I had a little bit of a cold throughout my entire stay in Greece. It didn't bother me much, but it was my excuse every day in Santorini for the obscene amount of sleeping I did. Naps, late mornings... it was shameful! :) I was just so damn jazzed that I could sleep whenever I wanted to. Because, you know, single room and all. The joy!
First day on Santorini, I slept late, puttered, and eventually made my way over to reception. Poppy and her husband offered breakfast until the wonderful Greek time of noon. And they had eggs! I'd gotten so freaking tired of Europe's idea that sugar and carbs make a proper breakfast. Back in the room, I sat on my balcony and read through my guidebooks and wikitravel to figure out what to do with the rest of my day.
Eventually I decided to visit Kamari Beach, which required taking a bus. Said bus arrived right on time and took me exactly where I needed to go, which I would later learn had given me unrealistic expectations of the Santorini off-season bus system.
Walking through Kamari was... eerie.
I felt like I had stumbled into a zombie apocalypse. Restaurants, bars, and hotels as far as the eye could see, and every one of them shut tight and deserted. I walked along the beach, finding it even hard to imagine the town as it must have been only two months before, where a beach stroll would become an activity resembling frogger.
Behind me as I took this shot were some very dramatic sheer rocky cliffs. I poked around these for a while, nosing into a settlement where I possibly did not belong.
I walked back along the strip and finally did find a bar kind of halfway open. It was just warm enough to sit outside, so that's what I did, sipping an Argo, writing and daydreaming. As I sat, two stray dogs began to take an interest in me. I guess the off-season is tough on the strays too, who depend on overflowing trashcans to survive. I ignored them and they kept their distance, but it made me nervous.
My (crappy) hostel-furnished map of Santorini told me that very near to Kamari was remains of an early Greek city, Ancient Thera. I wanted to see it, and my waitress assured me it was nearby. I had to walk back to the cliffs, and apparently it was in there someplace. I took her at her word, although I didn't see anywhere where an ancient city could be hiding, and feared that maybe it was on top of said cliffs, where I surely was not walking.
Anyway, as I checked it out, I had to walk past a cluster of Greek apartment blocks and houses, and lo and behold the barking started. There were more strays, including a mother with puppies, and also dogs defending houses, but with no chains that I could see. Crap. I started to get nervous. My two stray friends from the restaurant had stuck with me for some reason, and then as the new dogs started to get closer they actually started to defend me against them. I couldn't believe it, but apparently I had temporarily become pack. There was lots of barking and growling and snapping, but thank goodness didn't get any worse. Meanwhile I was heading back into town as quick as I could hustle without running. To hell with Ancient Thera. I didn't want to see it that bad. My dogs stuck with me until I found another open cafe and went in to wait for the next bus.
...Yeah, that bus? One rolled by about 20 minutes early, and of course I was in no position to catch it. My waitress saw my distress and asked to see my schedule. Of course it was the wrong one. And the next bus wouldn't be by for an hour and a half at the very least. So the restaurant owner's wife drove me home. Just one more Good Samaritan along my journey. I of course offered to pay but she wouldn't hear of it, and took me right to my door.
Had a blissfully quiet night in. Villa Manos offered to order out for dinner for you if you wanted, and that's exactly what I did. Hung out on my balcony. It occurs to me that I should have kept a list of books I read during this trip, because I know I was reading something good but now for the life of me cannot remember what it was.
The next day, I had to get up early because I was taking a boat ride out to see Santorini's volcano island, Nea Kameni. To walk from Villa Manos to Fira's Old Port apparently takes about 45 minutes, not exactly the 25 Poppy promised me. It was first look at Fira proper, not just the outskirts where I'd had dinner two nights ago. I just could not believe how pretty it was. It would have been nice to stay in one of the towns, but Villa Manos more than made up for its out-of-the-way location.
First day on Santorini, I slept late, puttered, and eventually made my way over to reception. Poppy and her husband offered breakfast until the wonderful Greek time of noon. And they had eggs! I'd gotten so freaking tired of Europe's idea that sugar and carbs make a proper breakfast. Back in the room, I sat on my balcony and read through my guidebooks and wikitravel to figure out what to do with the rest of my day.
Eventually I decided to visit Kamari Beach, which required taking a bus. Said bus arrived right on time and took me exactly where I needed to go, which I would later learn had given me unrealistic expectations of the Santorini off-season bus system.
Walking through Kamari was... eerie.
I felt like I had stumbled into a zombie apocalypse. Restaurants, bars, and hotels as far as the eye could see, and every one of them shut tight and deserted. I walked along the beach, finding it even hard to imagine the town as it must have been only two months before, where a beach stroll would become an activity resembling frogger.
Behind me as I took this shot were some very dramatic sheer rocky cliffs. I poked around these for a while, nosing into a settlement where I possibly did not belong.
I walked back along the strip and finally did find a bar kind of halfway open. It was just warm enough to sit outside, so that's what I did, sipping an Argo, writing and daydreaming. As I sat, two stray dogs began to take an interest in me. I guess the off-season is tough on the strays too, who depend on overflowing trashcans to survive. I ignored them and they kept their distance, but it made me nervous.
