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Published: October 24th 2009
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Santorini
We stopped at Santorini to drop off and pick up passengers and commercial vehicles. I am amazed that the island is almost all cliffs like this one. I left Ios today to return to Athens. Before I caught the ferry, I went down to the port for lunch. As I looked around at the sea and the surrounding hills, I was still surprised how beautiful and how grotesque this island really is. There are gorgeous white homes spread out intermittently, all overlooking the clear blue sea below. But there are also barren wastelands full of rocks and dead vegetation. The latter really surprised me about the island. And this wasn’t unique to Ios.
While I waited for the ferry I connected to the Internet for the first time in a few days. I believe I was the last fan to find out that the Phillies are going back to the World Series. And I’ll get back to the US during game 2.
I also grabbed lunch at one of the restaurants by the port. There I had stuffed tomatoes and pork on the bone with tomatoes. I boarded the ferry shortly thereafter full and satisfied.
The ferry ride was supposed to be a long one. It became even longer as we departed late and were held up in Santorini and trying to dock in Athens.
Sunset
The sun set early on during my voyage. We were supposed to get back at 11:25. We finally made it back at 12:40.
Along the way I finished reading
Catch-22. The book was remarkable. It’s a satirical work so it’s much different than anything else I’ve ever read. It’s actually quite comical as it pokes fun at various different personality types. Since its setting is in a fictional WWII unit with a typical rank structure, it reminded me a lot of my investment banking days and the various people, many of whom were dead set on exploiting the structure to best suit their own needs. The monitoring of “black eyes” and “feathers in my cap” were humorous and unfortunately all too easy to relate to.
It also contains a number of very witty and comical quotes that can be applied to many different aspects of society, especially today. I read (and re-read several times) my personal favorite tonight - "The country was in peril; he was jeopardizing his traditional rights of freedom and independence by daring to exercise them."
When I arrived at the port, there were hordes of taxi drivers waiting to take passengers to the hotels. One said he’d take me and I better go with him since the metro and buses are closed. I asked how much. He said, “35 euros”. “Beat it”. I’ll check on the metro.
The metro was open. It does shut down on weeknights but it’s Friday so it was still open.
A few stops in, I looked at the door to see who was getting on and a dog walked on and took a seat on the floor by the door. I thought he must be with someone. Apparently not. He got off a few stops later like he’s been riding the metro for years. I wondered how he went about buying a ticket and validating it.
I arrived at the hostel (the same one as the other night) and checked in without a problem. It’s been a long day and I have some touring to do tomorrow.
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