Santorini

Sunday, August 21

When our ferry pulled into the new port area, it felt like we were walking out onto a movie set. The port is located in the middle of a bay surrounded by sky-high rocky cliffs. We squinted up to the top because the whole thing just didn’t seem real. It almost felt like the set of a western with desert cliffs overlooking the strand of shops below. Except these shops all sold Greek food or rental cars.

As soon as we walked off the ferry, Carl spotted the bus to Thera. It was a mad scramble but we were able to throw our bags below and hop on in time. We even got a seat! Which seemed unfathomable given the crowds pushing to get on. It only worked because everyone got on, and as we were moving, a man came and sold tickets. The bus driver expertly navigated the extreme switchbacks going up the cliff side and soon we were on top of the island.

We looked across the water to the mountain tops and -for a second- thought the peaks were covered in snow. But that would be impossible because 1) we are in Greece 2) it’s August and so so so hot (omg it’s so hot). Then we realized the white peaks are actually all buildings. All of the cities on Santorini only have square, white buildings that cling to the cliff sides, and look a lot like snow from far away. We felt dumb for thinking this but then overheard a couple behind us go through the exact same thought process.

Not much further we arrived to the town of Thera. We walked through the town, along some pedestrian streets, and then hiked up along the main road to our hotel, Hotel Afrodete. The hotel advertised having a hot tub but I guessed (correctly) it was probably a small, cold pool. When we approached there were two little girls playing with plastic toy boats in the pool. They were so adorable that we think they work for the hotel in order to melt guests’ hearts right as they enter.

The woman that checked us in was so nice. She gave us a brochure for some boat excursions and gave us information about walking into town and hiking to the town of Oia. They had water waiting for us in the fridge and the AC worked pretty well, so we were very happy.

We wanted to explore Thera, but first we needed a snack. We walked into town along a back road that the woman had told us about and found ourselves in cobblestone alleys lined with souvenir shops. We stopped at Meat Corner Grill and got two gyros and sodas.

The night before Carl had showed me an old SNL episode with Adam Sandler where the gyro shop owners ask Jason Alexander (George from Seinfeld) if he liked the gyro sauce. They say, “you like-uh-the juice ah?? Ah! He like-ah-the juice!” The episode is dated BUT I swear the guy at this shop pulled the stunt on us. We ordered a Fanta and a coke and he said “you ah-like-ah the Fanta huh?” with a huge creepy smile.

As we walked further we saw a place advertising Crazy Donkey IPAs. We had seen the Santorini brewery t-shirts at every tourist shop, but the brewery is located outside of town (too difficult to get to) so this seemed to be our chance.

We sat and tried the Crazy Donkey IPA and the Yellow Donkey Pale Ale. Both were good but I think we actually liked the pale ale better. Then we were hopped up and ready to go explore.

The town overlooks ‘the caldera’ which we stupidly thought would be a volcano standing across the water. Actually, the whole island is a string of volcanos and so the ‘caldera’ views are really views into the mouth of the old volcano. The island that’s out in the middle is called Nea Kameni and was actually formed from molten lava cooling.

We enjoyed peeking into souvenir shops and into hotel backyards. Most of the hotels overlooking the caldera have really nice, bright blue pools. It looked like a lot of the rooms have their own private plunge pool (goals).

We circled back and found a fish spa where you pay to put your feet into a tub filled with little fish that will eat the dead skin off. Carl did it but I didn’t like the idea. He said it felt “ticklish for the first minute and then you get used it and it feels like having your feet in a whirlpool bath”. I saw a sign for gel manicure so went and got one while Carl finished his foot soak.

Then we just felt very sweaty and tired. So we went back to our hotel and took a dip in the very cold plunge pool. Even though our hotel was very close to town, it is actually located on the eastern side of the caldera ridge. So we could see ocean views from the pool, but only to the east, past the flat farmland areas.

For dinner we decided to go to a place called Kokkalo. Even though, like our hotel, it didn’t overlook the caldera (so no epic sunset views) it did overlook the ocean on the eastern side. The food here was amazing and probably our best meal in Greece so far.

