We woke up Thursday morning ready to explore this majestic island. For those that don't know, Santorini (technically a grouping of islands with the main island called Thira) is an extinct volcano that back in 1600BC was the site of one of the largest recorded eruptions in history. What is left is a crater at sea level, with a couple of gaps. The rim on Thira is the popular area, with colorful villages and cliffs dropping almost 1,000ft straight down into the crater sea. Outside the crater rim, the land drops more gradually and this is where the majority of the locals live and the beaches can be found.
From our hotel in the biggest town of Fira, it was a 15 minute walk uphill along the busy streets, trying to avoid the ATVs, cars, and buses, to the bustling town center and the gorgeous views from the caldera. We strolled the quaint alleys filled with tourists and shops selling all the same knick knacks. We spent a good hour walking up and down slick rock pathway, mostly in search of views, a gyro, and ideas for future meals. We settled for mediocre falafel wraps, visited the grocery store where we purchased 9L of bottled water and 1.5L of Greek red wine in a plastic bottle, and then returned to our hotel to enjoy the wine and our pool for the afternoon.
About 7 miles northwest of Fira is the showpiece of Santorini, a smaller town called Oia. It has more walking streets, the better views, and less motor traffic. The people traffic on the other hand is a little tough to deal with. We decided to tackle it our first night, taking the crowded bus along the spectacularly curvy rim road. Right away we were stuck behind tour groups and people not aware of their surroundings. We found a satisfactory viewpoint and got our obligatory picture taking out of the way. We splurged on a good meal with a view, lamb knuckle with creamy mashed potatoes and chicken souvlaki. As the sun set, we found a semi crowded parking lot from which to take a picture, although it was not as good as advertised. Then we stood in line for the bus back to Fira and our hotel, where we could drink more of our cheap wine.
For our 2nd full day In Santorini, we looked to get more views but this time away from the crowds. There is a long path that follows the rim from Fira to Oia, passing through the smaller villages. We started walking as early as we felt reasonable for a honeymoon, 9:30 AM. The sun was already intense and the steepest uphill stretch was in the beginning, but the views were always amazing. My motto when traveling is to beat yourself into shape the first week or 2, and then the rest will be easy. In all it took us about 3 1/2 hours to complete the 7 miles and we were happy to take the bus back after a Greek salad and a pork gyro. Speaking of which, we both love gyros so expect this to be a common theme over our 8 days in Greece. Also, I was a little surprised that they put French fries in them. I assumed it was just something they threw in for us in the US, thinking that Americans will eat anything with fries, but apparently it is traditional. I am not complaining.
For the rest of our post-hike day, we laid by the pool and rested. When the heat began to subside, we walked to the town center and ate lamb gyros with a side of tzatziki and pita for dinner, then searched for an uncrowded sunset view. When it was dark, we found a restaurant for baklava with ice cream, which Julia had been craving since we arrived. It did not disappoint.
We had a late departure on our final day, with our ferry not leaving until 3:30 PM. Thankfully our hotel let us store our bags and continue to use the pool and their washroom, even after we checked out. Our final few hours on Santorini were spent eating breakfast at the friendly restaurant Mama's House, finding some new alleys to explore, and taking one last dip in the pool.
We then threw on our packs and navigated the busy streets one last time to get to the bus station. I wish I could just say we easily hopped on a bus to the ferry terminal and then onto the large boat that took us to Naxos, but it was not that smooth. We arrived at the station about 25 minutes before the bus was supposed to leave and there was already a good number of people waiting around with luggage. I had feared a free-for-all and it was basically that; when what appeared to be our bus rolled up, the crowd swarmed near the front door, barely letting the passengers off. The driver yelled that bags would be loaded on the other side, and we ran to stake our claim, assuming if our bags were on, we would get on as well. Everyone then raced back to the front door of the bus as the driver held back the crowd. He then started allowing entry and taking money, as we jockeyed for position. Luckily a helper stationed himself at the back door, closer to us, and opened a 2nd entry point. We purchased our tickets, Julia was momentarily held back as he checked with the driver on their count, and we breathed a sigh of relief after taking our seats. It appeared that some were turned away, as we saw the helper argue with a couple and had them remove their bags from the storage compartment. We didn't feel that bad for them, the taxi ride was probably only about 15€.
Down at the ferry terminal, there was already a line of a couple hundred people at our gate. Luckily, many of them were on the earlier boat that was departing late, and the line moved enough that we were no longer in the sun, but still standing in a crowded room with large backpacks on. When our massive ferry arrived, they slowly released people who ran aboard, trying to get prime positions. I realized later that the vessel was continuing on to Athens and that the majority of the passengers were looking to get comfortable for their 7+ hour voyage. The end point for us was the island of Naxos, the largest and one of the most fertile of the Cyclades grouping of Greek Islands. Our trip was an easy 2 hours on the closest thing to a cruise ship we have been on. It had multiple restaurants, a gift shop, and a wide variety of seating choices.
