Episode 3: Santorini
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Naxos
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Paros
and Mykonos
1 October 2005 – 8
October 2005
Our week on Naxos
came to an end and we left for Santorini under gloomy,
rain-filled clouds. Luckily by the time the Blue Star
Ferry reached Santorini (also known as Thira), the skies
had cleared enough to give us a good view of this
spectacular volcanic island. Santorini’s crescent shape
was formed when the center blew out in 1450 BC. Strings
of whitewashed houses cling to the top and spill down the
sides like meringue on the caldera, the inside of the
crescent. We docked at the new port of Athinios where
buses and taxis waited for the hundreds of tourists
getting off. A traffic jam was created when all these
vehicles started up the side of the cliff and slowly
negotiated the many switchbacks to the top, then drove to
the main town of Fira, several Km away.
We had arranged to
rent cars again but we had to take a taxi into Fira to
find the Car Rental agency. Ray, Carolyn and I shared one
vehicle with two other locals. The driver made a detour
to the small village of Pirgos to let off one passenger.
A three-piece band playing for wedding guests waiting for
the bride to appear entertained us. The groom waited
patiently, carrying a bouquet of flowers while several
men carrying baskets threw paper wrapped gunpowder
nuggets onto the ground causing noisy explosions. This is
the way Greek weddings are announced.
By the time we reached Fira, the others were waiting,
quite upset. The Car Rental Agency was closed and a
notice on the door said it would not open until 5:30 PM.
That left more than an hour to wait around. We tried to
get a number to phone the agency to no avail. There was
no choice but to retire to a outdoor cafe next door and
to relax with a beer. The restaurant owner proved to be a
most hospitable man and we ended up having an enjoyable
break. We can’t say the same for the Car Rental employee
who was finally summoned. We thought he was in the wrong
profession, as he certainly seemed to resent having to
come back and provide us with cars. He claimed we were
supposed to pick the cars up at 1:30 PM, before they
closed for the afternoon, but the only ferry going
between Naxos and Santorini at that time of year
didn\rquote t leave until nearly 1 PM. At least the cars,
a Nissan Micra and a larger Peugeot 260, worked out well.
Hotel El Theon, in
Imerovigli, just north of Fira, proved to be a good
choice. We had opted for a hotel overlooking the east
side of the island rather than the caldera where we would
have paid at least three times as much. We had three
apartments, which we allocated on the basis of a draw.
Jack and Jenni got the jackpot this time with a large two-room
unit on the second floor with a double balcony. We others
had smaller two-room units at garden level, but we were
all very comfortable. Once again we had a lovely pool to
enjoy, although it wasn’t quite as warm as it had been in
Naxos. Like Naxos, we developed a routine of eating out
one meal and preparing another picnic style meal. One
evening we ate at Stavros Fish Tavern in Imerovigli where
we watched the famous sunset over the caldera and enjoyed
one of our best meals.
Santorini had more to offer
than just the caldera. One day we drove to Kamari, with a
long black lava beach on the east coast. Ancient Thira
sits 369 M above sea level on Mesa Vouna, a rocky
headland next to Kamari.
First inhabited by Dorians in
the 9thC BC, it was subsequently inhabited by the Greeks
and Romans until it was abandoned in the Byzantine period.
Germans archaeologists started excavating the site in
1895, uncovering houses, temples and public buildings
that once housed thousands of people. By the time we had
driven up a narrow switch-backed road to a parking lot,
Ray, Jack and I were the only ones who wanted to walk up
higher to see the ruins. We were glad we did. It was a
most impressive area although they must have been very
concerned about their safety to choose such a precipitous
site for the city.
We drove back to Kamari and
had lunch in one of the many patio restaurants along the
beach. Jack suggested we walk up to a chapel we could see
half way up the hill. It was reputed to have the only
spring on the island inside a cave next to the chapel.
Ray and I were game, so off we went. It was a steep but
relatively easy walk and we found the spring.
Oia (pronounced ee-ya) is the town on the
north tip of Santorini. Sea Captains built their large
houses on the cliff top while the ordinary seamen
burrowed into caves in the cliff. To enlarge their homes
they constructed concrete vaulted extensions to the caves.
Oia was mostly destroyed in a 1956 earthquake but it has
been entirely reconstructed with the once simple,
traditional cave homes converted to the most expensive
hotel rooms.
Oia, with its
narrow, winding streets was fun to explore. There is a
hike along the edge of the caldera rim from Oia to Fira,
a distance of 10 Km. Jack, Ray and I decided to walk back
to Imerovigli from Oia, cutting off about 2 km. Most of
the walk was on good paths and was very scenic. It took
us 2-1/2 hrs, including breaks at some of the chapels
along the way, and we were glad we had plenty of water
and snacks.
Ancient Akrotiri, the “Minoan Pompeii” , was
a city destroyed by the volcanic eruption in 1450 BC.
Unfortunately the site was closed. About a
week before we
arrived a roof collapsed over an archaeological dig site
and a person was killed. We drove to the site at the
south end of Santorini but couldn’t see anything. A sign
just said it was closed for ‘technical’ reasons. We had a
look at the nearby Red Beach, accessible by boat or by
walking around a headland. The name derives from the red
cliffs backing a narrow, pebbly beach. It was very windy
at that end of the island so we weren’t tempted to stay.