When we sat they brought us Raki, a Turkish traditional drink made of twice-distilled grapes. It tasted strong, and kinda like tequila. They also gave us some Kalamata olives, croutons, and pear tomatoes. We ordered the house rosé and some feta cheese balls to start. The cheese balls were so creamy and delicious and came with some kind of spiced mayonnaise dip.

Because we ate gyros for lunch we decided to get salad for dinner. We got a salad with pomegranate, walnuts, and balsamic vinegar. It was huge, and pretty good. We also got some sides to complement our big salad. We got Greek sausages which had cheese inside that squirted out when we cut them open. We also got some mixed marinated mushrooms and then grilled halloumi cheese. The halloumi was perfectly cooked and topped with an apricot jam. It was ridiculously good. When we left we weren’t stuffed, but we were completely satisfied.

Monday, August 22

We slept in a little bit more than we should’ve, but we were still ‘on the trail’ before 10am. Our plan was to hike from Thera to Oia, along a walking trail that follows the Santorini ridge line. The first part of this hike goes through some touristy areas with souvenir shops and between hotel patios. We ogled at all the private patios with private plunge pools. We even saw one where a breakfast had been laid out that had champagne and iced coffees. I was jealous but we looked up the price of some of these rooms and found the cheapest to be over 500 euro.

As we walked it seemed that every few steps was a new angle of the same amazing view, so we took a ton of pictures.

At one point we took a little detour down to Skaros rock. This rock formation was created by the volcanic activity. At one point a castle had been built on top, but it is now a ruin, and falling down more every day.

We walked down and around the rock and grimaced when we overheard an American family strategizing how to climb to the top. I could tell Carl was curious to explore it too, but it wasn’t even 10:30am yet and we had the whole hike ahead of us, so we saved the scary rock climbing for another time.

Finally the trail broke away from the town and we hiked along a dirt path with rocks on either side of us. The trail led us up the ridge to a church for views over the whole caldera. We trudged along, ready to get a cold Fanta. Finally we descended on volcanic rock scree, into the town of Oia (pronounced eee-ah). We wandered the cobblestone alleys a bit and then found a good gyro spot with views over the east side.

We walked through Oia a bit, to see all the views and the end of the city on the north side. Then we walked over to the bus stop to get the bus back to Thera. There were a million people also waiting for the bus. It was madness, but it actually wasn’t that long of a wait and we were able to get on and, surprisingly, get seats.

The bus dropped us off back in Thira town. We had been waiting all day to jump into the pool but, being back in town we figured we should just go sweaty to our next activity rather than go all the way back to our hotel pool which we might never be able to get out of.

So we walked along the main road to Anhydrous winery. We got the wine and cheese sampler and our sommelier, Yiannis, was great. We found out he was a bit younger than us but he spoke with such authority about the wine and he had such well rehearsed jokes. Like once he said, “the grapes for this wine come from all over the island: North, South, East, and…there is no West, it blew up from the volcano”.

We tried 7 wines: 4 whites, 1 rosé, and 2 reds. There were a couple we didn’t really like but the rosé was good and the white served after the rosé was my favorite. It was made in an oak barrel and tasted like vanilla. But it was €33 so when we left we got the rosé and our second favorite white (and cheaper).

With every glass of wine there was a cheese to pair it with. With the whites we started with soft cheeses and there was one that was a ball of soft goat cheese that made us lose our minds. Then with the reds we had harder cheeses that were good, but not mind blowing.

Near the end of our tasting Yiannis asked us if we wanted to tour the winery. We joined a few other couples and Yiannis led us on a mini tour. He showed us the orchard outside in the front of the building and explained how they have to bend the grape vines into circular wreaths to protect the grapes from the strong winds. Also how the black volcanic rocks provide warmth to the plants while the white volcanic rocks absorb and disseminate moisture.

The winery started in a different part of Greece before coming to Santorini and it was clear from Yiannis’ explanation that they had done a lot of science experiments with grape growing over the hundreds of years.

