Oh, what a sunset

Last sunset in Santorini (Tuesday night)

Blog Post was written on Wednesday 6 August 2014
4:10 pm Greece time
3:10 pm Italy time
9:10 am US time

Greetings from...Italy! Brad and I are currently in Italian airspace, on flight #2 of 3 for today on our way home.  To recap our final moments in Santorini:

After the superb sailing trip Monday, we had no set plans for our final full day on the island.  I had yet to do a wine tasting in Greece, so that was on my list; we wanted to visit one of the beaches of Santorini; and we had a couple small souvenirs we wanted to buy. So to accomplish all that, what did we decide to do? Why, rent a four-wheeler of course!  These things are as common as cars on the roads of Santorini and can easily bring you all over the island. For 24 hours, it only cost 40 euro and we could basically do whatever we wanted.

We started off by zipping down to the southeast side of Santorini and hitting up one of the black sand beaches.  Brad and I were both shocked at how empty that were. We were expecting decent crowds, but when we arrived at 10:30 there were still quite a lot of beach chairs vacant. The water was cooler than expected but felt pretty good since the sun was beating down. We swam a bit, napped a bit, and marveled some more at the beautiful blue of the Aegean.

After grabbing some lunch, we headed up to the more central part of the island, to some of the wine roads.  Santorini is known for their dry whites, and we tried a few that were excellent. We also sampled one of the rarer reds, which was my favorite.

In between the two winery visits, I took control of the four-wheeler and drove us up to the highest point on Santorini.  The wind was pretty strong and with no guardrails it was quite a thrill! Since Santorini is pretty narrow, you could see both the eastern and western sides of the island. Very nice!

high point of Santorini

Beautiful Aegean in the background

We realized that the best souvenir shops were up in Oia, where we had gone the first night, so we then jetted up to the northern part to find a few last minute gifts to try to squeeze into our suitcases.

Saw this cutie while in Oia

We made it back to our place in Imerovigli just before the sun was setting so we got to enjoy one last glorious sunset before dinner and packing. We had to condense our bags a bit because on the way home we wanted to avoid checking luggage due to our first flight being an Easyjet flight and having hefty baggage fees, as well as a short turn around between the EasyJet flight and Swiss Air flight where we couldn't risk waiting for baggage to be unloaded. Although I brought several pairs of shoes and clothes that I was planning on throwing away at the end, it was still very difficult to fit everything I wanted from the past five weeks into a tiny carry-on rolling suitcase and my one large handbag. I typically have more stuff for a single weekend away!

But, we made it work (although my paperback novel had to stay behind because I truly could not fit one more thing) and we made it to our second flight with 5 minutes to spare after a delayed first flight.

Landing in Milan, and then Zurich again, will mean I've come full circle on this five week journey.  As much as I enjoyed it, the time I've been here actually feels longer than five weeks. It already feels like a month or two ago that I said good-bye to Lucca. Between my time with Sarah and my time with Brad, we managed to do so much. I knew early on this year I needed some kind of adventure, and I certainly got it! So many times during this trip I had to stop, take a step back, and ask, "is this my real life?" I truly could not have asked for a better experience. My appetite for adventure is fulfilled for now, and I am excited to return home!

Final look at our Santorini home

These sneakers stayed behind in Santorini. They put on almost 150 miles of running over the five weeks and who knows how many miles of walking/hiking. 

EPILOGUE - Friday
I'm writing this from home. In some ways, it feels so good to be back, but in others, I already miss the culture of Europe.  Walking through New York City yesterday to meet up with my dad and brother (to go to the Italian Consulate so they can get THEIR citizenship), it was weird to hear so much English being spoken....and this was NYC!  I got a real shock when one of the first things I saw when I got off the subway at Columbus Circle was Grom, one of Sarah's and my favorite gelato places in Lucca (I knew it was a chain, but didn't know it had crossed the Atlantic)! How funny to see it had followed me to NYC.

Brad and I made it through our first two flights without any issue but our third and final one, from Zurich to NYC, was delayed for four hours due to operational issues with our plane and Swiss Air needing to get a whole new aircraft for us to use. Yes, it was inconvenient, but I couldn't believe how one American curmudgeon of a man complained about it the ENTIRE time we were at the Zurich airport. Things happen, and this certainly wasn't the end of the world! It's always good to keep things in perspective.

So we ended up taking off from Zurich just after 9pm, so the sun had recently set, but as we pulled up above the clouds the beautiful streaks of colorful sky appeared and we followed them...for the next FOUR hours! I've never experienced anything like that before. It was pretty cool!

Before signing off, I want to thank everyone who followed us through the blog! I never expected to have this many views in such a short time, and as a sucker for interesting statistics, I greatly enjoyed the Stats page that Blogger puts out. Take a look:

I didn't know people still used Linux??

Ciao e grazie a tutti! Huge thanks especially to my awesome travel buddies, Sarah and Brad :)

Living the Life on an Active Volcano

Santorini Day 1

Well our last stop has arrived. We arrived by sea once again.  I knew this place would be special...just how much, I wasn't sure. It was midday Sunday when Lisa and I arrived in Santorini by a high speed ferry from Crete. We had arranged for a pick-up at the port, and once we were out on the road, we were so glad we did. A steep narrow winding road led up onto the island. People were driving at all different speeds and with just about anything that had wheels. If the person in front was too slow, just tailgate until there was space to pass. So what if we are on a curve!

