - The Escape

Learning from yesterdays lesson, we went down to the reception first thing in the morning to see if there are any ferries. The tour agency also promised to call us first thing in the morning with instructions on how to escape this damn island. The guy at the reception told us that the tour agency gave us a call and told us to leave our tickets. Huh? Leave what tickets? Whats happening to our ferry? Are there ferries? Who's giving us new tickets? The guy had no idea. He took down a message he didn't understand and didn't transfer the call to our room because he didn't want to "wake us up". WTF? Who doesn't transfer such an important call? I bet if the hotel was on fire he wouldn't call us and just let us burn in hell! We told him to call the person back and find out wtf he was talking about. But he didn't know the guys name and when we called the number, we had no answer. He told us to eat whilst he tries to contact the guy he doesn't remember. This was when I got attacked by a cat. I'm sitting at the table scoffing honey and cakes with sandwhiches down my throat when this cat leaps onto my lap and tries to steal my food. In my panic I threw the cat onto the ground which sat there staring at me whilst I ate. I chose to ignore the cat who wanted food and ended up pawing at my jeans and almost ripping it to shreds. Meanwhile the reception guy is still trying to call the guy he doesn't know back.

We pulled out our tour information sheet and find a few more numbers to call. No one was answering any of the phones. This was when this chick rocks up who organises tours for the various islands. She came to the hotel to tell the other people staying there that all the hydrofoils were cancelled due to the weather. The larger ferries were still running but thats no bloody help to us is it? We sat at reception for the next hour trying to figure out what to do whilst trying to make the various calls. We finally got in touch with the guy who called who told us that we can catch the 1pm ferry to Tinos and then change a ferry to Santorini. The catch? Theres a 5hour wait at Tinos and when we do get to Santorini, it'll be 2am in the morning. WTF!? So we called the main branch of the tour agency which is situated in Athens and not Mykonos and the chick there tells us the same thing despite the fact that yesterday she had promised that she will book us flights off the island. We asked her what happened to the flight so shes like, oh, I'll see what I can arrange and then calls back to tell us that all flights to Santorini has been booked out. Our only option is to catch the ferries to arrive at Santorini past midnight. So I start chucking a fit asking wtf are we going to do for the 5hours at Tinos whilst waiting for the damn connecting ferry with all our luggage? The bitch says "I don't know. Go have coffee." At this point I was about to explode and vomit cake all over the reception because I was so pissed off. We asked her if we go to Santorini, can she gaurantee that we can get back to Athens on the day we've planned because we need to catch a flight to Istanbul. And if we miss those flights are they going to pay for it. She's like, you've got travel insurance, thats what its for. @#%*)$@#_$*#%!*@#$%*&@!#$_!%*$@#%$_#!*^_#$@*^

*Insert tantrum here*

We decided that we don't want to risk it, knowing our luck so far so we decided to ask to go back to Athens. This part was actually quite funny because when Moishii was talking on the phone, he had the most desperate voice saying "Look, is there ANYWAY AT ALL that we can get off this island!?!??!" The woman points out theres the 2am Santorini option where we will arrive on a totally foreign island with no idea where our hotel is. "Look! We just want to get OFF THIS ISLAND!! Even if we go to Athens!" hahahaha Someone sounded like they've been trapped on this island for 3 months and not 1 extra day. We decided to screw it. We're booking a flight to Athens! We called the local travel agent and found out that there was only 3 more seats left on the plane. This is when we all screamed out, "YES BOOK THE SEATS!!". We had our booking and we were ready to get out of here!!!

Meanwhile, whilst this whole big incident was unfolding before our eyes, these 2 aussies rocked up the reception with their luggage ready to check out. We had to break the news to them that their ferrie is also cancelled. They looked at us like we just slapped them in the face and then slapped their boobs. They asked us wtf are they going to do. We answered "Wait in the reception like us". So they did. We went into town to do some last minute shopping and pick up our tickets which resulted in a group hug, made our way back to the hotel to find the Aussie chicks sleeping at reception. I mean what type of sickos really listen to us and stay at reception!?

Oh, we saw the $40 woman again. And the Crazy Hat Woman. And the Constipated woman. Moishii got burped in the face when we were shopping and I got picked up by a 60yr old guy at the local mini market who started telling me how beautiful I am and whether I'm single or Married etc. This all happened because some asshole was too cheap arse to buy a drink at the local sandwhich store and sent me to the mini market to buy them a can of coke. This is a screw that goes on the list.

