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Published: August 3rd 2010
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As our ship approached Santorini, an announcement went out that the cable cars were not working and we had to take either the donkeys or walk up the donkey path. I was thrilled, as I wanted to ride the donkey, but Rajesh wasn’t so enthusiastic. The mallu group sat in the Aquamarine lounge and when they heard this announcement, several high pitched voices went ‘bling ding kading’.. and they decided not to go. Nuts! Their tour operator kept insisting they must go as it’s a spectacular island, but Anna said they had to consult Dr. Raju, their leader who was “dringing chaya” at the moment in the ship’s restaurant.
Santorini is one of the most magical islands of Greece and has a dramatic beauty to it. It is a barren, rocky island just opposite a volcano, with black and red beaches and towns situated on high cliffs of the Caldera offering breathtaking views and fantastic sunsets. From a distance the white-washed buildings appeared like snow, capping the towering mountain tops. The chocolate brown volcanic rocks of these cliffs are spectacular in themselves. The sea was rough and the tender boats bounced us up and down as they ferried us to
Fira, the capital of the island.
Soon as we reached the shore, I ran to the donkey taxi place and paid 10 euros to the donkey man for 2 donkeys, before rajesh could even say a word. The donkey man ushered a bewildered Rajesh onto a huge donkey that looks like an Indian horse and hoisted me onto a much smaller one. Rajesh’s donkey started off immediately, but mine stood still. I kicked it, tightened the harness, cussed aloud, but the donkey stood firm, turned its head and gave me a look that kinda said - “whats wrong with u?”. I looked around for help, but the donkey man was busy assisting other people on more donkeys. Other donkeys passed me with people on them, but mine still didn’t budge. The entire donkey path was filled with chunks of donkey poop that stunk!! From far above Rajesh gave me a dirty look. I muttered “Go donkey, go” , no reaction!!... after all, it was a donkey… What can you expect?
Then magic happened!! As a chestnut colored donkey passed me carrying a lady, my donkey started following it. Soon I noticed other donkeys that had also paused, waiting
for their partner donkeys. They moved with their pairs. The donkeys were trained!!! Ha ha…Soon my donkey overtook Rajesh, who was busy enough taking pictures of the spectacular scenery to notice me. The ride up was about 20 minutes, filled with breath-taking views along the edge of the cliff. If the donkey wanted revenge for my kicks, it could’ve thrown me off the cliff’s edge in a jiffy. The donkey man went zooming past us and reached the top before us, yelled something in Greek and once we got off, all the donkeys sped down the path to bring more people up. Though I have ridden horses, I must say that the donkeys of Santorini are a unique experience!
We walked into Fira’s main square - Theotokopoulou that had shops selling artefacts and souvenirs, restaurants and hotels. What impresses at first glance in Fira is the typical architecture of the houses and the stunning views. The white-washed buildings along the edge of the caldera with numerous steps and narrow labyrinthine stone streets set in a blue & white environment. I bought a cute little t-shirt for Meg that had pictures of the Santorini donkeys on it. In Fira there
is also a folklore museum, a citadel from the Middle Ages, lots of churches; the most attractive being the church of Ag Mina, which is the church that most postcards of Santorini portray.
We bargained with a taxi driver to take us into Oia. Oia is perched so far above the sea that it may as well be a painting. This is the commercial part of Santorini. This part of the island brings in most of the money and is completely dependent on its image to attract the visitors. And I’d say that they do a damn good job! But it’s impossible to not be impressed with the beauty of these towns and if there is another earthquake they will be sorely missed when they slide down into the sea. More white churches with blue roofs, white-washed houses with blue doors and windows, flowered terraces, the occasional stray cat are few that adorned Oia. We picked a restaurant that looked very Greek and was called Niki’s café. Our table by the big glass window that overlooked onto the volcano with a view of Oia was picture perfect. We ordered tomatokeftedes(deep fried tomato balls that are an island specialty), chicken souvlaki and crème brulee. Our waiter brought out bread with a dip that looked like tomato chutney with olives in them. Delicious, delicious dinner and the most stunning view ever!!
At Oia you get the best sunsets, and both Oia and Fira are excellent towns for just strolling around and shopping. During the evening all the terraces of the privileged cafes at the edge of the caldera are filled with tourists that are coming to enjoy a drink as the sun sets over the deep blue Aegean. The sunsets of Santorini, viewed from the Caldera, really are breathtakingly beautiful when seen as a backdrop to the volcano. The volcano is asleep, not dead. It's an active volcano that erupted in 1956 and may do so again one day though perhaps not in our lifetime. In the end, what throws you off is the fact that the cheap Europeans charge for bread that is always complimentary in the States. Yes, we paid 4 euros for the stupid bread! We came back into Fira and boarded the cable car back down engaging in an interesting conversation with 4 ladies from South Africa who shared our cable car. And Rajesh wanted to go to South Africa next!
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