The Isle of Blue and White

Julie and I arrived in beautiful Santorini at 3:30 pm on Sunday October 14^th. We got off the ferry and found our hotel shuttle driver holding a sign. We followed him to the van and threw all our stuff in and got in to drive to Perissa. We got half way up the hill when the driver remembered another ferry with guests was coming in, in another 20 minutes and he wouldn’t have enough time to drive us over and come back. So we turned around and parked and we waited in the car while the driver/owner picked up the other guests. It turned out to be 2 young blonde girls from somewhere in Europe. Once they were piled in we drove up and over the hill and down to the south side of the island to Perissa. We arrived at our hotel Stelio’s Place and checked in to our individual rooms, which I must say where simple but very nice and comfortable. You can’t ask for more for 19 euros a night for a single room. Our rooms were right next door to each other so we settled in and then took off to explore the village at bit. I say village because I would call Perissa a city by any means.

We walked the 50 feet down to the beach and took some pictures of the view. We walked out onto the sand and even stuck our toes in the water which was not all that warm but warmer then the Santa Barbara water I’m used to. We strolled along the beach and first in one direction then the other checking restaurant menus as we went. Several of the places were closed for the winter season already. We walked up to the main street we drove in on and checked the tourist offices, grocery store, and 24 hour bakery. I would say at least half of the establishments in Perissa were closed for the season and a couple more closed while we were there. After our little explore we walked back out to the beach and decided on a restaurant for dinner.

We opted to eat at Charlina a nearby restaurant with a kooky hippy-ish manager/waiter. We both ordered the gyro special, I got chicken and Julie got pork. It was a ton of food, lot of grilled chicken with some onions, fries, pita bread and tzatiki. The food was all delicious, the wine however was horrible. I had the white and Julie the red house wine and they were both awful. Mine was sour tasting, kind of like grape juice gone bad. Julie’s was not any better and neither of us finished our glasses. The hippy manager offered us an extra glass on him which we both turned down because the wine was so horrible. When we finished eating we left and walked back towards the hotel and after much consideration walked a little farther to the 24 hour bakery and each got a pastry. I got a giant sugar donut thing and Julie got a shortbread chocolate chip cookie thing. We walked back to the hotel and decided on her room. We sat on the bed and watched TV together, first the end of High School Musical then news. We chatted about our plan for the next day then I went back to my room and showered and went to bed.

The next morning I got up late and jumped to get dressed to meet Julie. I ran out about a half hour late to find Julie in the hotel café with Ian a guy we met in Athens. It was random that we ended up at the same hotel as him. They were sitting and talking and Ian was eating his breakfast. I grabbed and chair and Julie and I ordered our breakfast. Yes we were able to get coffee, bacon, eggs, and toast for 6 euros. Ian finished his breakfast and took off for his day of adventure before Julie and I even got our food. We ate and then sat and talked for about 4 hours. The wind was blowing like crazy outside and it was cold and icky. So spending 4 hours sitting and talking inside didn’t seem like a waste of time. We finally got up and left the hotel to go walking through the wind blown streets. It was really cold even though I was bundled up in a t-shirt, jeans, fleece sweater, jean jacket, scarf and socks and shoes. I was still freezing my butt off when walked through town. We visited to the tourist office, where we made reservations to do an island tour the next day. Then visited another 24 hour bakery we found down the street a ways, we didn’t buy anything but did look around and boy did it look good.

We circled around and walked down to the beach then along it. We ran into the hippy Charlina manager who invited us to Fira (the big city on the island) to go to the clubs with him. Neither one of us was up for it so we walked on and went to Yass another restaurant on the beach front. Yass is an open air bar and restaurant that had a patio area with a fireplace. There was a roaring fire in it so we grabbed a couch with a table next to the fire so we could warm up. We ordered some lunch and sat and played cards and talked. We laughed over the fire since the owner kept throwing random hunks of wood in to keep it going. When I say random I mean a green painted cabinet door of some kind, lounger chair parts, a giant umbrella stand, and some random wood. When the food came we ate, I had pastichio which is kind of like moussaka but with noodles instead of mashed potatoes. It was really good. After lunch we each had a Mexican coffee then headed out. By the time we left I had stripped off my scarf, jacket, and my sleeves were rolled up as I was sweating sitting next to the fire.

