Thomas, King Of Katopola
All we knew when we first made contact was that our next host was named Thomas and the apartment was in a building known as Thomas Villas On The Beach. Maybe this should have been a clue.
Our logistical problem on arrival on the island of Amorgos was going to be the fact that the ferry sailed at 5:15am and made port at Egiali at 06:40, far too early for anything in Greece to be open. And our apartment was booked for Katopola, some distance from Egiali.
Thomas offers a solution via WhatsApp.
“I can organise a hire car at very good price”, he texts, “you can collect at Egiali”.
And so it is that Thomas gets someone to leave a car in the street near Egiali port the night before, key under the driver’s mat, meaning that we drive away in their car with no payment, no paperwork, no check of driving licences…nothing. You have to love Greece.
It falls into place a bit as we wander around Katopola for the first time. Thomas is, it seems, something akin to King Of Katopola. We are staying in Thomas Studios; there are Thomas Apartments, Thomas Townhouses, Thomas Traditional Houses. There’s Thomas Car Rental, motor bike rental, boat tours and ticket agent. There are even Thomas logos on our bed linen for Gods sake! Oh, and some Thomas face masks, just in case we need them.
As you will read in our next post, we soon decide to extend our stay on Amorgos, and so by Thursday we really need to see King Thomas about paying for both the car and the extra days here.
“Hey, hello my friends” he smiles as we enter his cramped office, “are you enjoying Amorgos?”
“We love it” says Michaela as I wonder how the devil he knows who we are as we haven’t met him before.
He’s doing a deal with some ladies, filling out paperwork and checking driving licences – both things, remember, that we haven’t done.
He looks up.
“Do you want something?”, he asks.
“We need to pay you for the car”.
“Oh” he says with a flash of the eyes and a swing of the arm, “pay me sometime later”.
“And the apartment?”
“Same”, he says, as if paying for things is the least important part of his service.
“OK, and we picked the car up in Egiali. Is it OK if we leave the car here in Katopola when we finish?”
“You can leave it anywhere you like, just bring key to my office”.
You have to love Greece.
18 Comments
Latitude Adjustment: A Tale of Two Wanderers
Yep….thats Greece! Fun, heh?
Imagine if every place was like that?
Phil & Michaela
Life would be easier!
Lookoom
In an ideal world, ATMs would be replaced by bundles of cash on stools in the street in front of banks. Don’t tell me it’s like that at Thomas Bank!
Phil & Michaela
Not far off!
100 Country Trek
I love how you have these headings with the titles of the countries where you have been . I should try to fix my site with these headings .
Phil & Michaela
Thank you!
Annie Berger
What a great recommendation for traveling in Greece right now with such service. I always thought the most common name for Greek men was George! Hope you continue to have a fabulous time.
Phil & Michaela
Yep, there’s been quite a few Giorgos’s!
Andrew Petcher
I am almost certain that I rented a car from Thomas. I remember the key on the front wheel condition of hire.
Phil & Michaela
I’ll ask him if he remembers you!
wetanddustyroads
Can we clone Thomas? Oh well, I don’t think that will work 100% here in South Africa – Thomas will soon be without any cars … we’ll just have to go to Greece then!!
Toonsarah
Thomas sounds like quite a character!
Jyothi
Wonderful write up and great pictures!
Phil & Michaela
Thank you!
grandmisadventures
haha 🙂 oh Thomas really should be deemed the king- and what a marvelous king he would be!
Phil & Michaela
He seemed very happy in his world!
leightontravels
Ha, what fun! This kind of attitude just puts you in a good mood right? And Thomas… well… what an amazing name. I’m now considering my own brand of face masks. Just saying… 😉
Phil & Michaela
Ha yes, opportunity beckons!