Not a Greek tragedy

Europe
July 13th 2015

Published: July 13th 2015

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TheStevos

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Fira at the top of the Caldera in Santorini

Before we left Australia, Leanne and I were undecided whether we should actually go to Greece, with all of the potential for civil and economic unrest due to the potential default on government loans. Now, I am glad that we stuck to our plan. The locals can only get 60 Euros out of the bank each day, but we have no such restrictions. There are demonstrations in Athens near parliament house, but nothing that will bother us on the islands and we see daily reminders of the situation when we watch TV and hear earnest lectures from the prime minister to parliament, perhaps in an attempt to resolve the problems, but I couldn’t tell you for sure because it is all Greek to me.

The long shot of it all is that we have no reason to think that this Greek adventure will have a tragic ending in the style of Homer when he wrote about Brad Pitt and Eric Bana.

After our (not so) Easy Jet delay we got to Santorini very late in the day. Then after a few cheap bus rides and a short walk with heavy bags we found ourselves at Vassili’s Rooms in Perissa.

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Panorama of Santorini

Vassili is a very friendly man and with a big heart he loves to chat with his customers. He is the sort of guy that gives the Greeks a good reputation on this front and we met people that come regularly from Austria and France to stay with him. Perissa is just as we remembered it from 10 years ago. The food is delicious, the beach is good, but the black sand was not popular with Nathan. He refused to leave the towel because the sand was too hot and we found it best to spend our spare time beside Vassili’s pool. Nathan took to swimming in his floaties and is improving every day. He is also very much in the ‘look at me’ phase of his development. If an older kid does a handstand in the pool, he has to show them something he can do, no matter how mundane it must seem to kids twice as big as him.

We spent a day doing the ‘Volcano tour’, which goes on a boat to the volcano in between the main island and the smaller Thirasia. We all climbed to the top of the volcano and saw gasses being

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On top of the volcano, Santorini.

released from the crater. Then to another island, where we swam in bathers-colour-changing-hot-springs. Next stop was Thirasia for a late lunch with a view of the main island and the towns of Fira and Oia clinging to the edge of the caldera. In the afternoon this must be the best view of this spectacular location, as no shadow is cast on its steep walls.

We spent another day visiting Fira to see the posh side of the island, where you have million dollar views and off course everything else cost a bit more. Accommodation here would be very nice I’m sure, but Leanne and I love the laid back feel of Perissa.

To get to our next destination, Folgandros, we caught the slow boat, which stops at other islands and it is quite entertaining to witness the docking, loading and unloading procedure at each port. We sit at the back of the boat on the top deck to witness these events. First small ropes with heavy weights are thrown from the back. These are connected to larger ropes that can hold the boat in place. Then a driveway/walkway is lowered into position. Then the passengers, cars and trucks

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Donkey on Thirasia

move on and off the boat before the ropes are untied and we leave. Then the younger tourists, who have said goodbye to their friends, jump in the wake of the departing vessel and are propelled at speed to the side from the pier. After seeing the sun set between some other Greek islands, we arrived in Folegandros at just before 9.00 PM. There were the usual hotel touts looking for business and we headed straight for them. The first one said her place was in the town we wanted, had a good view of the monastery and surrounding area, came with a pool, fridge and air conditioner and all at the price we wanted; 50 Euros per night. So we said “Yes”. As you can see from the pictures, we landed on our feet and we were sitting beside the pool at 9.06 PM the same night.

Folegandros is a small island and has a permanent population of just over 700 people. Plus a lot of Tourists at this time of year, but nothing like Santorini. So we slowed down even more, spent more time in the pool and at a good beach, Angali is just a short

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The view from our Restaurant on Thirasia looking back to Santorini's main island.

bus ride from our hotel. We got a few more runs and swims in. We are exercising more days than not. We went to another small town, Ano Meria, one evening and ate at the best restaurant on the island, “Widmills”, named after a common feature of most Greek islands.

Tomorrow we head off to Mykonos for our third Greek island.

Additional photos below

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