We walked back up to the tourist information office and checked email and I bought my ferry ticket to Crete. After words we walked down the street to the 24 hour bakery and loaded up on pastries then walked back to the hotel. There we hung out in my room and watched the movie “The Little Princess” that was being shown in English with Greek subtitles. We ate our pastries for dinner and hung out until about 11 pm then split up and went to bed.

I got up about 9:00 the next morning and showered and met Julie for breakfast at 10:30. We had the same big breakfast and coffee and sat and chatted with Ian again. We was checking out and catching a ferry to Rhodes that afternoon. When we finished eating we walked with him up to the main street and said our goodbyes and waited for our island tour to bus to pick us up. It did not long after we arrived and we boarded the bus with an elderly Spanish couple. We left a couple of minutes later and drove through Fira to Kamari where we picked up the rest of the tour group. From there we drove to oldest Christian church on the island, built in the 10^th century and decorated in the 11^th. It was small but peaceful little church that is famous for its statuary. I got some great pictures of the outside of the church as pictures inside were not allowed. After the church we moved on to an abandon village and walked around the allies. Apparently the village which is built into the hillside was abandoned after the 1982 earthquake. Our tour guide said people are just starting to come back and move into the fixed up houses. From there we drove to another village which is on the 2^nd highest point on the island. We walked up the hill through the narrow ally ways to a look out where you could see the northern part of the island. We all got some great pictures and the tour guide pointed out the big landmarks.

When we walked back we took a break and had a coffee and I bought some postcards before getting back on the bus for the drive to the next stop. We went through Fira to the caldera. Once there we got off the bus and followed the guide through the allies that lead between the houses and hotels built on the caldera. I don’t remember the name of that particular village but if you’ve ever seen a postcard of the Greek Isles with the white washed houses built on top of each other clinging to a stone cliff that’s where we were. It was amazingly beautiful and I got a bunch of pictures. It was one of those places of always dream of going and there I was sitting on a white washed wall in front of a church looking back at a white and blue village built straight up the side of the caldera. Unfortunately I can’t properly describe it. It really is something to be experienced for yourself. After our caldera stop we walked back up with streets to the bus on the way seeing a dog sleeping on a wall about 20 feet off the ground, none of us figured out how he got up there but I got a picture of it. We boarded the bus and drove around the island to the most northern point, the new city of Oia (pronounced Eya).

When we got to Oia we got out and were given a couple of hours to walk around and see the sunset before getting back onto the bus and driving back to Kamari. Julie and I walked around and got some pictures. We followed a random path through the city and stopped off to look into some shops. Finally we made our way to the point so to say and found a great restaurant so we got a front row table right on the edge of the terrace. We got lucky as someone had it reserved but cancelled right when we showed up so we got it. We sat down and had a glass of sangria and some blue cheese stuffed deep fried olives. They may sound weird but they were really good. We eat and drank and talked until the sunset started then turned to watch it sink into the sea. We both took a bundle of pictures of the sunset at its various stages. Julie and I agreed that as much as we liked each others company the sunset would have been better to watch with a boyfriend as it was amazingly beautiful and romantic. When it was over we paid and walked back to the bus. We were driven back to the south side of the island and dropped off in front of the tourist office.

When we arrived we walked to the hotel for a quick stop to get jackets then headed out to the beach to find some dinner. What we had in Oia was just an appetizer as it was an expensive restaurant and we are both on a budget. We walked along the water, slipping past Charlina and the hippy manager that was starting to bug us. We ended up at a restaurant down the beach where I ordered some moussaka. We watched a very odd Kung Fu type movie with no sound so Julie and I made up our own lines. I’m not sure who we entertained more ourselves or the group of locals sitting at the next table which had our waiter and busboy when they weren’t taking orders and bringing food out. Now I have not idea what the movie was or how far into we were when we arrived but it was truly hilarious making up our own lines because it looked so cheesy. They guys at the restaurant treated us to a free dessert and shout of Ouzo I’m not if it’s general policy or just because they had so much fun listening to us and the movie. But since it was a gift so to say we ate and drank the Ouzo even though we both had Ouzo. After dinner we walked back to the hotel and sat in Julie’s room watching the movie “Spy Game” in English with Greek subtitles again. When the movie was over I headed back to my room and went to bed.