Yiannis led us into the cellar where we got to look at some barrels and enjoy the cooler temperature underground. He also had us stop by the beauty boutique where we sampled some beauty products all made from grapes. They had lotion, some sort of face oil, and body hair oil -which all the boys on the tour put in their beards. Again, this winery obviously likes playing with food science.

When we were all done we thanked Yiannis for being so cool, bought a couple bottles to take (perk of ferry travel), and hiked back up the ridge to our hotel. We jumped into the plunge pool and just sat, enjoying being cold. We could’ve stayed there for hours but we decided to catch the sunset on the caldera side.

So we put real clothes back on and hiked up and over to a nice spot along the wall. The sunset was as amazing as we had been told it would be. We watched the sun sink behind the volcanic island of Thirasia and then meandered back to our hotel.

Tuesday, August 23

Even though we had to check out, our ferry to Crete wasn’t until later so we decided to leave our bags at the hotel and do a day activity. We opted for a sail around the caldera tour which was scheduled to leave the ‘old port’ at 11am. After Mykonos, this is the second place we’ve been where there is a new port and an old port and the new port is used for all the inter-island ferries while the old port is used for the touristy day trip ferries.

Thira town sits on the very top of the ridge so, in order to get to the old port, you have to find some way down. There is a cable car but it costs €6 and there can be a long wait. So we opted to walk down the ‘stairs’ which is a long, stone path that switchbacks the whole way down.

The hike down wasn’t that bad until we ran into a traffic jam of tourists and donkeys. The donkeys are kind of a tourist gimmick but they are also one of the only ways to get up and down. There were so many of them and they all looked so cute and sad.

We got to the bottom and figured out where we were supposed to meet our boat. We got a ham sandwich to save for lunch and ordered a sweet looking thing for second breakfast (first being the packaged croissant provided by our hotel). It was like pastry hair wrapped around a mixture of pistachios and honey. Weird, but yummy.

Finally our boat came and we crowded aboard. We went to the top because it seemed like that was the only place left to sit but it ended up being a great spot to see the views, despite nearly burning alive in the midday sun. The captain told us a bit about the islands and then played some Greek music for the rest of the ride.

The boat took us to Nea Kameni, the island formed by cooled volcanic matter. The captain was hilarious in the way that really serious people can be hilarious without knowing it. He explained the volcanic island hike as, “on the island, you will see nothing…nothing but rocks, and a view”.

We were given a couple hours to hike around. It was disastrously hot, and full of other tourists, but even so the island was really cool. The black volcanic rocks seemed almost shiny, and we had panoramic views of the whole caldera- all the islands surrounding the island we were on.

We hiked to the top, over to the other side, and finally descended back, taking a million photos along the way. Back on the boat we prepared for the next spot, swimming in the ‘hot springs’. The captain explained that we’d be jumping into the ocean from the boat and swimming over to the springs which he said “are not hot. They are kinda warm.”

As Carl and I deck changed (literally) into our swimsuits we eavesdropped on some American girls whose friend had just gone to the bathroom to change. The boat was wobbling back and forth and we all were thinking, “that poor girl in there”.

She came back and somehow we ingratiated ourselves in their conversation. She told us that she was trying to change in the tiny, hot room but that the toilet was clogged and nasty and the boat was tipping all over the place. She was hysterically laughing at herself but then when she exited the bathroom the people sitting there looked at her like she was crazy. Somehow she told it in a way that was even funnier than how it sounds now, and we were crying with laughter.

Then the girls told us about the hostel they were staying at called Camping, where they were actually in a private room with three beds and a bathroom. Again, I was crying with laughter because everything they said is so typical of round the world budget traveling. She said their shower was the whole bathroom so everything got soaked. The best part is they didn’t flush their TP, they threw it away, but they only had one trash can for the room, in the bathroom. After the first night they took out their bathroom trash and threw it away. When they asked the hosts for another trash bag, they were denied. Only one dirty TP bag per stay, I guess! The girls said that they’d rather be camping outside.

