Santorini!!!
Trip Start
Sep 14, 2008
1
17
25
Trip End
Dec 15, 2008
Santorini,
Cyclades,
Greece
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
So we did it. We took the trip to the infamous Santorini and man that was a memorable weekend in many good and bad ways.
So we bought our train tickets ahead of time so we could just get to the station a couple minutes before and just board the train. On the way over we took a cab with two other people since the fare is usually only 2.80 and split it among us. Our driver spoke English (which we decided isn't always a great thing) as he started talking about how people work too hard in America and the Greek way of life is better. I admit I do like the relaxing but working hard builds character and I have to admit I'd rather be a hard worker than a bum. Kids here whine in our classes when were assigned papers or given writing assignments in class. It's a bit ridiculous, but anyways. So after he finished his little thought of the day he started talking about places we should visit and last on his list was Santorini
Leaving Athens!
. He wasn't impressed apparently because he said the black sand beaches were overrated and he'd rather be at the beach close to Thessaloniki anyday. Shortly after this he asked us where we were heading and we laughed and said, "Santorini." Slightly embarassed he said have fun and we paid and got out. Our train was at 11:33 and Megan and I headed to the platform with about 30 min to spare. We elected to get sleeper cars this time and as our train pulled up we laughed as we realized that this wasn't going to be anything like we imagined. The beds were stacked 3 high on each side, inside a small cabin. The Harry Potter booths we had before simply converted into this by folding the back on the seats down and putting a sheet with a pillow and a blanket on the "bed". We shared our room with an old man, a Japanese guy, and one more person. Luckily we got the bottom beds, but that luck turned as two of the men took off their shoes and Megan and I had to throw the sheets over our faces to keep from gagging. The ride was interesting, it was much easier to fall asleep lying down of course, but the train stopped in so many places and the lights flashing through our window made it hard to really fall alseep. So when we arrived we were slightly rested, grabbed our bags and headed to the Advanced Booking Office to get our tickets for the return trip home. If we only knew then what was going to happen we would have waited.
We got our return tickets for Monday on the 9:21 train and headed down to the metro to head to the airport
Port of Piraeus
. The metro ticket costs a little more if you go all the way out to the airport, but you can buy a discount ticket for 10 euro for two people rather than paying 6 each. Before we turned to go I noticed a small little sign that warned passengers about the Metro strike that was going on that afternoon. Megan and I breathed a sigh of relief as the times weren't going to affect us in anyway. Yeah luck would turn that around on us later too.When we finally made it to the Athens airport Megan was hungry for some real breakfast so we headed upstairs to where the food was and started scavenging around. Megan stopped at a little eatery and almost got a muffin but I saw McDonald's around the corner and we decided to see if they served the pancakes there for breakfast too. I grabbed a seat by the window overlooking the air lanes and Megan came over and sat with me a minute later after ordering with a sad look on her face. I was going to ask why but then I looked down to the tray and saw that she got a McMuffin instead and knew that she was sad she didn't just say no thanks and got the muffin she was craving. So as we sat there waiting for our plane Megan ate her muffin slowly and reluctantly, while I read some more of my Stephen King book. 30 min later we headed down to our security checkpoint (I'm gonna get the hang of it one day) and sat waiting for our plane out to Santorini!
