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Published: August 3rd 2013
Pension George Apartments
Pomegranates growing in the gardenWe finished our time on Santorini with a visit to Pension George. So sorry to leave the tranquil idelic spot but the trip must go on. Tara, Morgan, Kailey and Melissa you will be happy to know that Helen sends her greetings and says you need to come back! 11 of us piled into the Pension George Sprinter van and headed for the port. Warm and windy today. Got there about 5:15 and ferry was to leave at 6:15. We decided to sit and relax with a salad and cold drink at a port cafe. Great view of the managed chaos that is the port when ferries arrive and depart. Our drama for the day was 3 or 4 groups of people thinking that they could enjoy the chairs and shade without purchasing anything! What are these people thinking? The cafe is in the business of making money not allowing people to use their tables and chairs for free. A large ferry came at 6:15 but is wasn't ours. I went to find out what the scoop was and ran into Dimitri, Vivi's husband, and he said the ferry was late and would be here about 7:00pm so back to my
chair and ordered an iced coffee…had to pay for my seat don'tchaknow. We finally left port at 7:26pm. I asked the speed of the catamaran and was told 35 knots. In English that is 40.28 mph We were definitely hauling. Smooth even when the waves started to get serious. Stopped at a few islands to let people off and pick people up and finally arrived at Kamares, Sifnos. Walked off the ferry, down the street and talked to a taxi about taking us to Kastros. He said no but made a phone call. Wait for taxi #5, he will take you to Kastros. We waited, and waited and grinned when taxi #5 pulled up. Lovely fellow and decent rates. We arrived at Kastro, To Konaki Cafe at 11:00pm. Got out of the taxi and a lady and small boy walked up and it was Marie and her son Leonidas to welcome us and escort us to the house. What a delightful lady and little boy. The house has 3 levels. When you walk in it is the dining table, kitchen and bathroom, up a ladder to a small sitting area and then up a REALLY steep ladder to the bedroom
Pension George Apartments
Fresh Honey Dew melon from George. So sweet and juicy which is huge! SCORE - QUEEN BED!!! 😊 and comfortable too. Think this is the nicest one we have slept on in 5 weeks. No air conditioning because these old house were built with air flow the focus. We have a page of instructions on what to open when, and how to operate so that it is cool all the time. OR as cool as possible all the time. Pleasant so far. No question, it is warm here, warmer than we like when we sleep but there you have it, tough luck, just be still. Greeks are really LOUD!! I could fit right in here. They can be having what they believe to be a wonderful conversation and us outsiders we think they are ready to kill each other! Slept not great and then had workmen start on our roof at about 7:15am….guess we are done sleeping.
Wandered down to the bakery to see if it was open and it was! They didn't have bread yet but would have it by 8:30am so we went down and checked out the bus schedule. We determined 10:15 was the time. Back up the stairs for the brioche and french bread along
with cappuccinos and back to the house. Sat at our dining table and satisfyingly ripped into the bread with both hands. There is something so caveman and basic about tearing the bread apart 😊 No butter yet so the next "ripping of bread" will be even tastier.
Went down to the bus stop and waited. It arrived and I asked a girl beside me if this bus went to Kamares and she said no, 11am. So we didn't get on. BIG MISTAKE (later figured out that she was really telling us that the bus from Apollonia would leave for Kamares at 11 as this bus was going to Apollonia). So we decided to have brunch at the Konaki Cafe. Ordered omelets. I asked the girl if we could get breakfast in time for the 11am bus and she said no problem. Well, I think our omelets took about 25 minutes. When they came, we didn't care…..SO GOOD, they bake them in the oven. Light fluffy and delish. As you can already imagine, no bus at 11, bus at 12:15. Our backsides were sore we sat so long. I told Trev we were getting on this bus and it didn't
Pension George
Helen....Morgan, Tara, Kailey & Melissa stayed here in 2010. Helen is an absolute sweetheart. matter where it was going, we were going there. Off to Appollonia we go. Found the tourist office and got info and a map. As I did the math on taking the bus to the beach every day it was going to be 12.80Euros so we were wondering about a car. There was a scooter office so we stopped in. Your man says 15 Euros a day we….hum…..hah….hum…hah…..how many days he asks, 6 we say, his turn to hum, hah, hum, hah 13 Euros and we said SOLD!! That was only 20cents more per day than the bus and we had absolute freedom to come and go as we pleased. Control freak that I am I'm liking this.