Then we were at the next island with the hot springs. We jumped off the boat into really cold water and then swam toward the island, past the church, into a little muddy bay where the water got progressively warmer. The captain was right, it wasn’t hot, just kinda warm. We played in the shallows with the weird, orange, soft mud. As we swam back to the boat, we could feel how cold the sea water was again.

Then it was time to go. We all got back into the boat, so grateful to be cooler. It was a short ride back to Santorini. As we approached, Carl and I eyed the line for the cable car to the top. We had to get to the top, walk to the hotel to get our bags, then walk to the bus station to catch the 3:30 bus from Thira down to the new port in time for our ferry at 4:40pm.

We were a few minutes late docking at the old port so it was already 2:20 when we looked at the cable car line. I went to the front of the line to ask someone how long they had been waiting. The first woman skoffed and made a gesture like she couldn’t possibly know because it had been so long. The next guy, further back, said 30 minutes. So, we decided we didn’t have time to wait and that we’d have to walk back up the death stairs.

For a second we considered getting donkeys, but they didn’t seem that much faster than us. So, we accepted the fact that we’d be literally dripping with sweat, and we walked up. At one point, near the bottom, some donkeys got loose and there was a mini stampede of them, right towards us. We stuck close to the side, and avoided injury. But we heard a British man behind us swearing. We assume he got his foot stepped on. So, wanting to avoid anymore donkey encounters, we walked quickly up. It turned out that the fear of donkeys catching up to us ended up being a huge motivator.

We got to the top in record time and I don’t think I’ve ever been more sweaty. My white shirt was soaked through as if someone had poured a bucket of water on me. We beat the donkeys that started about the same time as us though. Hot and bothered, we pushed past tourists in the cobblestone alleys to get back to our hotel. The hotel actually offered us a bathroom with a shower to use, but we didn’t have time. We took the main roads down to the bus station.

Another public transport chaotic nightmare. Most of the buses didn’t say where they were going. In the teeny tiny parking lot, all the buses had to turn around and nearly run over a group of passengers who were trying to ask where the buses were going. Finally we heard “port” and pushed our way through to get our bags on board and get a seat. We’d learned hard lessons in Italy and we are probably worse humans for it, but now we get bus seats.

In no time we were back down at the new port, at the ‘movie set’ as we called it. After a ferry staff person rudely told us that we ‘didn’t have tickets’ (by which she meant that there’d be a €2 fee to print our tickets) we were told to wait an hour and board at gate 4.

The ferry was late. At one stage we thought a different boat was ours and the hoard of people walked across the pier to try and board. A cop came out of nowhere and was yelling and blowing his whistle at us, telling us to get back and away from the docks because it wasn’t our boat.

After everyone got pushed back they all just waited outside in a big crowd. About 15 minutes later a man shouted to all of us that the ferry would be late (thanks man, we know). We overheard people guessing which boat out in the distance might be ours.

Carl was about to say, “I wonder what type of boat we-“ when, mid-sentence, a huge ship came out of nowhere from behind a rocky cliff on the left hand side of the port and interrupted him with a loud, “bmaaaaaah!” sounding of the horn. It seemed everyone standing there was startled by it and, simultaneously, all thought it was funny and started laughing.

We had assigned seats this time and were right on the front. After about an hour on the ferry I decided to get us a spinach pie and a couple of beers. The man serving the food and drinks misunderstood me when I said something like, “all I have is €50 in cash” (meaning, “I’m sorry, I need change”) and he thought I said, “this is my last euros”. He laughed so hard and when he gave me my change and the food he held my hand with both of his and said, very sincerely, “I hope that you enjoy this.”

I walked back to Carl with the spinach pie under my arm, hot grease burning my side, and two beers in hand, trying not to spill as I walked like Johnny Depp through the undulating ferry boat. I couldn’t stop thinking about how genuinely worried the ferry kiosk man was that I was spending €13.50 of my last €50 on a spinach pie and two cheap beers.

Next stop: Crete.