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A
STEWARD WOKE US UP
at seven by banging on the door. At 7:30 the boat was due to dock and he
wanted us out of the cabin at once so they could make it up for the
passengers who would be boarding as soon as we got off. I had managed
to throw on some clothes, but Joy was stark naked when he burst in the
door. I will never forget both of their gasps as they saw each other!
It
was still dark when we disembarked and boarded a waiting bus that took
us up a winding road to the main town of Fira on top of a high cliff,
famous for its white buildings.
Stepping
off the bus we were approached by a man asking if we needed a room, and
with little else to do at such an early hour, we decided to take a look.
It was chilly and windy, and as he led us along the narrow cliffside
steps to the room we were blown back against the stone wall several
times. The accommodations, however, couldn’t have been better! It was
one of those picturesque Greek island hotels built into the side of the
cliff, with a panoramic view of the brilliant blue Aegean Sea facing the
sunset. This place, for which we were only being charged 12,000 drachmas
($40), would be unaffordable and unavailable in the high season.
This terrace was right outside our room
After
settling in and while Joy showered (I hadn’t taken
a shower since we left Nof Ginosar, and was too pooped to take one now)
I sat out on the vast terrace overlooking the blue Mediterranean and
listened to the perfect silence. The wind had died down for a while, at
least in that one spot. The weather seemed to be changing every five
minutes—alternating rain and sun, hot and cold all day long. I shot
reams of videotape, but alas did not take any pictures with my regular
camera and neither did Joy.
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FACTS
ABOUT SANTORINI
Santorini
is 72 square km, has 13 villages and a permanent population of
10,000. It is very windy and earthquakes are common. Fira, the
capital, with 2,500 inhabitants, is built 30 meters above the sea.
It is famous for its views, sunsets and night life. Probably the
world’s largest volcanic eruption occurred there in 1647BC,
leaving a hole in the middle of what was once a circular island
and buried it in pumice stone and volcanic ash.
For
many years the economy of the island was based on the export of
pumice stone—more than two million tons annually—until the
government forbade further exportation because of the damage it
was doing to the island. Visitors can see remains of the three
quarries, the factory and a large chunk of the hill missing. Grape
vines grow everywhere, and in August, the islanders pick the
grapes by hand and transfer them by donkeys to their wineries. |
Looking
for a breakfast place, we found the town devoid of tourists and most of
the shops closed. I dropped off my blood-splattered jeans at a laundry
and we sat out on the town square with a cup of coffee trying to figure
out what to do.
There
wasn’t much to do here. We started to take a walk but Joy’s foot
began to hurt again and her legs got tired, so she went back to the room
and crawled into bed. I walked around the town by myself revisiting
places from my 1985 trip and saw that not much had changed.
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Some pictures I took of Fira on my
1985
trip. Nothing had changed! |
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I
ate an omelet at a taverna and read a little. When Joy woke up we went
out for another meal of moussaka and spaghetti, after which we found a
cozy taverna where we ordered a café frappé. We tried to read our
books but the thick cigarette smoke drove us out. Instead we returned to
our room and watched the spectacular sunset, after which we decided to
call it a very early night, both of us being thoroughly zonked.
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CLICK
HERE TO RETURN TO CALENDAR
or
read on by clicking on any of the following
links:
1.
From Los Angeles to Amsterdam
2. The Flight to Greece
3. Ancient
Corinth
4. The
Citadel
5. To Piraeus
6. Hania on
Crete
7. A
Day in Limbo
8. Back
to Athens
9. From
Athens to Cairo
10. Cairo
11. The Pyramids
12. The Bus to Israel
13. Jerusalem
14. Bethany and Bethpage
15. An Old Palestinian Hotel
16. The Drive to Galilee
17. Capernaum and Environs
18. The Ancient Boat and Nazareth
19. The Golan Heights and Mt. Hermon
20. The Eastern Shore and Scythiopolis
21. Mount of the Beatitudes
22. Ptolemais and Caesarea
23. A Day in Piraeus
24. Santorinithis
page
25. A Rainy Day
26. An Eventful Day in Athens
27. Return to Amsterdam
28. Going Home
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