Big K's recap of Santorini

So, we left off trying to solidify our hotel arrangements for when we arrived in Santorini. Well, it turns out that the tour company I went through had a description of one hotel but booked another one under a similar name (and there's actually a third hotel with that name on the island. Really, can't you be more original? I know there's only so many gods and goddesses, but come on.) So we ended up getting in touch with the right hotel just as we were leaving Mykonos and they said we would be on our own for transport. OK, whatever. We got to Mykonos port with lots of other travelers well ahead of time but I was still worried our boat might be in the other port. Especially when it was about an hour late. But many others were going on the same trip, and the bus driver assured us it was coming there. And it did. A smaller, faster ferry dubbed the "Flying Cat" came in and people streamed off. It's amazing how many people they can fit in one of those, especially when most are loaded up with luggage. More than the largest airplane, even though the boat has to be smaller. And it's really quite fast! We breezed into Santorini after a couple stops at about 6pm. Clouds were obscuring the towns on top of the cliffs, but it was still an amazing sight.

For those of you who don't know about Santorini, it's a hotbed of volcanic activity and earthquakes that has been destroyed and rebuilt a number of times, most recently in the 1950's. It used to be a ring island until a couple thousand years ago, when possibly the most massive earthquake/eruption in history destroyed parts of the ring, sinking most of the center and causing parts of what was left to be shorn off into the water, leaving steep cliffs around a deep caldera. The route to/from the port traversed these cliffs with several switchbacks, going all the way up until you can see where you started about a thousand feet below. Quite a nail-biting trip up and down, especially in one of the full-size tour buses! We were fortunate to experience that several times in the coming days. Mel held on to me as tightly as she could around some of the turns, while the bus used every available inch of pavement and cleared space above the road.

For this trip, we tried to hail a taxi, who pointed us in the direction of a smaller bus. We told him where we were headed, and he had to ask where exactly the hotel was. Not a huge vote of confidence. But we loaded up, went up those cliffs and found our way to the beach of Kamari, and right in front of our hotel! So that worked out OK. After settling in at our less-than-fabulous hotel, we wandered down the street for dinner and ended up in the company of a man named Alexander. Now, he was like most of the restaurant proprietors in that he stood outside, coaxing passersby into sitting down for a meal, but this man had it down to an art form. I just sat there during our meal, watching him operate. A few puffs on his cigarette, some pacing, a sip of coffee, here comes someone, he gets them to come in, then he walks around a little checking out the business, seeming very relaxed and satisfied (but why the smokes and coffee then?). I figured he had it pretty good. Before long, he had a full house and was telling them to wait a few minutes. Watching Alexander was good entertainment and it went well with a very good meal. I'd been craving lamb for most of the trip and I finally got some lamb chops at a good price. They were excellent! Mel's chicken in Metaxa sauce (local brandy) was also great. So, that was it for the night, a good start to our time in Santorini. I enjoyed an evening view of the water from our hotel balcony, although many of our hotel neighbors were out doing the same.

Next morning we went out for a little run and got a good sense of the town we were in. No cliffs on this side of the island. but there was a long black beach with shops and restaurants along the way and a mountain at one end that dropped straight into the sea. Further inland was a zigzagging path up the mountain to an ancient site. I told Mel I would run up the mountain one of the mornings. She didn't think so. After our run, we spent the morning on the "beach" which more resembled gravel than sand. Thankfully, the water was at least decently warm. We stayed until the beach got pretty crowded around noon. We had lunch nearby just off the beach and found ourselves at one of the tourist offices to check out what we could see or do during our stay. Earlier, we saw a dive shop and Mel decided we would spend one day snorkeling. So that left the rest of the current day and the day we were leaving free for other stuff. We decided to hastily book a beach exploration tour that left in about 15 minutes and hurried up the street to meet the bus. Then it was back to the port, this time on the big bus, and after surviving that we got onto an old tourist boat. It was designed to carry quite a few passengers, and it was SLOOOOW. We got some great views on the way out around the point of the island, but it took two hours, limiting our actual beach time. Once we finally arrived at the first beach, the guide recommended that we not stop there and continue on. OK. So we came all this way to the beaches, then skipped one. But the other two were definitely the more interesting ones, so it was the right move, but still. That's what two hours getting there does. Anyway, the first beach we stopped at was called the "White Beach" because the cliffs above it were all white, though the actual sand was black. Very picturesque. It was in a little cove and no one else was there. It looked like there was a footpath up the cliff for walking to the beach, but I imagine most visitors came by boat. We were in for another surprise when the boat parked about 50 meters offshore and the guide told us we would have to swim the rest of the way! Not at all what we were prepared for. This also meant no pictures from shore. Mel decided to stay on the boat and take pictures of me while I swam to shore. It seemed like a long swim, but I made it. I was a little worried about the trip back though. While we were there, a yacht pulled up nearby and a bunch of people got out, apparently to do the same thing. I did make it back and the boat left for the Red Beach. This one actually did have red (and black) sand with red cliffs above, and it was also an easier spot to get to on land. So it had a few people on it. Mel came with me on this swim too, and we enjoyed a little time on this unique spot before heading off on the boat again. Thankfully, the boat didn't make the trek back to the port but instead went to a harbor much closer by. We had dinner and went back to the dive center to make reservations for tomorrow morning's snorkeling excursion.

