Patra, Greece

I woke up at 06:15 in my hotel room in Olympia, contemplated using the shower, but decided against it since I didn’t have my comb or deodorant with me. I then dressed, grabbed my camera and tripod, walked out of the room, left my key at the reception desk, and walked to the bus stop in Olympia. I then waited there along with some others until the bus arrived shortly after 06:55. I then rode the bus to Prygos and we arrived at 07:35. Once at the bus station in Pyrgos, I bought a ticket for the 08:15 bus to Patra. I waited at the station, bought a Monster drink to give me some energy, and at 08:15, I boarded the bus and rode it north to Patra.

We arrived in Patra at 10:15 and I immediately bought a ticket at the KTEL bus station for the following day to Ioannina under the false presumption that there were no direct buses from Patra to Berat, Albania, which is where I really wanted to go (I blame the internet for the bad information I received). Well, after buying my ticket, I walked back toward my hotel and passed two bus companies advertising Berat as a destination. I walked in to one, asked if I could take a bus tomorrow to Berat, and was told “yes.” I was also given the price, which was 30 Euros (only 6.80 Euros more than the bus to Ioannina and it was quicker – even with a later start time). With this new information, I promptly returned to the KTEL bus station and received a refund on my ticket. I then walked back to the bus company and bought a ticket to Berat for tomorrow. Then, I returned to my hotel room, was reunited with my backpacks (“Gregory. North Face. I promise never to leave you again.” – Shepherd’s Madness), and took a much appreciated shower. I then relaxed inside my room and looked up if any of the sites I wanted to visit in Patra were open today (it being a Monday, the worst day for tourists); well, the castle, odeon, and archaeological museum were all closed today. So much for seeing the interesting sites in Patra. Although, admittedly, a part of me was relieved since now I could continue to relax and take it easy.

I stayed in my room a little longer before going out to grab food and ended up at the pizzeria I had bought a pizza pie from the first night I was in Patra (this time I bought a “Volcano pizza” that was covered in bread and stuffed with cheese, tomato sauce, green peppers, mushrooms, and pepperonis). With pizza in hand, I returned to my hotel room, buying drinks at a nearby stall on the way back. Inside the hotel room, I ate my lunch and watched some internet videos. Later on, I bullshitted some more on the internet and looked up if there were any interesting films being released (Answer: not until July; then, not until the Fall season); one film I saw that was being released in 2016 was David Fincher’s next motion picture: ‘The Reincarnation of Peter Proud’; hoping that this would not be another film that defies belief (a la ‘The Curious Case of Benjamin Button’), I delved further and discovered that it is a remake of a 1975 AD film with the same title, which was based on a book; after reading the synopsis and being surprised I had not heard of this film before (surprised due to my having sought out every major and interesting film to have been produced during the American New Wave (circa 1967-1982) – a feat I started over ten years ago while in university), I searched for it on YouTube, found it, and watched it. Overall, I praise the story and I enjoyed the concepts and the mystery angle of the film, but I think some ideas and characters could’ve been explored further; also I think Margot Kidder received poor directions in some scenes and the actress who played the professor’s mistress at the beginning was horrible; this is a movie that should be remade and, with Fincher’s direction, it should be great. After finishing the film, I looked up some more obscure films to watch later. I then relaxed some more in my room before finally getting to work after 22:00, when I went through the photographs I took in Olympia and updated some parts of the website. Eventually, after 02:00 – and after more bullshitting -, I went to sleep.