We boarded at 10:35 and arrived in Santorini around 11:15
Minus the plane engine the view wasn't bad
. Megan and I had heard that to get a hotel you could wait til you got to the port in Fira and much like the tavernas you could bargain on hotel prices until you found an offer you wanted. But that's if you come in by ferry...apparently they don't do the same thing at the airport and when we arrived and stepped outside we were greeted with nothing but an empty stretch of road and not a taxi in sight. We found a bus stop there though and decided to wait to try and catch one. So we sat there and waited, and waited, and waited...until finally...a woman dropped off a Chinese/Japanese couple (the first of many we saw) and asked us where we were going. When we explained our situation she told us that the buses and taxis know the plane schedules as well and don't stop by the route after awhile. We would have doubted her but it was already past noon, and so far we had yet to see either taxi or bus. She offered to take us to her hotel next, and Megan tried bargaining with her but got shot down immediately (which would also not be the first time we tried something everyone told us about and saw that it was completely different). But the price of the hotel wasn't that bad. Kinda. It was 25 euros a night, which came out to 35 euros for the both of us, and it was pretty nice. However, it was also smack dab in the middle of the island, which is not a good place to be because all of the nightlife and tavernas are closer to the shore.After we settled in and put on some deodorant (between the train and plane we were quite stinky) we headed back to the reception area and called a scooter rental place to rent a scooter for the day
Islands were beautiful from up here
. The lady called them for us and told us to wait outside by the entrance for him to come and pick us up. So for the second time that day we played the waiting game hoping each car that drove by (for an island it had A LOT of cars) would be him. Around 2:00 he finally showed up and drove us into Fira where his shop was located. We also found out that we had a choice of either renting a scooter or ATV, and well the Pappy side in me was very, very happy lol. Plus I reasoned with Megan that four wheels were safer than two wheels, which may or may not be true. But the scooter and ATV were the same price and we rented it for a 24 hour period and named it Ol' Yellar.Jared and I had a blast riding up and down the hilly roads of Santorini in it, passing by all the other tourists on similar ATVs and scooters. I soon realized after getting the ATV that it feels a lot colder when you are flying down a road with no kind of protection or covering, so our first stop was back to the hotel where I could pick up a jacket. Outside the rooms and in front of the pool we decided to have a quick photo shoot with our new ride. It wasn't just our mode of transportation that was funny, but the part that kept Jared cracking up the entire time was the size of my helmet. We all know that I have a slightly smaller head than average and of course the motor rental shop did not carry small helmets, so I was stuck with the smallest one they had which had two inches of padding on the inside
More islands
. At least I would be safe! On our way out of the photo shoot area, Jared noticed a dirt road behind our hotel and wanted to explore. We didn't get very far before our ATV gave up on the sandy hill and Jared had to get off and push us out of the rough and head back for the road. Unfortunately, there really wasn't a great view (which we were hoping for) from the dirt road, so we didn't feel bad heading back so soon. Jared let me drive on the way back and I was excited to finally take the wheel. I hopped in front and Jared showed me how to turn it on and give it some gas. Well, it turns out an ATV is much harder to drive than I thought it would be. I was too afraid to give it a lot of gas so we ended up getting stuck in the sand and couldn't even make it up a three inch bump. We went sliding back down the bump when Jared grabbed the gas and forced it up the bump (Jared won't let me call it a hill). After that, I gave up on driving and gladly handed the wheel back over to Jared.After that little adventure we headed back into the main square of Fira. By that time it was 3:00 and we were starved for some lunch. We stopped at one of the first tavernas down the street and they led us up to their garden terrace area. We had the balcony and entire upstairs area to ourselves and it was so pretty. We decided to follow the Greek tradition and just order a bunch of appetizers to share. Our lunch consisted of cheese saganaki, grape leaves, fried zuchinni balls, and tzatziki
Another shot
. They served us all of this along with warm toasted pita bread and a big bottle of water. It was all so good, but surprisingly the grape leaves were especially good! I don't know what they added to them, but Jared and I could not get enough of them. We enjoyed lunch for an hour and then headed further down the street into the shopping areas. Stores lined every street exploding with souveniers of all kinds. A lot of the gifts they had were very cute, but every single one of them had "Santorini" handwritten on it in black magic marker. It made everything look every tacky and the words were scraping off and many times not even written very well. It was still nice to go through all the stores to see what they had to offer though. We continued on through the square and eventually made it to wear we could see the coast. It was a breathtaking sight. Massive rocky cliffs led up to the city from the port and sea below. The stores, restaurants, and homes looked as if they were stacked in layers up the mountain in impossible ways. From there we had an amazing view of the caldera and volcano out right in front of us. It seemed unreal to be standing in front of such an amazing sight. We followed the sidewalk that led up to the top of the city--we knew that from there the view would be even better. On the way we passed several tavernas that have balconies right on the edge of the cliff. It looks as if you are floating over the water hundreds of feet above from the way it was designed. At that moment we promised to come back that night to one of these restaurants to see the sunset (which sets right over the volcano)
views from the plane
. At the top of the city we could see everything and took so many photos. This place really is unbelievable. We headed back down towards our ATV after a bit because we wanted to have time to clean up and come back in time for the sunset. On our way, we were stopped by a man standing outside of one of the tavernas which the beautiful balcony view. He tried to convince us to come to his taverna to eat, but we told him that we had just eaten lunch and were not ready for another meal yet. He kept trying, but when he realized that we weren't budging he began to ask us about where we were from and how we were liking Santorini. We told him that we were students in Thessaloniki and were just here for the weekend. He turned out to be a really nice guy and we talked for a while about school and living in America. We promised him that we would come back to his restaurant later that night and then said goodbye. Jared and I made our way back to the ATV, hopped on, and headed back to the hotel. There, we got ready and changed for the night. Santorini has beautiful warm weather during the day, but in the evening it gets quite cold and windy. We both put on pants and jackets and jumped back on the ATV. We took the five minute drive back into the city of Fira and parked our ATV at the bottom of the square. As promised we went back to the restaurant where we had met the man ealier in the day. He was very excited to see us when we walked up. He told me how beautiful I looked and how he thought we were so cute for changing and dressing up to come back for dinner
Santorini?
