The start of the trip was less than ideal. I was supposed to wake up at 3:30am to catch the 4:30 "Pendolino" train from Ostrava to Prague, but I overslept and woke up at 4:57--classic Honza. So my dad hastily drove me to the train station to catch the 5:30 train, but then I had to take a taxi in Prague to make it to the airport in time (the driver asked for 1,500 CZK, almost triple of the usual rate--classic Prague--but what can you do when you're in a hurry to catch the plane).
I made it to the terminal at 9:10, just 10 minutes before check-in closed. My overweight bag was accepted without any trouble, so low-cost airlines aren't always bad. I rushed through security only to find out that the flight was delayed for an hour. But, on the bright side, they also changed the itinerary--the plane was supposed to make a stop in Zakinthos and then continue to Patras, but the two were reversed. Since my destination was Patras, the change in schedule made up for the delay.
Once I landed at the Patras airport, I had to make my way to the bus station in town to catch a bus to Galaxidi, where I was meant to meet with Maurizio, my ship's captain. Public transport let me down--the next airport transfer was to arrive in 3 hours, which would cause me to miss the last bus to Galaxidi. So I had to pay for another taxi to get me to the bus station in time for the 6:10pm bus straight to Galaxidi.
The bus ride from Patras to Galaxidi took 2.5 hours. I slept for the first 50 minutes (till the bus reached Navpaktos) and then was up for the rest of the journey. A Greek girl sat next to me for about 30 minutes as she made her way from Navpaktos to her village . The bus ride was quite scenic, with the gulf on the right and imposing mountains on the left. We passed countless half-built houses on the way--a scenery that would stay true everywhere I went.
The bus dropped me off in Galaxidi's town square. Not knowing exactly how far the harbour was (and not wanting to carry my heavy bags aimlessly), I went to a local store to ask for directions. Once the shopkeeper saw my bags, she yelled down a friend of hers who gave me a ride to the harbour. There were a number of sailboats in docked there, but I found Maurizio's ship, "Oxalis", quite easily--it hasn't changed a bit since I saw it last all these years ago! Maurizio and his friend Lisa went for a walk around the town, but came back to let me in the ship. I unpacked, settled in my cabin and then we all went for late-night walk.
I went to bed at around 11:30 and slept like a baby--the ship rocket with the waves like a cradle. Good thing too, I had a big sail ahead.
Our ship Oxalis moored in Galaxidi
The port in Galaxidi
An islet off of Galaxidi