Day 5: Santorini

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September 30, 2009

Judy and I awoke to the sun rising over Fira, the largest city on Santorini. No time for a sit down breakfast, we opted instead for the buffet, which was fine. The ship does not dock in Santorini but rather tenders passengers over by smaller boats. Of course the Princess paid tour guests get to go first but we didn't have to wait long for our boat to take us ashore.

Since the crowds at the dock were light we took the cable car to the top in under 5 minutes. The port at Santorini is some 600 feet or so below the city on the cliff. One has the option of cable car, donkey or walking to reach the top and the same choices for the way back down but more on that later. Once at the top, we searched a few minutes for our rental car company finding everyone but ours who all had cars available. One office though was extremely nice and they called our outfit who came over and picked us up. We ended up with the cheapest tin car stick shift Hyundai they had but it had charm to say the least. It didn't take me long to remember the nuances of stick shifts and we were off to explore the island.

First stop was Ancient Thira atop one the highest point on the island. When Judy saw the cobblestone switchback road that wound its way up the mountain, she almost chickened but I pressed on up the hill. They always say that getting there is part of fun and this certainly was. Traffic blessedly was light and we only saw a few other cars. Surprisingly there were folks walking up as well, which must be a full day trip up and down. There was still plenty of steps at the top but it was an interesting place to visit. The ruins and walkways reminded me a little of Pompeii. They date back to at least 3rd century BC but the only structure still standing is a small church that was constructed much later around 1100.

Next stop was a combination winery and art gallery called Art Space. This winery was built out of volcanic caves up to 30 feet below ground level. Lining the walls were art work from local artists. Nothing really caught our eye but we did enjoy the wine tasting and bought a bottle to bring home guaranteeing that will be checking at least one of our bags on the way home. The guide/hostess talked with a heavy russian accent but was quite helpful and took the time to show us everything.

The time was approaching noon and we had to be back by 2 p.m. to return our car, get a lift back to the cable car down and on our tender by 4 p.m. or risk missing the boat. Judy and I both wanted to take a dip in the incredibly blue Aegean Sea below. We had notice a huge dirt parking lot from high above next to beach and were able to find it by car. The beach was black sand and rocks, mostly rocks, with chaise lounges paired with a grass umbrella. We selected one near the water and were promptly greeted by attendant looking for 6 euros. After paying, we used their changing room and were ready to hit the water. Judy was leery of a few folks wandering around offering massages; therefore, we took turns going into the water and watching our bag/taking photos. It turns out nearly this exact spot on the beach was the subject of a painting Judy had made in class from a photo two years ago. What a coincidence!

I needed to recharge time on my cell phone and find an ATM. We hopped back in the car and set off back to Fira to check these off the list. While ATMs are few are far between outside of Fira there was no trouble finding one as well as a Vodafone shop to add minutes to my SIM card. List complete, we drove back to the rental car shop just at the agreed upon time of 2. The attendant was much happier and nicer to us than in the morning, I suspect because we were the last and only car out for the day meaning he could go home. He dropped us off back at the cable car station with 90 minutes to spare. We wonder around a little and found a cafe overlooking the water and our ship below. The 4 euro Sprite I had was delightful and we were refreshed for our journey downward.

The line for the cable car was very long and Judy really wanted to try the donkeys. 10 euros for us both on a donkey headed down in a train of probably ten donkeys. Keep in mind these guys are all tied together and we had no control whatsoever of these beasts. We were zigzagging from side to side running into folks walking up as well as walls and bushes. There was donkey crap everywhere that made it even more miserable for the walkers. We were down the hill though in one piece not missing anything in about 10 minutes vowing to never do that again. It was something to check off our list though.

Tomorrow we head to the Island of Patmos.

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