. He laughed at Jared a bit because he had on nice black pin stripe pants, a button-up shirt, and completed the outfit with tennis shoes. We talked a little while longer and then he brought us down to one of the balconies and sat us down at one of the tables that had a wide open view of the caldera. It was so beautiful watching the water sparkle and the back of the volcano light up from the setting sun. Our new friend brought us two menus and before we even had a chance to look inside he began telling us the specials for the night. They catch all of their fish fresh each day and then grill it right there above the balcony area on a large coal grill. He suggested three appetizers to start: a shimp saganaki, grilled octopus, and a seafood platter. I could see Jared's mouth watering already as the man explained how each was made in tantalizing terms (even I was getting a bit interested--he was that good). He then went on to propose that we order their fish of the night--a black snapper--which they grill and then cut off the meat from the bones right there at your table for you (ok, that part did not sound very good to me). We thanked him for the explainations and then he left us with the menus. We opened them up and almost fell out of our chairs. To give him credit he did forewarn us I guess, by saying that he understands that we are students, but wanted to make his suggestion. One appetizer was 30 euro! He had suggested three! One of which was 34 euro, another at 40 euro and the last was 30 euro. We were afraid to flip to the main dish section, but went for it and realized that their fish of the night would set us back 60 euro
Jared was very picture happy during the ride
! Jared and I looked at each other wondering what we were going to do now and how we were going to explain this situation when the man returned. We began looking into just getting dessert or wine, but even those were very expensive. When he came back to our table ready to take our order, we put on our best "about that..." face and told him that since we are college students there was no way we could afford any of this food. Thankfully he understood and asked if maybe we would like to see the drink menu. We felt really bad, so agreed to take a look at it. We went for the cheapest thing on the menu and ordered two frappes at 4 euro a piece. They were actually the best frappes we have ever had in Greece, and they literally have these at every coffee shop and restaurant in Greece. We watched the sunset while we drank our frappes, unfortunately, it was too cloudy to really see the sun set, but the sky did turn a beautiful orange and then purple color. We stayed at the restaurant for two hours just talking and listening to a group of Asian tourists sitting next to us. The reason we stayed so long is because no one would come bring us the check and we couldn't see to get their attention every time they walked down to serve other guests. We eventually just walked up to the top of the taverna and gave money to the man standing up there at the time. While we were up there we asked him what the man's name was who we had become friends with. He told us it was Nikos and we decided to wait up there for him so we could take a picture before we left
flying over Santorini
. Nikos was very excited when we asked for a picture and thanked us over and over again for coming back, even if it was just to order a frappe. He said we could come back anytime to have another frappe on the balcony and we told him we would. We headed back down to the square and ate dinner at a taverna there. I got chicken souvlaki and Jared had paithaikia (lamb ribs). The food was pretty good and we tried a garlic dip to go with our bread which was very delicious. We stayed there for another couple of hours and then made our way back down to the ATV. We passed by an amazing looking dessert shop on the way and couldn't help but stop in. We got a chocolate mousse and a mini chocolate eclair cookie type thing. We saved them to eat when we got back to the hotel because we were still pretty full at the time. We were so excited to eat them by the time we got back though. We threw open the box and went to grab a spoon, but then realized there wasn't one. I guess we were going to eat this one with our fingers. It didn't make a difference though because it was all so good. After we devoured the desserts, Jared and I were exhausted and hit the sack for the night so that we could take full advantage of the next day.
