SHADES OF SANTORINI

Idalis: Tuesday, October 21, 2008 8:24 PM

The island of Santorini is a beautiful freak of nature. In the 17th century BC, a volcano on the island erupted, which was so intense that it may have been responsible for wiping out the Minoan civilization, and definitely changing the landscape of the island forever. Earliest indications show that the island of Santorini was originally close to a perfect circle. After the eruption, and many years of evolution, all that remains is the main crescent island and four small adjacent outlying islands, including the volcano that started it all, Nea Kameni. The result is breathtaking: a beautiful caldera, where homes sit precariously perched atop a jagged mountainside, or caldera (meaning crater) . It is one of the most beautiful sights I've ever seen, which is why I suppose Kevin and I had to share it with hordes of other tourists!

It is only befitting that an island created out of such chaos and destruction would provide such a chaotic welcoming to us. Let me explain. Kevin and I had booked a room on Santorini over the internet while we were still in Crete. Lignos Hotel, although devoid of the famous caldera views, promised free breakfast and better yet, free transport from the port that was 10 kilometers away from the city center of Fira. To facilitate this we were asked, via e-mail, to provide our ferry information and approximate time of arrival, which Kevin and I dutifully did. When we realized at the port of Iraklio, Crete, that our ferry was running late, Kevin and I did the responsible thing and notified the hotel, via e-mail (and tried by phone) to let them know that we would be arriving later than originally expected in Santorini. We thought this would be enough.

It was not.

We arrived at the Santorini port at around midnight, almost two hours behind schedule. It was dark, late, and the man holding a sign that said “Lignos Hotel” was nowhere to be found. We asked the other people at the port, the other passengers, taxi drivers: No Lignos Hotel. We frantically tried calling with our cell phone, as by this time everyone from our ferry was starting to disperse and all of the cab drivers had already left. No dice. There was a lone building lit up, an “Information Center.” When we went in to ask for help (it's now approaching 1 AM), the man at the “Information Center” said there was nothing he could do, except of course, accommodate us at another hotel, which he happened to own and was on the other side of the island. Both frustrated, confused, tired, and a bit nervous, Kevin and I started arguing in front of this man: Kevin wanted to book the hotel room he was offering, and I was refusing, feeling that this slimy guy was trying to take advantage of our situation. We were both right, and also both wrong. Kevin, meanwhile, had still been trying to call the owners of Lignos Hotel all along. As Kevin was about to accept the the guy's offer of 25 euro a night and a ride to the hotel (at this point I was FUMING!!!), the owner of Lignos finally answered and said he would pick us up. Hallelujah!!! It turns out that their policy is not to pick up their guests if the ferry arrives too late. What? @#$%^&*!!! Kevin took me aside before the sleepy owner arrived and gave me a “talking to.” I promised to be good, and the owner finally did arrive. Kevin is definitely a better person than I am, chatting with the owner during the drive, thanking him and apologizing for our ferry's late arrival. It took everything in me to bite my lip and remain quiet about the whole situation, which I felt was not our fault, and should have been a professional courtesy. If I had had my way, the owner would've been the one getting a “talking to.”

Regardless of our bumpy start, Santorini proved to be a beautiful island, one that I am very glad we went to, even though a bit touristy for our taste. The views are stunning! Kevin and I must've taken about a hundred pictures the next day, as everywhere you turned was a picture-postcard view. Most of the homes, which hug the cliffs, are stark white with blue trimming. Kevin and I walked to the bottom of the old port, declining the two other means of transport to get there: cable-car or donkey! We made our way down the sometimes slippery path, trying to avoid the mounds of donkey poop (and tourists) along the way. It was worth the effort, as Kevin and I ended up sitting at a little taverna at the bottom, sharing some grilled seafood, drinking a cold Mythos, and enjoying the sea views.

That evening proved to be the most memorable of our trip to Santorini, as Kevin and I hiked for three hours from the city of Fira to Oia (pronounced ee-ah) along a path at the top of the caldera. Kevin and I rushed to make it to this beautiful city before sunset. Although the famed sunset was somewhat covered by the clouds that evening, it was still an unforgettable experience.

We spent the next couple of days sampling the local beaches, know as 'red', 'white', and 'black', whose sands are colored as a result of the volcanic rock surrounding them. We went to the southern part of the island and saw Red Beach, and (tried) to hike to White Beach and Black Beach. The next two days we went to the black-sand beaches. Perissa had crystal-clear water, sizzling sand, and Kevin had an excellent snorkeling, splunking and cliff jumping experience. Kamari beach was also nice, but because of the so-so weather and time of year, it proved to be more like a ghost town, with shopkeepers closing stores and hotels for the season.

This is Kevin and we now sit in a very busy ferry that we boarded at 3AM, after staying up all night in the port trying to save on an extra half evening in the hotel. We are route to Rhodes (or Rodos in Greek). As we are learning is typical around here, the ferry arrived late, only thirty minutes this time, and is expected to take a total of eighteen hours to reach our destination. It has now been about seventeen hours and we are more than certain that we will not only arrive late, but during the dark, which as we have learned poses a whole new set of challenges. At least we have a reservation, lose directions and have thoroughly enjoyed a private two person cabin, with bathroom ensuite, on the ferry, which is quite possibly one of the best decisions we have ever made in our traveling career. It was quite a relief to board the ferry and immediately be escorted to our cabin where we settled in for a night of sleep while being gently rocked by mother ocean. As it would turn out, mother ocean would increase her gentle rock to a rolling tumble with some of the most tumultuous seas we have experienced in our four ferry trips thus far, which is perhaps why Idalis was not able to finish this entire post and why I will only be able to add a short paragraph. We were able to actually eat a meal on board during the worst of it, which was an accomplishment in and of itself. We hope to arrive in Rhodes by 23:00 and make our way to the Pink Elephant Pension where we will settle in for three nights and see what Rhodes has to offer, beside the oldest occupied Medieval city in Europe. Until then, I think I will end this post, put away the computer and go to the back of the ship to share my lamb, eggplant and potato entree with the fishes!