Now I have to confess that I had scorned and ridiculed so many scooter/quad riders for riding in their shorts, sandals, no helmet etc. NOW I'M ONE OF THEM. Remember the 4 wheel drift on Santorini….I'm a little anxious about my driver. He has too much Uncle Edgar in him. Not to mention the picture in my head when I get on the back of this scooter. I have visions of the eating shed at convention and sitting on the end
Santorini Port
Our view from the cafe chairs of a bench only to have the opposite end go flying in the air and me dropping like a stone while letting out a shriek!! Is the front tire actually going to stay on the ground when Trev revs the motor or is it going to pop up in the air and land me on my backside on the pavement? I'm a worrier, what can I say!!! Tire managed to stay down but I was tense for sure the first mile or 2 but then I got relaxed. Trev grew up with motor bikes so I have absolute faith and trust in his ability to ride/drive the scooter. What I don't trust is the daredevil in him!!! Trev has quickly established an affinity with the far right side of our lane. All my mind can scream is GRAVEL, GRAVEL, SKID, SKID, DOWN, DOWN!! When I asked him he said he was being courteous to the drivers behind giving them room to pass. My mind said, Driver Shmiver, they have a whole other lane that they can pull out on….MOVE LEFT!!!! First stop was Vathi Beach. Way up the mountain side and down the other. Surprising little cove with not that
Santorini Port
Mass of people getting ready to embark on the ferry to Sifnos many people. This island definitely doesn't draw the tourist crowd like the other 2 we have been on. Sat in the sand for a while, Trev had a swim and then off to Kamares. Lunch…lazy, long and relaxed. Drama here was watching a man steal 1 fig and enjoy it so much he came back for a 2nd!! He looked right at us as we were watching him eat the second one. UNBELIEVABLE! We wandered the streets and found several pottery shops. Oh, I wish I didn't live on the other side of the world. Some amazing pots that would look terrific in my garden. They also create a specific clay cooking pot for a traditional bean dish that is very unique. Great sandy beach with not a huge number of people on it. Decided to check out Artemos…think we went through it but couldn't really see a town. We may try again and get off the bike and see if we can find it.
Did some grocery shopping and getting it back to the house on the scooter was fun! I did survive the first day on the scooter! Took about 15 minutes to get into the house.
Milos
Delightful stop along the way. Looked really inviting. Might need to make another trip to Greece and go here Key is the old style with an old locking mechanism that seems to be misaligned. The older neighbor lady came and gave it a try and when that didn't work she shouted down the street at the kids to call someone. Out comes a lovely old gent and he tries to beat the door into submission 😊 After much effort it opens and there was a big shout and applause. The older lady told us to call someone to come and fix the lock. Went down for some dessert & Wifi and managed to get into our apartment all by ourselves 😊
New day and Trev really figured out the lock. When we came back last night and successfully open the door our neighbors let out a cheer! Such sweet LOUD people. Every evening they have been sitting on the street benches chatting up a storm. The grandmas do a lot of the mothering of everyone. Spent a great day at the beach albeit windy. When I say wind I'm talking sandstorm strength wind. It will take some time to get all the sand out of every nook & crannie!!! Tried our first Gyros for lunch and they were
Sifnos Apartment
This is Leo, our host Maria's son. Delightful little fellow and he practiced his English on us too awesome. The meat is slow roasted on a vertical spit, shaved and then pitta bread is folded in half and used to cradle the meat, tomatoes, sauce, onions and french fries. 2,20 Euros each and 1 is more than enough. Great value. Romantic dinner at our local restaurant called Dolci. Surprised to find that Crepes are what they are all about! Salty and Sweet. I went with Mexican and Trev with the Dolci special. Both delicious and finished off with Panakota and cappuccinos.
