ギリシャのタクシー Taking a taxi in Greece

テサロニキの駅に着いて、私は焦っていました。
列車が２時間遅れで到着し、イギリスの友人との待ち合わせ時間からすでに１０分経過。
待ち合わせ場所のホステルに連絡しようとしても公衆電話がカード式しかなく、とりあえずタクシーへ。
タクシーの運転手は私が乗り込んだのに、出て行って行ってなかなか戻って来ない。
待つこと５分、どうやら同じ方面の乗客を待っていたらしい。
結局私だけ乗せて発車し、なんと途中でおばさんをひろい、その後すぐに私を降ろして、路地を指さしました。
分りにくい場所にあったので、うろうろ荷物を抱えてさまよいましたが、無事友人に会え、ひと安心。
狭い路地にあって、部屋から遺跡が見えて、なかなかよい場所でした。

普段一人でタクシーは乗らないのですが、（ぼったくりとか怖い目にあったら嫌だし、高いし）、今回は急いでいて道も分らないので乗ってみました。英語が通じず、途中で降ろされ、「ちゃんとホテルの前まで乗せてくれたら迷わなかったのに。」と思いましたが、狭い路地がたくさんあって一方通行が多く、確かにそこまで乗せて行けないですね。

When I got to Thessaloniki, I was in a hurry.
As the train arrived two hours late, I was already 10min late for meeting a friend from UK.
I couldn't call the hostel where we were going to meet, there was only a prepaid card system phone available.
I got in a taxi in haste, but the driver got out and didn't come back for a while.
After 5min, he seemed to be looking for another person to go in the same direction, but then started driving with only me in the car. Surprisingly, he picked up a woman on the way and dropped me off after that, pointing to an alley.
I was lost with my big backpack for a while because the hostel wasn't easy to find, finally I was able to meet my friend there. The hostel was on a narrow alley, with a view of ruins from the window. That was nice.

I seldom take a taxi by myself, because I might have a terrible experience or be overcharged and also it's costly. Still I got it there at that time, as I was late and didn't know the way. The driver didn't speak English and dropped me off on the way. I thought that he should have done that in front of the hostel. However there were many alleys and one way traffic, so it couldn't be helped.