Today was a day...

Today Elizabeth was signing off the ship - her contract isn't over she is just transferring to the Summit to work in their gift shops so she can be reunited with her boyfriend. Since it was a long goodbye, we (Iain, Christhian, Aglie, Valeria and I) were going to get her to her hotel in Athens and then hang out and use the hotel pool and perhaps get a bite to eat. I - as always - needed to return before everyone else, as my first rehearsal of the day was at 4:15pm.

We headed off the ship just after noon. Here, the place where the ship docks is quite far from the port terminal, so you shuttle to the terminal. Once through the terminal, you can walk into downtown Piraeus (the ship does not actually dock in Athens) or taxi somewhere else. Considering how many of us there were and how much luggage she had we decided a pair of taxis was the way to go.

When she showed her reservation to the driver he raised his eyebrows, informing us that the hotel was over 30km away. In the hustle of tons of drivers begging us for business, there being a few too many of us, and dozens of guests bustling about... logic kind of slipped away from us. Algie was mentioning to me that we should just hang out near the port and then send Elizabeth off in a taxi when it was time to go. By the time she had finished explaining what - in hidsight - was a very good idea, Elizabeth's luggage was already in the back of one cab and a price had been negotiated by Iain.

So we split up into the cabs and enjoyed our 35EUR trip through Athens and into the - quite boring - hotel district. The hotel itself was actually lovely. We checked her into her room, and as agreed previously, all proceeded to the rooftop pool and garden. STUNNING. Iain was the first to put his feet in the pool and reported back that it was quite cold. If you knew Iain you would then understand that for a normal person this meant that the pool could possibly have been liquid ice.

Iain braved it and jumped right in. I followed... and was the only one to follow. We swam for about 10 minutes, and then the bitching (excuse my language) about some people being hungry, some people being thirsty, some people being bored, some people being tired started. I was NOT in the mood to deal with it. The hotel restaurant was decidedly too expensive, so Iain and I dried off and the lot of us headed out to find some street food.

Meanwhile the group - not including me - had come to the consensus that it would be better to take the metro back as it would be much cheaper. Great. Not.

The hotel gave us a map and circled the closest subway stops, so we walked in the direction of one and bumped into a cute gyro joint and stopped to eat... it was about 2:30pm by this time. Once everyone had eaten, most had smoked, and some had eaten some more it was 3:10 and I was starting to panic. I announced that it was time to leave.

We succeeded in finding the nearest subway station, and went underground where the first bout of people-not-knowing-what-they-are-doing happened. Everyone - except me because to me subways are very self explanatory - kept second guessing me as to which line and in which direction we needed to go. Not even to mention that there were 8 different types of fare cards and other crap that had to reach a 7 out of 7 decision. I was DYING ... I was losing my precious minutes.

Finally I got the whole group on the blue line headed in the CORRECT direction. It was about 4 stops to our transfer... about 2 minutes per stop... plus the 6 minutes we had to wait for the subway to come in the first place. UGGHHHH.

We got off in some random greek name of a station to switch to the green line which was to head directly into Piraeus. The group of We found the entrance to the rail car green line, but it was blocked off and not in operation. AWESOME. not.

Everyone started laughing about how ridiculous this was and I just snapped. I turned to Iain and said I am getting in a cab. I ran up multiple flights of stairs to outside, walked through a - what I am sure what beautiful but it's a bit of a blur - square and walked up to the nearest cab. I turned around to see Iain and Algie running after me. I yelled at the driver - for which I later apologized - to get the hell in the cab and drive me to the cruise port terminal. Iain and Aglie climbed in - some combination of not wanting me to go it alone and also figuring, "well, as long as there is someone to split the fare with..."

After about 5 minutes of not talking and realizing that I had chosen the most cautious taxi driver in the greater Athens region, I asked how long the drive would be. He said, depending on traffic, probably 25 minutes. It was 3:37. I was having a stress-induced stroke.

I am never late for work.
Ever.
I am always early.
Less than 5 minutes early and I start to panic.

Left to do: 25 minute cab ride, run through the terminal, pass through port security check point, shuttle from the terminal to the ship, pass through the ship security check point, run to my cabin, change into my uniform, and make it from deck 2 to deck 11 for my 4:15 rehearsal. CRAP.

The cab ride went as quickly as my pre-employment rectal exam. Eventually we could see the ship growing closer and closer in the distance. But when we finally got through the terminal, the cab flew right past it and parked outside a locked gate that was closest to the ship... we had no way to get through. I couldn't speak... Iain explained to the cabby that he had to take us to the terminal and we couldn't get in where he'd stopped. He U-turned and had to double back about a mile since the road was divided, and then looped into the terminal. For some reason I got stuck handling payment when all I wanted to do was RUNNNNN.

I paid, and started to run through the terminal. Got stuck behind an old asian couple - the guy had a cane - and neitehr of them could find their ship boarding cards. I was ready to die. I threw my bag in ahead of their stuff, and ran through the metal detector. Outside of the double doors the shuttle was waiting. I ran in with Iain and Algie. Shuttles sit until they are full before they make a run.

We waited about 5 minutes. I was DYING. It was 3:59. Halfway through the shuttle ride, the driver stopped to chat to a buddy who was driving in the opposite direction. I whistled LOUDLY and got a look but the bus started to move again. One minute later we pulled up at the ship and as soon as the door opened I ran out to be the first in line for security.

Luckily (the first lucky thing that happened to me all day), there was absolutely no line. I literally threw my bag through xray and ran through the metal detector. The entire security team - who know me quite well - were laughing. I suppose the panicked security-process for a crew member running late to a call of duty looks the same no matter how many stripes you have. It was 4:07. I got to my room, threw off my clothes. Found clean work clothes. Threw them on. Couldn't find my name tag. Panic. Crap. Found my name tag. Slapped it on. Grabbed my phone, room key, and a diet coke. Ran to the elevator. Sweaty. No breath. Hair gross and half up half in tangles from the pool.

Who saunters around the corner? One of my cast members. At least I wouldn't be the last one. We took the elevator to deck 11. Everyone was casually gathered around. It was 4:15pm on the dot. Someone was smiling down on me.

I haven't spoken to anyone I went out with yet... I just don't have it in me. I was a bit of an ass, but I'm a little pissed about the lack of interest they paid my situation.

Needless to say it has been a long, long day. My department is hosting the crew party this evening, so I have to make an appearance. But it will be brief. And I will then go to bed. Period. I'm exhausted.

Pictures added 10/22/2011

The cab driver took this picture for me, clearly while driving. I wish it had come out better because this sculpture is actually really really cool. It is made of stacked sheets of glass. So it looks like someone running in a blur of speed. Hard to describe, but very cool.

The rooftop pool. AMAZING VIEW.