We made our way to the airport which cost us twice as much as getting to the ferry port despite the fact that it was half the distance. We got there where we weren't allowed to check in and got shooed away by security. WTF? After waiting for about 15mins they finally decided to let us check in after they had a coffee and a cigarette. I stupidly paid $6 for this roll of cheese deep fried in pastry which almost made me throw up all over the xray machine. We sat down and waited for our flight and realised that we got seat numbers 9a and 9c with someone sitting in the middle. WTF? When we got onto the tiny twin engine plane we realised that all rows are missing seat B and E. o_O Ok.....The flight takes off and we made a VERY BUMPY way to Athens. It may have been a 20min flight, but I lost 3 years off my life because of that ride! The air hostess starts serving orange juice, and 2 rows before they get to us, they run back to their seats and strap on their seat belts. Not only did we not get our OJ (What is it with us and OJ?) but we had a rollercoaster ride of our life. I've flown on planes since I was 2 months old. Flying doesn't do anything for me. However, this is the first time in my LIFE that I have gripped onto the arms of the seat for my dear life. I mean if there was a dead bird on board that would stop the shaking and turbulence I would've licked the damn thing if I had to. 10mins into the flight I hear this loud POP which caused me to grip the first thing I could lay my hands on. I look out of the window to see this peice of metal sticking out from the body of the plane. !@#^@#%&$@#%%^ After a VERY shaky landing, everyone starts getting up from their seats before the damn plane stops. We get off the plane and then realise that the really loud POP we heard was the flaps that open for the wheels. Would've been nice to know that before the landing.....

Here is the bit where I explain what happens after arriving in Athens. I don't know wtf possessed us to do the following.......

We realised that we will be arriving in Athens the same day that our friend is also arriving in Athens. Our immediate thought? Lets wait at the airport for his flight. We went to information and found out that a flight from London will be coming in at 5:20pm. It was 2:30pm. We *could* go to the hotel and check in and then come back......but then we would probably get screwed by paying $100 for travelling or that we would miss our friend. 3 hours wasn't so long. Besides, we had alot of stuff we could do. Like organise our accomodation for Athens and Istanbul. First things first, FOOD. Knowing how expensive everything in greece is, and us being at the airport meant everything will cost more we opted for Maccas. I mean there is only so many pitas and souvlakis you can have in a row before you get seriously constipated. After spending $20 on maccas and me almost breaking my neck by sitting on a broken bench with a guy who looked like he was going to vomit on us from drinking too much beer at Maccas, we went down to the arrivals lounge and found ourselves some free Internet terminals.

Sending off a few very important emails and arranging accomodation for Athens and Istanbul, we had finished all our errands about 4. Only 1.5hrs til our friend arrives. Wrong. The flight has been delayed for 2 hours. Yep......we're faced with the same problem. do we wait the extra 3.5 hours? I don't wtf we were thinking when we found ourselves some seats and sat at arrivals. Luckily we seated ourselves next to a coffee shop. I was hoping the smell of grinded coffee will keep us awake and we wouldn't actually need to buy a coffee. What I didn't count on was that the smell will be so enticing we spend over $10 on coffee.

To help kill time, we decided to make welcome signs. The problem was we had no cardboard and no paper. Even the newsagency doesn't sell them. We ended up tearing up some envelopes and a greetings card and proceeded to make our welcome signs. Sniffing texta fumes is really fun when you have alot of time to waste. When the flight finally touches down, we race to the gates with all our luggage holding signs like raving lunatics. We got our camera ready to take a photo and video of our friend's reaction when he sees us. We got told off by the security guard for filming a restricted area. He looks like he wanted to grab the camera off Moishii and shove it up his arse. That would have been interesting. Camera goes off and we wait. And we wait. And we wait some more. WTF was he?! An hour passes and so does a horde of people. Did we miss our friend? Did he go out a different exit? We start panicking. Our hearts are racing, our stomache is knotted and we're hyperventilating. We finally see our friend walk by. But he wasn't walking towards customs/exit. He was walking in the direction of the other end of the airport. Was he going to a different belt to collect his luggage? What if he goes out the nearest exit which is the other side of the airport. We ask the security guard as to what is happening and apparently the airline has lost a bit of luggage and people are taking their time filling out lost luggage forms. Nah......that wouldn't happen to our friend. Maybe he just like to dwindle and take it easy.

He finally comes out of the exit with a look of shock/horror/disgust with a bit of delight rolled in. We jump him for a big group hug. He was thrilled! (I think...). And yes......they lost his luggage. They did give him an overnights pack as well which contained all the toiletries, a tshirt and a pair of undies.....all branded "British Airways". We find out from information that there are buses right to our hotels doorstep. And it only costs us about $5. Not the $100 we paid. @#%@#&^ Sitting on the bus we do a quick catch up as to what has been happening when this woman sitting infront of us turns around and gives us a dirty look like we were just discussing child pornography or something. WTF is your problem woman!?

We put together a plan where we sneak our friend into the hotel instead of him going to a hostel. We leave him standing outside the hotel whilst I get followed by a blackguy who won't stop talking to me. We check in, dump our bags and go looking for our friend. He goes missing. After much searching, we find him sitting by the side of the road with a bag of bananas. o_O Apparently he got solicited by a Greek guy who wanted to take him to a bar and make him buy drinks for alot of chicks. We finally sneak our way into the hotel so we can all have a quick shower. Only problem was we ran outta towels and forced our friend to use a handtowel who had to dash out to grab his clothes. LoL

We go out for some dinner and hope to find ourselves a good night club to go to. I mean one where there is actually people. Unlike the Skandinavian bar. I mean we're in the heart of the city centre for crying out loud. How hard is it to find a bar to go to!? After searching around for an hour, we go back to the room and crash.