at 12:45 we set sail for piraeus aboard another catamaran ferry. i was able to procure a few more bottles of a local vinsanto and load them into my bag, i expect they’ll make great gifts. the ferry stopped en route at the island of ios but we were unable to disembark and check it out, sadly. as is my way i took up conversation with the person next to me; an edmontonian in the middle of a month-long european vacation. he had recently been on the night train to krakow and reading the guidebook along the way he came to a section that read something to the effect of: “the night train to krakow is extremely dangerous. if you are on it right now, keep reading and don’t go to sleep.” brilliant.

once we arrived in piraeus we took the familiar metro to omonia and then caught a bus to our car rental. after filling out some paperwork and a bit of confusion on everyone’s part, we left the proud renters of a hyundai accent. to say that this car was underpowered would be generous. regardless we headed out for the two-plus hour drive towards corinth and eventually nafplio. due to an error in my part on reading the map we had to hunt to find our hotel but it was to little benefit, as when we did discover it the lobby was unstaffed. so we headed to dinner and when we returned we were able to check into the hotel kapodistrias – our home for the next few days.