On Saturday we had planned on renting a small boat for the day where the six of us could explore the area a bit. Everyone was excited, especially Steffen and Olivia. On Friday, we noticed that the wind had picked up and that the forecast for the next several days was much of the same. While not stormy by any means, wind gusts were between 25-30 mph so we headed to the port with some trepidation. When we arrived, the boat rental place told us right away that the coast guard was not letting any small boats out (only ferries, I believe). It was about 10am at that point, so we decided to pivot and try to rent a car for the day. 

We talked to one rental car place, and they told us they would have a car available at 11am. We then realized that Steffen did not have his driver’s license and he is the one who has to rent the car because they only have manual cars. He didn’t want to wait to take the bus back up since it didn’t leave until 11:00am meaning he wouldn’t be back down until 11:45am (15 minute bus ride up and a 30 minute walk down).  So he headed off to do the 2.5km hike uphill in hopes of being back sooner. A little after 11am, while still waiting for Steffen to get back, I walked back to the rental car company just to let them know that we still wanted the car. It was a different woman at the front desk, and she looked at me like I was crazy. She said there was no car available, and she didn’t know when there would be one. She took my number and said she would be in touch. Steffen returned and we waited and waited and waited. At around 12:30pm we got word that there would be no car for us that day. We walked over to another rental car place and were told maybe at 3:00pm there would be one. At that point, everyone was hot, frustrated and very disappointed. It was a good lesson in managing reactions! Olivia declared, “Not another long walk to a boring beach!”

Then I thought of the taxis and quickly found a beach that I had saved as a “must see” on my google maps. (Side note: About 6 months ago I learned about how to save places in google maps and it has changed our traveling! It makes it so easy. As I was doing research for places all over the world, I would save them there to have everything in one location. I saved restaurants, our accommodations once they’ve been booked, attractions and any other tips. Then when we are at that location, I can just pull up my google maps and see what is nearby. Amazing! And I have no idea why it took me so long to learn about that. 🙈) I picked Chrisi Milia beach and asked the rental car agency how much a taxi would typically cost. She said €15, so we went off to find one. Since there are so many of us, technically we need two taxis. But a few days earlier one driver had squeezed us all into one, so we were hoping for that again. At first a lady said she would do it but then noticed the police officers having coffee right there and changed her mind. Then another driver came, and we asked him. He took Luisa by the hand and went to the police officers to ask if it was alright to squeeze us all into his cab. The office laughed and said, “Are there 11 people? No? Then it’s okay!” 🤣 So off we went. And we ended up here. 

The beach was perfect and as the kids were enjoying jumping in the waves and body surfing, Olivia declared “this is the best beach ever!” So we were able to save the day after all.