Went far afield today our 4th full day here! 15km to Cheronisos the most northerly point on the island. Beautiful tiny cove where a small fishing village sits. Trev wasn't ready for the sun again, rash on his tummy, so we bought a couple of mats and he plunked under a tree and me on the small beach. There was a raised crushed rock area behind me that had lounge chairs and umbrellas. The sign said only for patrons of the taberna (Greek name or cafe/restaurant). So I decided to go to the cafe and see if I could rent a couple of lounger. I didn't like being so far from Trev 😊 Lady says, go
Kastro Street Scene
The main steps into the village ahead, no problem, just use them! I hustled back and there were still a couple left and we spent the rest of the beautiful sunny day between the lounge chairs and the water. Absolutely went and had lunch at the taberna - souvlaki went down just fine. Slight breeze here so very happy it is not the super windy of Kamares. Hilly ride over and around the beautiful coastline. Marie, who met us Friday night lives in this town and we happened to catch her and her boys at the water! Started the trek home and stopped at a pottery studio. Amazing stuff here that I just couldn't leave without so we had an interesting conversation with the potter. He spoke Greek - We spoke English - He didn't understand what I was asking (I wanted him to ship directly to the USA). His solution - call his wife!!! He gave the phone to me and between the 3 of us we managed to agree we would buy the items, he would package and box them for shipping and his wife would bring them to the post office the next day at 10am! Love deal making 😊 So fun.
More adventures today. Met the wife at the post office and got our package sent. We exchanged emails and phone numbers just in case. Next we headed to Faros, a small village on another cove and then went further a field and spent the day at Platy Gialos. It seems that we can't have it all when it comes to beaches!! Kamares, great sandy beach with gradual drop off but WINDY big time. Platy Gialos, nice breeze, sandy beach but as soon as you hit the water it is rocks and continues to be rocks. We enjoyed it anyway. I have confirmed I am not a Beach Sunbather...I hate sand in my sunscreen, I dislike it intensely on my towel so lounge chairs are a must. Love the sound of the waves, the breeze off the ocean, the view but give me a pool any day for sunbathing. Faros didn't have loungers so that's how we ended up at Platy Gialos. This village is definitely a resort town. Lots of hotel pools along with the requisite patio couches, umbrellas etc.
Lunched on the beach and it turns out that the parents of the owner of the restaurant live on
Kastro Street Scene
walkway to our door....straight ahead the "farm" in Kastro and that is where the restaurant vegetables and other goods are produced. There is a pottery studio there too so we will have to stop in tomorrow and check it out. Trev tried Moussaka for the first time and enjoyed it. I went with lamb....can you believe it!! Trev is still in shock that I made that my second choice when my first one was not available. I'm trying to expand my gastronomic world bit by bit.
Lots more sunshine today with a few clouds thrown in for excitement. Very windy. We had our final Gyro and managed to get a picture of the crew that makes them. So friendly. Left the beach early as we had to have the scooter back by 7pm. We dropped it off, had dinner (on a rooftop with a view of the Aegean Sea) and wandered the streets of Apollonia until just before bus time at 9:30pm. This place is crazy!! The transit buses actually back up in the middle of the intersection. Everyone takes this in stride, zigs and zags to accommodate and carry on. Something to remember, never trust a Greek to stay in his lane! They
wander over the line constantly and this is a bit hairy when it comes to blind corners!! Ended the day with cappuccinos and dessert at To Konaki Cafe.
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D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
Santorini is for lovers
I would love to go back to Santorini!