My (crappy) hostel-furnished map of Santorini told me that very near to Kamari was remains of an early Greek city, Ancient Thera. I wanted to see it, and my waitress assured me it was nearby. I had to walk back to the cliffs, and apparently it was in there someplace. I took her at her word, although I didn't see anywhere where an ancient city could be hiding, and feared that maybe it was on top of said cliffs, where I surely was not walking.
Anyway, as I checked it out, I had to walk past a cluster of Greek apartment blocks and houses, and lo and behold the barking started. There were more strays, including a mother with puppies, and also dogs defending houses, but with no chains that I could see. Crap. I started to get nervous. My two stray friends from the restaurant had stuck with me for some reason, and then as the new dogs started to get closer they actually started to defend me against them. I couldn't believe it, but apparently I had temporarily become pack. There was lots of barking and growling and snapping, but thank goodness didn't get any worse. Meanwhile I was heading back into town as quick as I could hustle without running. To hell with Ancient Thera. I didn't want to see it that bad. My dogs stuck with me until I found another open cafe and went in to wait for the next bus.
...Yeah, that bus? One rolled by about 20 minutes early, and of course I was in no position to catch it. My waitress saw my distress and asked to see my schedule. Of course it was the wrong one. And the next bus wouldn't be by for an hour and a half at the very least. So the restaurant owner's wife drove me home. Just one more Good Samaritan along my journey. I of course offered to pay but she wouldn't hear of it, and took me right to my door.
Had a blissfully quiet night in. Villa Manos offered to order out for dinner for you if you wanted, and that's exactly what I did. Hung out on my balcony. It occurs to me that I should have kept a list of books I read during this trip, because I know I was reading something good but now for the life of me cannot remember what it was.
The next day, I had to get up early because I was taking a boat ride out to see Santorini's volcano island, Nea Kameni. To walk from Villa Manos to Fira's Old Port apparently takes about 45 minutes, not exactly the 25 Poppy promised me. It was first look at Fira proper, not just the outskirts where I'd had dinner two nights ago. I just could not believe how pretty it was. It would have been nice to stay in one of the towns, but Villa Manos more than made up for its out-of-the-way location.
To get down the the Old Port, it was quite a walk. You can't really see it here very well, but said walk was also very liberally sprinkled with donkey poop. When I got to the bottom, I saw why!
The donkeys weren't the only thing that was arorable. Just check out my tour boat!
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| As you can see, I lucked out with the weather! |
It took about 25 minutes to motor across to Nea Kameni. The boat anchored and cut us loose for an hour and a half. I have never in my life seen a place so utterly barren. Like walking on a black-red moon.
I'd never walked on top of an active volcano before. And I was not disappointed. When I finally got up to the crater, the air started to smell like sulphur. I was kind of wondering, since the volcano was so old, if the crater itself would even be distinctive. But yeah, it was.
You could actually see steam rising from the vents, and see long yellow and white streaks on the rocks from the sulphur. I loved it! Right along the path, there was a small rock depression leaking a thread of steam. I put my hand down and the heat was surprising. I had a feeling I would have burned my hand if I'd touched the rock itself.
Standing up on the very top of Nea Kameni and looking all around at the surrounding islands and flooded caldera, it suddenly became very clear that a long time ago, something very big had happened to create the way the islands look today. Some scholars think that what happened to Santorini became the basis for the Atlantis myth. It was easy to see how that could be.
The second part of our boat trip was supposed to be a trip to some hot springs. My fellow passengers and I were very surprised when the boat calmly shuddered to a stop in the middle of a sheltered cove, and the captain untied a ladder from the side of the boat and lowered it down into the water. "Hot springs, there!" he barked, gesturing over to the muddy shallows. Um, it was November. And while I was very comfy in my two layers and jeans, even if I had brought my bathing suit (never even considered it), there was no way on God's green earth I would have jumped down into that November ocean. What blew my mind is how many of my tour companions did. And yes, they assured me upon returning that yes, it was in fact balls-ass-cold. No thank you.
On the ride home I sat myself in the bow and had the best seat in the house.
When we got back to the Old Port, options for getting back up into Fira included walking (nope), cable car (okay), or donkey.
My donkey was about the best thing ever. His huge ears flopped up and down with every step. I loved him. And I got to ride a donkey in Greece! It was a short ride but so completely worth five euros.
In Fira, I did some dedicated Christmas shopping and had yet another gyro/souvlaki. (I never could exactly tell those two things apart.) Fira was practically deserted, and a lot of the shops and restaurants were closed. Every shop I went into or restaurant I walked past, I was greeted as if I was the answer to their prayers. Everyone was so gleeful to see me it actually made me feel guilty if I walked out of the shop without buying something. The upside was that, in their eagerness to sell me something, I was able to score a couple good deals. My family lucks out on Christmas morning. :)
I finished up shopping and walked through an old part of town that my guidebook said was exceptionally known for its perfect Santorini architecture.
More blue domes than you ever even knew existed. I had a lot of fun exploring and only got (slightly) menaced by dogs once! It was a long walk home to Villa Manos from the far edge of Fira, but I took it slow. Home, I happily had yet another quiet night. Ordered in yet again, bundled up in my fleece and sat outside under the moon and stars, reading. Perfect end to an incredible day!
Were you able to see any lava in the volcano, or was that all covered over?
ReplyDeleteNo lava, just smoke and sulphur. :)
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