Santorini - Let's get this trip started

Trip Start Jun 13, 2008
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Trip End Aug 20, 2008


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Monday, June 23, 2008

Our trip was slightly delayed by the late arrival of the other boat's skipper (the Andreus dude)...he was two days late.  We were supposed to depart Santorini on Mon morning, but were delayed until Tuesday.  It actually worked out great for us because we had more time to actually check out Santorini...others who had already spent a couple days in Santorini were less psyched.  On Monday, we got gyros for lunch (shaved meat into a pita with special sauce, tomatoes, onions, lettuce and french fries....yes Franny they are as awesome as they sound), then took a boat trip to the center of the island (actually an island itself), which is a volcanic crater which formed the island...we also got to swim in the thermal hot springs that are still heated from the magma below.  To get to the boat's dock, we walked down 782 stairs (they were numbered), but that was not the most difficult part....the entire trail was covered in Donkey manure....there are about 60 donkeys that just shuttle people up and down this walkway, all day, every day...it got a little slippery at some points Manure trail to Volcano Trip
Manure trail to Volcano Trip
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Monday night, we regrouped with everyone and stopped at a local winery to taste Greek wine.  While the wine was good, we stayed for a while mostly to watch about an 18-wheeler and several tours buses trying to get unstuck from a windy, narrow, hillside road...there was a lot of Greek yelling going on.  Around 7:30, we headed to Ia, the northernmost part of the island, famous for its sunsets. We walked around a bit and got to see the postcard santorini (all whitewashed building, blue domed churches, all built into steep cliffs overlooking the sea).  It really was amazing...they were throngs of people hanging out waiting to capture the sunset, including us.  After the requisite Greek Island Couple Sunset Picture, we headed to a group dinner.  At dinner, Damon introduced us to the sharing dinner style.  We just ordered a ton of food and shared.  It worked out perfectly and we did this for every meal for the rest of the week.  Our dinners were pretty similar during the week consisting of:


    Tzatziki: yogurt with cucumber and garlic (used as a dip for bread)
    Saganaki: fried cheese
    Greek salad
    Beet Salad
    Baked feta cheese
    Fried tomatoes
    Chicken, and lamb Souvlaki (these are basically skewers)
    Grilled Octopus and Fish
    Olives
    Fava beans
    Stuffed leaf wraps
    Ouzo (liqueur), Mythos (beer), and local wine in a carafe
     
    On Tuesday morning, we got a crash course in sailing and left early heading to the island of Ios.  The ride was ok, but not a ton of wind.  On the way, we stopped in a secluded Bay to go swimming, which included snorkeling, races to the beach and boom swings from the boats....good old-fashioned fun.  For the remainder of the trip, Andy became the anchorman and Lauren the dedicated skipper.
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