On Naxos, we caught the bus for the short trip down to our seaside village of Agia Anna, where the beaches are long and sandy, and the water is still a perfectly clear teal. We felt more at home right away. The tourists appear to be more Greek than anything else, there are no cruise ships or large tour groups following around a stuffed animal hanging from a stick (the common way guides lead their herd). Our hotel is just across the street from the water and we appear to have gotten one of the best rooms with an outstanding view from our balcony (probably thanks to Julia for informing management it was our honeymoon).
The first night in Naxos was spent exploring our neighborhood beach and restaurants. Luckily the bar with the loud bad music and party atmosphere was a ways down from our lodgings. Dinner that night was a local sausage gyro and a souvlaki pork plate at the popular place right outside our hotel entrance, called Oregano's. We could tell it was legit, because locals would roll up on motorbikes and grab a gyro for the road.
Sunday was a day to relax after feeling like we were surrounded by cars and people for the last 72 hours. After the intriguing and very traditional free breakfast buffet made by the hotel Mom (assorted pastries, figs, melons, eggs, pudding, yoghurt, cereal, bread, deli meat, cheese, tomato, spanakopita, and coffee/juice), we found a nice sand/boulder strewn jetty and enjoyed swimming, people watching, and snorkeling around the big rocks. I had read rumors of sea turtles in these waters and they proved to be true. After spotting one my first time in without my camera, I grabbed Julia and we found the medium sized guy/girl with little effort. We observed and snapped photos until he/she swam faster than we could. When we had returned to the spot on top of a boulder where we had stashed our bags, we found 2 youngish ladies had now taken up residence there, posing for Instagram photos and placing their bags touching ours, as if they knew us. It was another reminder of different cultures perception and awareness of personal space. We took this as a reason to venture down south over an outcropping to Plaka Beach, where we were quickly reminded that the northern part of it is clothing optional. Our first exposure, if you will, to this Mediterranean normalty. We found a spot far enough from the nakedness to feel comfortable looking around, and briefly swam and snorkeled.
After we felt decently sunburned, we retreated to our hotel for shade and wine. Our Sunday dinner was an assortment of fried sea creatures and tuna carpaccio which we ate on tables in the sand. And for the 2nd night in a row, we were given complimentary watermelon after our meal, which seems to be the custom on Naxos. The sunsets were excellent there so we took pictures.
After another similar breakfast Monday morning, we hopped on some buses to checkout the main port town and the village of Halki, up in the mountainous inland region. It was quaint and touristy in it's center but a short walk to the outskirts gave us a good sense of real Greek village living, with olive groves and farms containing chickens, turkeys, and barking dogs. Although we did enjoy the tastes of the touristy stuff as well, with homemade ice cream, baklava and kataifi from a bakery, and the local award winning specialty of Kitpon liquor from the Kitron Naxos Vallindra distillery. We sampled the sweet, medium, and strong varieties, all of which were delicious, and are now packing home a 100ml bottle of the strong stuff to remind us of Naxos when we finally return home.
While waiting for the bus back to town from Halki, we noticed people gathering in front of the church across the street. When a hearse pulled up front, a priest dressed in a purple robe grabbed 3 large ropes and rang the church bells multiple times. He then gave a blessing over the coffin before some men carried it inside. We watched as people came from all directions and filled up the church, and passing motorists would give the sign of the cross before moving on. Also fascinating is how drivers navigate the narrow streets, often having to reverse a block or so until oncoming traffic could pass. The whole experience was a nice change from Santorini, where a glimpse of true Greek life is not really possible.
After arriving back to the hotel, we had just enough time for a cooling dip in the sea before the sun got too low. I made one last snorkeling attempt that did not go very smoothly; I snapped the strap on my snorkel mask, used Julia's new mask, saw a larger sea turtle, tried to keep up with it swimming, wore myself out, started heading back to shore, had trouble breathing properly, took the mask off, nearly drowned in the choppy waters, found rocks to stand on and catch my breathe that luckily didn't have sea urchins, and finally made it back to dry land where I felt relived but embarrassed. Probably good we will be away from the water for about 3 weeks.
For our final night on Naxos, we watched the sunset from the rocky outcropping and returned to Oregano's for dinner. This time we had a tzatziki and pita appetizer, plus a local sausage plate and a chicken souvlaki gyro. They really do make good reasonably priced food at this establishment, aided by the ability to source most of their dishes from ingredients found on this large island.
One last breakfast buffet on Tuesday morning before catching the bus to the ferry port and taking the 9:30 AM boat for 5 hours to Piraeus (the port for Athens and the busiest in the Mediterranean). Upon arrival, we followed the mass of people, correctly assuming they were all headed to the train station. We successfully used the transit system, and after a brief walk, arrived at our Airbnb on the south side of Athens. With that, you are caught up. ἦλθον, εἶδον, ἐνίκησα.
