The Van Only Holds How Many…?!?
Another Bright Sunny day with a Leisurely Breakfast in the
Windjammer Buffet as We4 looked forward to our tour of Argostoli.
Today is the day we join Sheila Whelan of Montreal and 6 of
her traveling buddies… oh Yeah, and her husband John too, for a joint tour with
Caesars Limo of Kefalonia.
Early text exchanges set the meeting spot just at the
Gangway, but by the time We4 exited the ship, Sheila had already spotted the
Limo Driver with our joint sign. Once introductions all around concluded, the
perplexed look on the driver and guide’s faces started to set off alarms with
Chucky and Lenny.
Apparently, even after the multiple emails and exchanges
with Constantinos the owner, they somehow thought that we were 8, not 12 and
only had a van that would accommodate 8, with no room for the Guide, so she was
to ride with the driver of a 4 passenger Mercedes and follow the Van. The excuse for the mess up was that the
Larger Van that was scheduled would not start and they spent 2 hours prior to
our arrival trying to find another vehicle.
All of which was ringing less true to the male parts of We4 and tempers
were starting to fume.
In attempt to solve the transport issue, the driver of the
Mercedes, offered to scrap the guide and take We4 with him in the Mercedes, and
be the guide for the day at no charge.
As an offer of good will, he would comp all of the group,
just to make things right. Chucky and
Lenny were skeptical but agreed. This
would at least save the cost of the guide and we all set out in 2 separate
vehicles for the first stop. That’s when
it got a bit complicated.
First the A/C in the Mercedes “takes a while to get going”,
to which Lenny was not receptive and Chucky was evaluating finding another
local driver/Guide. The only problem,
was that there were no other cars available on the Island, particularly with functioning
A/C. With that, Lenny elects to get out
and find another way and Chucky agrees.
Constantinos, pulls over, we get out and start to evaluate
our options. At this point nobody is happy and Chucky decides to call the
owner, who at this point Chucky does not know that he is talking to the driver
that just left them at the port entrance, who in fact is the owner
Constantinos. Lenny is ready to head
back to the ship, Donna and DL are trying to calm the guys down and then Chucky
gets a call from the Driver who says the A/C is now working and reiterates that
the ride is free and he will try to find a cab to follow us in case the A/C
craps out along the way.
By now, everyone is exasperated, but Chucky decides to take
a shot and has the Driver meet us at the Restaurant Dash, in front of the port.
The Driver pulls up and introduces himself as Constantinos, the
owner of Caesar’s Limo and vows to make it right, while trying to hail a taxi
to follow us. He also informed us that
all, including the 8 in the other van would be comp for the day. [He apparently
knows well, the power of Trip Advisor Reviews]
What appeared to be a downward spiral suddenly took an
upward turn and they were off to their first stop, the Cathedral of St. Agios Gerasimos, the Patron Saint of the Island.
Next they were off to a nearby winery
for a simplified but more informed tasting than the one on Mykonos, with a tour
of the winery itself. And they were off, over the mountains, crossing the
island to the seaside city of Sami.
Along the way we played tag with the Van of 8 Canadians as
Constantinos would play guide in spots the other drive was sketchy on full
details. The many stops and dialogue from Constantinos was quickly soothing the
tempers and proving to be quite a ride.
The Next stop was at the Drogarati
cave with over 130 steps down 30 meters
below the ground level full of active stalagmites and stalactites, with sound so
pure in the enormous cavern that Maria Calas the famous opera singer loved the
sound quality so much that she held an impromptu concert there, to be followed
by other famous artists who appreciated the sound purity of the underground
hall.
Then it was off to the Mellisani Cave featuring an underground lake which had a boat ride around
and island caused by part of the roof falling in during the earthquake of 1953
that devastated most of the island.
A stop at an ancient roman ruins of a house in lakeside
village was followed by finally crossing back over the mountains where we
stopped along with the van of 8 at a fabulous overlook for pics. 
That’ where we spotted hang gliders spiraling
down from the adjacent mountain top with tandem passengers who all appeared to
have GoPros on their helmets. A quick
text from DL to our son Brian suggesting he and his girlfriend Terry should try
it. To which Brian's brief but emphatic
response was… well, unprintable here.
A Final
stop was at the famous WW II ridge where the German army slaughtered 300+
Italians' in 1943.
Then it was back to the port and a farewell to Constantinos
who had redeemed himself and reiterated that the trip was free, and only wanted
a fair accounting on Trip advisor as to his effort to rectify the mis-step at
the beginning. We assured him that we
would give a fair accounting of his follow through.
Once back on the ship, it was Cocktail time, followed by an
uneventful dinner and after dinner cocktails before They were all ready to
collapse from a stressful day.
Tomorrow is a Sea day and if there is anything hot to
report, it will probably be short… Or Not.
Ciao 4 Now
Uncle Chuck & The
Glad She Calmed the Boys down,
Dragon Lady
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