Revelation Wrapped in a Gyro

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I awoke slightly discouraged. As far as my walk was concerned my hotel was conveniently located right at the edge of town. However, because of this I hadn't actually seen anything yet. Where were the bars? Shops? Tavernas? Where was the everything? So I decided to set out exploring. The first road I was on was sidewalkless and narrow. I practically got honked off the road by some irate Greek woman shouting something in indistinguishable Greek. I prefer to think she was complimenting my stylish new shoes, but who knows.

It was all looking a bit bleak. However, I finally made a left turn up a little lane and found out what all the fuss was about. There were these shaded pedestrian alleyways with shops, bars, you name it. They were all leading to overlooks with the world famous Santorini views, but at that point I was still fixated on nightlife. So I located some bars that I would later comeback too. After a bit of wandering, and a more organized exercise walk, I went back to my room for a siesta or a little hypnos in Greek. I needed to get me rested for the night.

I had high expectations for the Santorini nightlife, but they fell flat. I arrived at the bar I liked the look of at around 9:30pm, early by Greek standards. I immediately fell into conversation with a fellow traveler, but during the course of the conversation something happened. A DJ had arrived and even though the bar was far from full he began cranking up the volume. Once this happened I had to strain to hear what the person I was talking to was saying and I had to shout to be heard.

The place actually did begin to fill up a bit, but it didn't matter because you couldn't converse with anybody using anything but annoying yells. Also the bartenders were too cool for school, more concerned with showing off than serving drinks. And the music? I mean they were playing TLC's "No Scrubs". Yes I do live at home with my momma, but that doesn't justify your music selection. There wasn't anything remotely Greek or even current Euro beats.

Over the rest of that night and the next night I tried a handful of other bars, but alas it was the same thing. Bars full of tourists, and too cool in-house DJs playing ear splitting music so loud that you couldn't strike up conversations. I mean at clubs you expect this, but at bars in pre-clubbing hours? Please. At the final place I went to on the second night I just yelled at no one in particular, "It is so loud in here that I can't even hear what the fuck I am saying!" And you know what? It was true. I could not hear the sound of my own shouting voice. So with that I got up and left.

As I walked back to my hotel I stopped for my first chicken gyro of the trip.....mmmm gyro. It was so good. And as I savored that gyro and wiped tzatziki sauce from my mouth I came to a realization. This trip, at least not the Santorini section, would not be about late night drinking craziness. It would be about tasting the best of what Greece has to offer and taking in and enjoying the insane beauty that is this island.

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