I woke up and quarter to 10 and got dressed and went out to find Julie already in the café eating. I ordered my breakfast and we talked and ate. It was a little warmer today so after breakfast we walked to the tourist office and checked our email and then walked to buy me a phone card. I called Leon (a very good friend of mine that I would be visiting in another week) and we talked briefly about the trip we were planning to Egypt. He was working so we didn’t talk long. Julie and I walked through the city stopping off at the ATM for more cash. From there we went to the hotel and changed into tank tops and skirts and headed for the beach. It was warmer but still not exactly hot so neither of us wanted to strip down to our bathing suits. So we opted for lounge chairs and sunscreen with our skirts and tanks. We plopped down on a couple of chairs at the beach and spent the next several hours reading books and getting tan.

Around 3:00 pm we went up and got Pina Coladas from Charlina and then had to deal with crazy hippy boy hitting on me mostly. I wasn’t interested in the least and tried to make my point without being mean. I just wanted to tell him to go away and leave me and Julie in peace. He finally went back to work and we drank our drinks and talked. At 4:00 the sun started to go down so we left and walked our glasses back to the restaurant. We went back to the hotel and changed clothes and packed a bit. Julie settled in and I went out to the payphone and called first my Mom and caught up with her. We talked longer then I had planned and I ended up using my entire phone card. The store I bought the card was closed so I went to the tourist office and got on my email and emailed Leon that I would call him the next night from Crete.

I went back and picked Julie up and we walked back out to the main street to try a different restaurant. I had the chicken souvlaki special which ended up being really tasty. We ate and talked cracking each other up with all the inside jokes that had come up over our time together. When we finished dinner we walked in the dark down the street and got some weird stares from a group of local men. We went to the 24 hour bakery and each got a dessert then walked back to the hotel. We ate our desserts in my room while we watched some really bad 70s horror movie. About half way through we gave up on it, it was so bad. Julie went back to her room about 11:30 and I stayed up reading my book until 12:30 then went to bed.

I got up the next morning and dressed and packed all my stuff. I met Julie out in the café and we opted to walk around and find another breakfast just to try something different. We ended up at Yass and both had a really tasty omelet. After breakfast we went back to the hotel and I checked out of my room and put my bags in the luggage storage area which ended up being the café/reception area. Then we walked back up to the tourist office and checked email and I was looking for a place to stay in Crete and not having much success. I was taking the ferry to Crete at 5:00pm and Julie was going on a ferry back to Athens, I think. When we finished up the business on the net and left and walked over to a shop we had seen the night before. We did a little shopping. It was the last day the store would be open for the season so everything was on sale. I bought a great pair of white drawstring pants for myself and some Christmas presents other people. When the shopping was completed we walked back to the hotel and sat in the café talking. I wrote in my journal a bit between conversations. And before I knew it, it was time to go so I put my bags in the van and gave Julie a great big hug and wished her well and made her promise to keep in touch.

I was driven over the hill back to the harbor I had arrived in just 5 days earlier. I got out and walked down towards the entrance gate. I stopped off and bought a diet coke and pita chip snack for the ride then went to wait. The ferry was late and while I was waiting I met another girl, an American girl from LA, Anna. We hit it off and talked while we waited for the ferry. We discussed where she was going on Crete and I told her I was planning to follow her to Rethymno and see if I could get a room at the same hostel. I made reservations there for the next couple of nights but according to the internet there weren’t any rooms for that night. But it was worth a try. When the ferry finally arrived we boarded on and I spent the ferry ride reading my book and listening to my music. It was only a 3 and a half hour ride so we made in into Heraklion a little before 9:00pm.

I had a fabulously relaxing time in Santorini with Julie. Even though most of the stuff was closed for the season and it wasn’t as warm as I was hoping it was still a relaxing and magical place to visit. I did a whole lot of nothing important and it was exactly what I needed. And I was lucky enough to make a really good friend in Athens so I had someone to share it all with. Julie, my dear you are a wonderful person and I hope to see you again when I get back to the States. But for now I’m on to Crete.