Day 1 – Dallas / Chicago / Munich / Athens / Santorini
Five airports, four flights and more than 24 hours later, we land in Santorini (of of the Cyclades island belonging to Greece). We land in a blinding rainstorm. Ok we land on the island to overcast skies and rain but writing it the other way sounds so much more dramatic. This was not exactly how a pictured my vacation. About 3 airports in, I was ready to turn around and go home. To top it off I developed an upper respiratory infection that sent me to the doctor for antibiotics the day before the trip. I never get sick.
Our first night in Santorini we run sloshing through the rain to the closet Taverna (which is sort of equivalent to an English pub but more patio like). We eat a pretty mediocre meal (which isn’t improving my mood) but I do get to try my first Ouzo. Must say I’m not a big fan. However, we are able to purchase a bottle of wine from them to take back to the hotel (isn’t that cool!). We hand the credit cad to the waiter only to find that the rain has knocked out the online system and we don’t have any Euros! The owner tells us we can just come back and pay tomorrow. My impression of Greece immediately improves. We slosh on back to the hotel and end up sharing our wine with some young 20-somethings from Chicago, a couple from Ireland and Sasha the Russian night manager. The bottle of wine and some shots of a Greek syrupy wine and we are ready to tuck in.
Day 2 – Santorini
The next morning we open the shutters to glorious blue skies, a sparking pool and sunshine so bright it blinds. We decide to rent a car to tour the island (it’s a small island). I think the car was Petro the innkeepers, cousin Dimitri’s, half sisters car or something but it was cheap and it ran so we were set. I was elected driver so after day tripping essentials (sunscreen, swimsuit, backpack, ipod, etc) were stowed, seatbelts fastened, we were off.
We quickly learn that although our small map has road names the roads themselves do not. Not to worry, this only heightens our sense of adventure. We manage a snake break, a money break and through one of our many episodes of being lost we find the old port of Santorini and it has some the best sea views you could imagine.
We eventually make it to the main city of Fira but decide to park outside the city, as the streets are so narrow I’m sure I will get us stuck (I’m a bad driver). So far are view of the island has been has been ok with the exception of the old port. But as we come through the outskirts of town and find Fira proper your breath is literally taken away. The town sits on the edge of the cliff and the building are all white with beautifully paint doors and shutters all over looking a sparkling Aegean sea. There are doors that appear to be on the edge of the cliff that open to infinity. Postcards and pictures simply do not do it justice.
After a bit of shopping and lunch, we decide to hike down to the new port were the cruise ships come in. To get to the port you have two options: ride a cable car gondola thingy; take a cliff side series of steps, 589 to be exact. Being the spry in shape girls we think we are we decide on the steps. As we start to descend we realize there is a 3rd way to get to the port, by donkey!
Daisy and Dara, animal lovers that they are, feel this is animal cruelty and will in no way consider the donkey rides. We need the exercise so this is fine with me but aren’t donkeys sort of designed for those kind of things? About 45 minutes later, we reach the port for the most part successfully avoiding donkey trains and mounds of donkey shit. Thank God it rained the night before or we would have been ankle deep in donkey doo. Watching Dara trek down this steep and winding path in her platform flipflops nearly caused me to piss myself I laughed so hard. The song ride the donkey, donkey played through my head the entire time.
Having navigated the donkey trail and bought a few souvenirs, we head to a small town of Oia to watch the sunset at the recommendation of Petro the innkeeper. The roads in Santorini are not a highway system. We putter along with only a few near misses, strategically placed curse words and a prayer or two. We have perfect timing and climb through the narrow streets of town to find the perfect spot for a little sunset viewing. Its at this spot that I find out from a nice family from Toronta that the Mavs had one thanks to my darling Dirk. Can life get any better at this moment!?!? It was a beautiful sunset and very romantic, at least as much as it could be with Daisy and Dara at my side.
We had a fantastic day and head back for the hotel to clean up for dinner. This is where we learned a good travel lesson. You should always find out where you stay on a map before you head out to explore. We find our town ok it’s the actually street the hotel is on that’s a problem but with a little time and effort we finally make it back.
Before we eat dinner, we stop into the first Taverna and pay them back for last nights meal. Frankly, I think they were a little surprised but that endeared us to them and every time we passed them for the rest of the stay they would come out and greet us.
Day 3 – Santorini
This was our last full day on Santorini and we spent it lounging at the pool because the beach was made up of volcanic rock. Nice to look at but rough on the feet.
