Ferry to Skopelos June 26, 2008
Posted by CamdenKiwi in : Travel , add a commentAt midnight on Tuesday, the GA Ferries ship Ntaliana set sail from Thessaloniki for the overnight voyage to Skopelos in the Sporades, 9 hours south. For such a very large boat, finding it was quite a challenge. The big building with a sign which looked a lot like Passenger Terminal was a red herring and the ship itself was at the other end of the wharves. Wandering around strange docks on my own is one of my favourite ways to spend an evening.
I’d booked a berth in a 2-bed cabin, and either I had no roommate, or she didn’t show up. Or she did show up, saw my stuff and demanded another cabin. The bondage gear comes in handy sometimes. About twice the size of a Scotrail sleeper, with proper bathroom, it was all mine. The lack of a key was a bit odd, but I could lock it from the inside, though a trip to the deck involved carrying all my valuables with me. As I’m travelling like a branch of Dixons at the moment (laptop, phone, mp3 player, camera) the handbag was heavy. Convergence would help a lot – tech companies take note.
Leaving the port was wonderful. The big engines quietly churned and we had soon left the noise of the dock bars in the distance. The city’s lights glowed behind us, the Chalkidiki peninsula’s to our left, and a huge orange half-moon hung so low in the sky it could have been a mountain top. Chalkidiki is so built up now that there are lights almost all the way to the lighthouse at the tip.
Gulls surfed the air turbulence while fish jumped through our wake. Slowly, stars appeared. Its a long time since I’ve seen a lot of stars.
The sea was calm, and I slept well, waking up to full sunlight and the realisation that the porthole looked out onto a deck. Hello, Sailor, indeed.
First port of call was Skiathos, and then on through beautiful clear seas to Skopelos. The boat left me there, and headed on south to the Cyclades and Crete. It makes the round trip every couple of days, and I’ll get it back on Saturday. For €73, which is less than I paid for my hotel in Thessaloniki, its a great way to travel.
