The road to Patras

I thought it was worth explaining the excitement of our first day in Greece, even though this is out of chronological order. Before heading to Santorini, we drove to Patras to attend the wedding of my friend and colleague, Vivian. The employee at the Budget car rental desk at the airport asked if we had an International Driving Permit, which is required in Greece. Upon hearing that we did not, he warned us that if we were pulled over, this would result in not just a ticket, but a night in jail. But, he noted, if we didn't drive too fast, we should be fine. Then he upgraded us to an Audi A1- a car that just begs to be driven fast.



The Audi's acceleration proved to be useful in driving the road to Patras. A relatively new highway (well, it is still under construction after 10 years), this is a two-lane road, but we noticed very quickly that most drivers use the shoulder to facilitate passing. This seems to be condoned by the road signs (note the red and black car).






The drive was exciting, particularly as Brian got more comfortable with this driving style. We made it to our hotel, enjoyed lunch in a nearby Taberna, and in the evening set out to the wedding.
The invitation noted the location as Agnia Paraskevi church in Platana. We consulted Google maps to little avail; the hotel receptionist called her friends for us, who provided a bit more help. The directions: head east and turn right at the road for Platana. So, we set out at 6:30 for a church that we thought was about 10 minutes away.
We quickly went astray, accidentally getting on the highway, unable to turn around at the toll plaza. After consulting the toll booth operator, even showing him the invitation, we planned to turn around at the next exit. As I noted, the road between Patras and Athens is still under construction, so there are relatively few exits. We were finally able to turn around 24 km later. As there was no return access to the highway, we had to take the old road back. Easing along at about 30 km per hour, we began making plans to head to the hotel bar since we were clearly going to miss the wedding. At 7:30, we spy a church with a wedding party just going in.



We entered the church behind the party. I wasn't absolutely certain that this was the right church, but we had found A Greek wedding. I did not recognize anyone (we were the only people from SJSU attending). We had only seen the couple from the back as we entered the church and once inside, I had a great view of the groom, but I had not met Yannis before, so that wasn't much help. I couldn't get a good view of the bride because she faced away from the crowd. As I considered her hair, I noticed it was darker than I remembered. With makeup and the veil, her profile was unrecognizable. Reader, I began to seriously believe that we were at the wrong wedding. For about five minutes, I planned what I would say to Vivian at the reception. Then she turned around and I recognized my friend!

The church was beautiful and the Greek Orthodox ceremony was cool.

After the ceremony before the reception- the Audi and the sign for Platana.