We continued on to the extreme tip, Cape Akrotiri
lighthouse to get the view, holding on to our hats in the
wind.
We retraced our
route and headed for Perissa Beach, another black lava
beach on the other side of Mesa Vouna headland from
Kamari. After a nice lunch in a Crepe restaurant on the
beach we grabbed our suits and headed for a protected
beach right next to Mesa Vouna. The black sand can be
extremely hot in the summer but it was perfect for early
October swimming. The waters were the warmest yet and the
sand was quite fine.
Our last stop of the day was Santo Winery, a large co-operative
winery on Santorini. More and more vineyards are being
planted on Santorini as the rocky soil and warm climate
is perfect for the grapes. We had a tour of this modern
operation and then shared a tasting tray of six different
wines. The speciality of the island is Vinsanto, an amber-coloured
sweet dessert wine, much like port. We bought bottles of
the local white and red wine plus a Vinsanto to have with
our meals at the hotel. You can buy inexpensive local
wines in 1.5 L plastic bottles or fill your own bottles
from temperature controlled kegs. The white in plastic
bottles was awful. I could only drink it well dilluted
with tonic water. The white from the keg was a little
better and the red was not bad but the commercial
offerings were better.
All this beauty and popularity brings more development
to Santorini every year and more and more cruise ships.
Fira wasn’t my favourite town, although the Museums of
Akrotiri and Ancient Thira were very well done. There are
an obscene number of very expensive jewellery stores in
Fira and the narrow streets become impassable when many
cruise ships disgorge their passengers at the port.
Nevertheless we visited to use the internet and admire
the churches.
Jack, Jenni, Ray
and I found Lucky’s Souvlaki Shop for lunch one day. Much
to our surprise one of the staff was wearing a Canada T-shirt.
As well, they were cooking McCains french fries. Since
the Burnhams are from Florenceville NB, the home of
McCains, I had to get a picture. Lucky said he had posed
with a fish or game he had shot but never a bag of french
fries. Jenni said she would send the photo to Alison
McCain, the current president.
Four of us, Jack, Jenni, Ray and I took a day boat
ride to the outlying islands. Ray and I walked along the
caldera path into Fira and down the switch-backed road to
Skala, the Port of Fira, used by smaller (a relative word)
cruise ships, yachts and excursion boats. Jack and Jenni
took the cable car down and met us at the bottom. The
road is the same one the donkeys use bringing tourists up
to town, so we had to dodge donkey dung and donkeys the
entire 2 Km down. About six cruise ships docked in the
port that day and 90 % of the people were lined up to
take the cable car up to Fira. It had to be an hour or
more wait, what a zoo.
We opted to take
the glass-bottomed Calypso to visit all three caldera
islets. Our first stop was Nea Kameni (New Burnt), a
still smouldering volcano although it hasn’t erupted for
50 years. There are numerous paths over the barren black
volcanic rock and signs explaining the formation of the
island.
There are some
smoking fumaroles, but no molten lava to see. Our second
island was the smaller Palea Kameni (Old Burnt). We
anchored just offshore and everyone jumped off to swim a
short distance to bask in hot springs that turned the
water sulphur yellow. Since we had only a half-hour stop
here and I didn’t realize we could jump straight from the
boat, Ray and I had left our suits behind. A mistake; it
looked like fun although we weren’t the only excursion
boat and it was crowded.
Thirasia is the occupied
island in the trio. It has a small permanent population
of fishermen and restaurateurs who cater to the excursion
boats. We had enough time here to walk up the cliff to
the main town, wander around and come down for a beer by
the water. Jack and Jenni stayed down at the dock and
found a quiet place for a nice swim. A short distance
from shore the boat stopped over a rocky ledge, really a
barely submerged hill, to view the sea through the glass
bottom. There were small fish around but I missed seeing
an octopus. I guess they stay nearer the bottom.
Boat passengers had a choice of getting of at Oia,
staying to watch the sunset and taking a bus back to Fira
or staying on for the trip back to the port at Fira. We
had been chatting to a couple from Victoria BC on the
boat. When the boat stopped briefly at Fira, Brian
started searching for his daypack. We thought that was
very strange as we had been impressed how honest everyone
had been in the islands. We had also been chatting to a
woman from Ottawa who chose to get off at Oia. We soon
realized that she too was searching for her daypack. She
had taken the wrong one by mistake! The emergency was
averted and we were on our way.
Back in Fira, Ray
and I opted to take the donkeys up to town while Jack and
Jenni took the cable car. The donkey ride was fun and an
experience. Picture a whole group of tourists, none of
whom know how to lead a donkey, and donkeys, some of whom
want to get to the top of the hill as quickly as possible
and some who would rather mosey along and you get
controlled chaos. We all made it to the top without
falling off.
Our last day on Santorini we made a return trip to
Perissa beach with a side-trip to the top of Profitis
Ilias (Profit Elijah) the highest point on Santorini. We
started up the steep road to the top just as multiple
tour buses were coming down. The road was so narrow the
buses had to pull off the road to let us pass. More buses
were in the cramped parking lot near the top so we had to
continue up to an even smaller parking place. The day was
overcast and cool so the view wasn’t even very good. We
stayed only long enough to watch a hiking group start
their descent down a path to Perissa Beach far below.
That looked like the better route than the road out of
there. Even Perissa was chilly. We all had a coffee to
fortify us before we finally braved the waters. It was
fine once we were in though.
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