The trip to Santorini started very early – 5am - with our
free train ride to Piraeus port. The metro station was literally around the
corner from our accommodation so dragging the big purple case was a breeze! We
arrived at the port in time to get on our Blue Star ferry early. All the TVs
were blaring out in Greek and many people were gathered around them, looking
very anxious… and we were clueless! It transpired that the finance minister,
Yanis Varoufakis, had just resigned! He seems a very colourful character – a
university economics lecturer and an outspoken man. I chatted to more people, including a
Brazilian-Greek lady. The journey was about seven hours long, but arriving in
the little harbour in Santorini was gorgeous.
We were met by the charming Demetri, the son-in-law of our
Airbnb hostess. The road up to Kasterados where we stayed was so windy (as in
it wound around the mountains) and climby and jolly scary! Helen, who runs
Pension George where we stayed is the original Shirley Valentine! She came to
Greece 27 years ago, married a Greek – called George – and stayed! The
accommodation was wonderful and I think I had the very best room with my
balcony overlooking the pool. We walked into Thira – the main town – a walk of
about 25 minutes and had a look at the shops and restaurants – and ate some
more! This time, thipiras – lovely white fish cooked to perfection.
On the next day, we went on an absolutely wonderful
excursion. We were picked up by coach and then taken to the harbour to board
the King Theras, a large wooden boat. We sailed to the volcano and walked right
up to the top. Our guide for the day was a lovely Ukranian lady who speaks four
languages and who works for seven days a week for six months as a tour guide. I
didn’t realise that for six months there is no tourism on the islands because
of the cold weather…. So when there is work, people have to work hard. In fact,
a taxi driver told us that in the off-season, life revolves around drinking
Greek coffee and talking about the season that was – and probably also solving the
problems of the world in general, and Greece in particular, at the same time!
It was spectacular at the top of the volcano. From there, we
got back on the ship and sailed to another island for lunch and a swim. The
beach was pebbly and very slippery. I had a lovely swim and a bad landing
getting out of the sea. I think a boat must have passed behind me because I was
dumped onto some rocks – not very elegant and my leg and hand got scratched! I
did manage to get out though. From there, we went by boat again to the
beautiful village of Oia to see the famous Santorini sunset.
Little did we know
that the trip up the high and mountainous path was going to be by donkey! I was
put onto a cute little donkey and told to wait, but my donkey was off, trying
to wipe me off on the rocky overhangs as she tried to overtake other donkeys!
When the donkey man told me to wait, I asked him to speak to the donkey! She
was not listening. Poor Adrian was given a small donkey so he had to ride with
his legs flailing about. I lost my stirrups a few times too! That trip was
traumatic! At the top, we wandered around Oia – absolutely beautiful. The sun
set at 8.40 and we then got onto our coach to be taken home.
One of the highlights of the day was meeting some lovely
people. We chatted to George, and Greek-Australian, who is about to embark on
his third career at the age of 41 – as a manager at Flight Centre! We also met
two lovely young girls from Sydney – Janeece who teaches kindergarten and her
friend, Nerissa, who is a pharmacist. They were completing a 5-week 14-country trip in Europe.
We also met Kavita and Arti from London – two more lovely
young girls enjoying the joys of travel. It is so refreshing to talk to young
ladies like these and to hear how they feel about travel and the world.
The next day saw Adrian back in Thira looking at the shops
and the little church while I went in search of a hairdresser! I found a salon nearby, but no-one
could speak English so I explained what I wanted, chose my colour and hoped for
the best – and I wasn’t disappointed! Never as good as my hairdresser, Shelly,
but the cut and colour were fine! And I felt revitalised. I spent some time at
the lovely pool and Adrian and I had supper at a little tavern near our accommodation.
The next morning saw us up very early to do the dreaded long
trip to Skopelos! It was either going to work perfectly…or not! AND IT WORKED! We
were taken to Santorini’s little airport where it seemed Ryanair had made a
mess of most bookings as none of ours showed on our phones – smses or emails –
after queuing with many others, we were given hand-written boarding passes and
we flew to Athens (again!), then on to the still free bus for an almost one hour
ride to Syntagma Square (again!), then we jumped into a taxi for the bus
station, then a five-hour very pleasant bust trip to a lovely seaside town
called Volos, then time for some more lovely Greek food, then onto the Flying
Dolphin – more like the rolling tortoise but faster – and finally, after 13
hours, we were in Skopelos and we were met by our charming host, Nina! So it
just goes to show that all things are possible and that the journey there is
sometimes as important as the being there. We were lucky that there were on
hitches along the way. We even met a Greek lady on the bus who is
vice-president of a bank in Beverley Hills where Antonio Banderas banks!
This was Adrian’s dream come true, and I must say I loved
the island too. Our studio flats were quite a steep climb from the main
waterfront road, but very close and there were so many lovely taverns to choose
from. I know this is beginning to sound like the food tour of Greece – maybe not
far wrong! The food is so tasty and so reasonable and there is a lovely
variety. Adrian got quite hooked on Greek frozen yoghurt and baklava in
particular, and I love everything! The next day, we went on a trip to the Mamma
Mia beach called Kastani (“Does your momma know?). We stayed a while, but left when it got too
windy. We went on a lovely monastery tour to four monasteries on the island in
the evening. Our guide was Katerina, a newly-qualified archaeologist and such a
good guide.
She was with us again on the next day – THE DAY! We went up
to THE Mamma Mia church and were certainly not disappointed! There were lots of
steps and a spectacular view. I’m afraid I embarrassed Adrian, because he had
said he wanted the song from the movie, “The winner takes it all” to play as he
climbed those iconic steps – SO I played it on my cellphone as I followed him! The
others in our group loved it too! The church at the top is very tiny and was
not the one used in the movie, sad to say. We wondered how they got the film
crew up those steps? Helicopter?
After that trip, we had lunch and packed and got onto
another ferry – determined to try them all – Hellenic Seaways – for the
crossing to Skiathos where we spent the night so we could fly out to Athens
(again!) the next day. The trip was very comfortable and it was amazing to see
how trucks and all sorts of vehicles park so efficiently and quickly and how
the whole process – including getting foot passengers onboard - just works,
with minimum fuss! Maybe that’s the solution – minimum fuss!
We found our accommodation – Vaya Zorba Studios – in the
town and then discovered that the owner could not understand any English so she
phoned her son and we spoke to him. Adrian had to move to the place next door
which was fine. Skiathos also has a very short hazardous runway and it has been
featured in TV programmes, largely for the potentially dangerous jetstream which has been
known to knock onlookers over. We headed for the airport taking a very long
route by road – only to realise that we should have just walked round the
harbour! We waited for nearly two hours, but no planes appeared and so we went
back to have supper – then a plane flew in very low indeed! It is amazing that
there isn’t even a fence around the airport. Unfortunately, there were tons of
mosquitoes out and so we didn’t stay long, but went back ready for a very early
start the next day as we headed for our next destination…. Istanbul!
