Sleep anywhere

My time in Greece was running out.  After we had tied up at Nea Moudania marina, we wandered to Pelagos, a nearby waterfront restaurant for a drink and dinner.  There was one waitress and no other diners. The waitress was efficient and possessed a natural, rare elegance. A delight to meet.

It was obvious this was not a tourist destination although I think there is small resort not far away.  On one website it stated it is not a tourist town, another lists the main occupations of its 9,500 residents as tourism and fishing.  It doesn't have the appearance of a touristy place that's for sure.  And the local shopkeepers certainly made no pretense of friendliness towards us. 

That night the predicted bad weather arrived and I proved that I really can sleep anywhere.  There was a hatch above my bunk under the forward deck of the boat.  I'd enjoyed the breeze it offered at night.  My brother had thoughtfully thrown a mosquito net over it to keep the little bities away.  I closed the hatch some time during the night and didn't notice that the net was caught up in the hatch.  The first I knew about the rain that arrived in the early hours of the morning was when I woke up soaking wet from top to toe.  Water was dripping down off the net.  As quietly as I could I changed out of my wet clothes and while I was getting dry clothes from my suitcase (which was perched on one corner of my bunk), I noticed the spot under the case was the only dry spot on my bed.  Trouble was it wasn't a very big spot but I discovered it was big enough for my backside.  The space above the spot wasn't very high either but I could fit under there as long as my neck was on a weird angle.  Not the most comfortable sleeping position but sleep I did.

The next day Judy spoke to the lovely waitress at the restaurant about the best way to get me to Thessaloniki airport the following morning.  She suggested a taxi and offered to order one for me.  

That night we splashed out and dined at the one flash restaurant in town.  It was sparkly and touristy (so maybe there is some truth in the tourism claim), excellent food and service.   I was fighting feelings of sadness that my grand adventure was coming to an end.  But just a little excited about getting home and seeing the family again.  

A taxi met us at the agreed spot the next morning at 7 am and I said my farewells to my brother and his wife.  There's no way I could have thanked them for their wonderful hospitality at their home in England, our brief excursion to France, our time in Turkey and that wonderful week sailing in Greece.

About 27 hours after leaving Nea Moudania I arrived back in Auckland.  The only anxious moments were waiting for my flight from Thessaloniki to Istanbul to depart.  There were announcements which I couldn't understand and my fellow passengers didn't seem too agitated so I look my lead from them.  The flight departed over half an hour late but was only 5 mins late in arrival.  The transfer lounge in Istanbul was hot and crowded and thank heavens I didn't have a long wait for my flight to Singapore.  It was very early in the morning when I reached Changi Airport in Singapore, such a delightful airport, and I had a bit of a wait for my last flight.  Luckily I found a few vacant seats in a quiet spot and had another nap.  I had watched a few movies on various flight and slept well.  

My daughter met me in Auckland and whisked me off to her place for the night. I slept soundly for about eight hours, woke quite refreshed and by 2.15 that afternoon was on a bus for a five hour trip to Taranaki to visit my other daughter.  You've guessed it, I had another sleep on the bus.  No sign of jetlag then or later.  I am so thankful that I travel so well thanks to my ability to sleep anywhere.    

Nea Moudania

Day 5 on the Aegean Sea, hot again with a lovely breeze and mostly calm seas. I took dozens of photos of that beautiful, empty sea and distant coastline.  

A year earlier when my daughter went sailing on Tobin Bronze with my brother, Peter and his wife, Judy they were in the south of the Aegean Sea.  Her photos were of beautiful, stark white buildings above sparkling seas.  Greece has the highest poverty risk rate in Europe, with approximately one quarter of the total population falling under this category.  We were in the north, (not a stark white building in sight) the poorest part of the country.  It was quite a contrast to the grandeur of our recent surroundings in Istanbul.  

In the year between my daughter's visit and mine the financial crises hit Greece and from what I saw on television and read in the papers, travelling there seemed like a pretty bad idea.  Cashless ATMs.  I even saw predicted a shortage of feta!

Thank heavens my brother assured me we would be fine - and we were.  I had troubles with my cash card but that started weeks before in Ireland (and it was eventually swallowed by an ATM in Nea Moudania).  I shudder to think how I would have managed had I been on my own but I'm sure I would have managed somehow. 

On our way to Nea Moudania we took a shortcut through a narrow canal, under the bridge at Nea Potidea.  I've never been very good at spatial awareness and looking up at the mast, I couldn't see how it was going to fit under that bridge.  Peter had done his homework and knew it would, so I was happy to take his word for it. 

  

One one side of the passage appeared to be quite poor although the little working boats appeared to be well maintained.

On the other side there was a resort.

The weather was picking up as we approached Nea Moudania.  My eyes were drawn to the beautiful mosque overlooking the harbour. 

 But later on when I looked back the other way (don't ask me which was north, which was south, I had no idea where I was) the view was a lot more foreboding.  Don't be fooled by that flash looking construction at the marina.  It was a typical Greek project started with lots of Euro money and badly maintained, the structures in place for power and water but not connected.

The weather forecast was not good so it was decided that we were as close to the airport at Thessaloniki as we were going to get by boat and I could travel by taxi the rest of the way the day after next when I would start my journey homewards.