Next morning we had our meager breakfast at the hotel, went to the market to grab some lunch for later and headed for the dive center. We met up with an Australian couple who were scuba diving and a couple of guides. We were chatting with our snorkeling guide, named Nikos, who mentioned that he had an uncle who was a mechanic in Lubbock. He said he hoped to go visit him soon. We gave him our rather unfavorable impressions of Lubbock (even though we've never been there) and suggested he also check out some of East Texas if he had time. Then we loaded up in a big pickup and headed back to the harbor. There, apparently we had to wait on a last minute addition to the group, who turned out to be a cruise-ship musician from Tennessee who had the day off. Once we were all assembled, we got to the dock and I expected to board a large boat, but instead we loaded up into a little orange rubber raft. It was basically a lifeboat with a 200cc engine. And boy was it fast! We made virtually the same trip as the day before in about a quarter of the time. It was like tubing off a speedboat. We got to our first snorkel spot and jumped into the chilly water. The coral and water colors were gorgeous. We saw a few fish as well including lots of little black ones, and we also saw the scuba divers below. Wherever the water was deep enough for the divers, though, it was too cold for me, and there wasn't much to see right at the surface. Before long, I was freezing cold, and soon we got back into the boat. We went to the smallest island in the group to have lunch at a little deserted beach. Mel and I filled up on bread, salami, and feta. I felt that one in my stomach later! After lunch we hit another snorkeling spot near the island. Where our boat was, it was only a few meters deep, but not long into our snorkel we hit a wall that just dropped off into the abyss. Nikos said he had no idea how deep it was, but it was at least 250 meters. We saw lots of beautiful coral and a few brightly colored fish. The divers were directly below again, and their guide found an oyster, split it open, and fed some of the fish. Quite a sight. Once again, when we were over the shallow water the temp was fine, but when we went over the deep it was chilly. So after while I had enough and requested to go back to the shallow part. It was a great snorkeling trip altogther despite being cold, and, as I later found out, getting a good sunburn on my back. We had dinner on the beach again and then did a little shopping before heading in for the night. Mel ended up (finally) splurging on a Galliano little black dress after much hemming and hawing and first leaving the store. It was a good price, but her main argument was, "Where am I going to wear it?" Trust me, you get it and we'll find somewhere you can wear it. Eventually she did, and we will. I actually wasn't done for the night, because I left my newly purchased "Indiana Jones" hat at the restaurant. I ventured back out and retrieved it, and in the process, saw a different side of the town come out at night. There were lots of people milling about, all the tavernas and cafes were full, and it was much more of a party atmosphere (even though it was only really dinnertime for most of the people). The moon was also full and bright and beautiful over the beach.

The last day was to be a busy one as well, as we had decided to go on a morning tour of the volcano and hot springs. It was on the same boat as the beach tour, so I knew we would be spending most of the time getting from one place to another. We took the big bus down to the port again and boarded up, this time heading for the small islands at the center of the caldera. On the way, we went close to the port for Fira and saw the path and tramway between the port and the town way up above. We also had good views of Ia, the northernmost town, and the large outer island of Thirasia. Finally, we arrived at the Hot Springs, which were hot in name only. Once again, we swam from the boat through the water to the yellow-brown sulfur springs. They were active, but not heavily so, judging by the temperature and color of the water. They were advertised as being therapeutic, but that must have been some other time. Then we stopped at the volcano and had a long hike up to the craters at the top of the formation. There, we felt a few hotspots where gases escaped and saw (and smelled) some rocks that had been colored green by sulfuric gases. No actual lava flows, but very interesting since I had never been to a real volcano. Our guide told us some of the facts of the volcano and the eruptions on the island. The two middle islands were first formed only 450 years ago and some parts were added as recently as the eruptions of the 1950's.

After getting back to the port, we went back to Kamari to get our luggage and some souvenirs from the market, and then we took a taxi right back to the port to catch the ferry to Crete (efficient, right?). As usual it was late, but we had some fresh salad, sandwich and pizza at the cafe to pass the time.

The story continues later in Crete...