Santorini is an active volcano. An absolute gem in terms of places to see! Little white houses cover the island. With so much natural beauty, the little houses just seem to pop out of the landscape. One lane roads,with narrow paths and walkways, with yes you guessed it more steps! I don't think any pictures could ever explain what we are seeing! The place we are staying in is a little cave style apartment on the hillside over looking the caldera. Amazing!

Our balcony

We took it easy for the afternoon after arriving Sunday.  We soaked up the sun from our patio and went to the general store. The store has just enough to satisfy your needs. By evening we had decided to go to the northern tip of the island to a town called Oia (pronounced Ee-uh). Famous for its sunsets, we didn't want to miss it. We ventured through the town, going in and out of its quant little shops, following the walkway to its end. There were so many people there you couldn't see the sunset with a ladder if you tried. The people were packed in like sardines! It was shortly after 8, and we were hungry, so we headed for dinner. I spotted a restaurant that had a roof top dining area. We ended up seated at the last table on the roof - the perfect spot to watch the sunset and have a meal. No one was blocking our view and no one to bother us (Well, just our waiter).

Santorini Day 2

Early on in our trip preparations we had planned to do a day of sailing with Satorini Sailing. This was going to be of of the most spectacular things we were going to do over the three weeks we were spending together. The company picked us up in a very nice oversized 12 passenger van, with leather seats and AC that really worked! They brought us to the southeast end of the island. It had a mini harbor with many small to medium sized sailing vessels. We met our captain (Demetri), and the two others on the crew. We had a nice sized sailing party- three 30-somethings from Manhattan, a father and his 15 year old daughter from Englamd, a newlywed couple from Hungry (the bride) and Israel (the groom) but currently living in Austria, and us. Other boats that passed by were packed with people, but we had a decent amount of space.

We were soon on our way out to see Santorini from the water. First stop was Red Beach. It has red volcanic rock as a backdrop. We went snorkeling for a bit and then it was on to sailing into the caldera. Past the lighthouse n the southern tip of the island, we sailed into the bay. Dimitri took us over to the large island inside the caldera. It's new, rocky and growing. It popped above the water line in 1200 AD (so it's just a baby), and has been growing ever since. It grows anywhere from 2-8 cm each year.

This whole area is an active volcano. So next to the rocky island there is a hot spring. We set anchor and we able to go for a short swim in the spring. Today wasn't one of the volcano's real active days. So the spring was warm but not hot. The water was full of sulfur. It would turn a white bathing suit orange.

We got back on board and sailed to the adjacent island. This is the "old" volcanic island and is not growing at the moment. It has some vegetation on it, and the rock are less jagged.  On man actually lives on this small island.  Demetri said his wife used to live there too, but soon left because there was no where to shop. :)

We had a feast for lunch, with all the other guests on board with us. It consisted of grilled chicken and pork, Greek salad, penne and with tomatoes and basil, Jumbo shrimp, calamari, bread, hummus, and wine. Once it was over, we headed back to the port. The sea was a bit choppy and it seemed like Dimitri was purposely trying to hit the big wakes and valleys. It was fun, as the water splashed us laying on the front deck net. After the water calmed down, it was time for a nap. It was a long ride back, under the sun, and a great place to nap with the water right underneath us.

We did most of the trip by the motor on board, since the conditions weren't right for sailing. Dimitri said as we got off, "we faked the sailing part today." It was a great experience!

The Thrilling Island Adventures of Crete: Days 3 and 4

Crete, Day 3: Samaria

It's pronounced by the Greeks like "San Maria" without the n and with the r rolled.  The longest gorge in all of Europe, a 13k hike from the top at one end to the bottom at the other. Brad and I hadn't really planned out how we were going to get there from our hotel, thinking that we could just grab one of the many public buses to take us the hour-plus to the top of the gorge, where we had been the previous day for lunch. Thankfully, our guide from Thursday, George, had been asking about our plans and hooked us up with a tour group because the only other way we would get there would be by renting a car and driving over the mountains ourselves.  Thank you, George!

The day started with a 5:15 wake-up so we could get the bus outside our hotel at 5:50. It was still pitch black out and the sun started to rise as we made our way up the mountains.  We arrived a little after 7 and the first thought that struck me was how cold it was! It reminded me of the Sky Race, when Sarah and I had dressed for summer running in tanks and shorts but arrived in the mountains way underdressed.  Up at 4000 feet first thing in the morning, it was rather chilly. But as we expected, we warmed up within minutes.

View from the top

Brad and I had been a little uneasy at first about doing the gorge with a group, thinking that we would have to stay as a pack.  Thankfully, this was not the case! The group leader gave us info on how to get to our meeting point in the seaside village beyond the gorge, at 16:30 (that's 4:30 pm for those of you who have trouble subtracting....Sarah). That gave us plenty of time to do the hike at our own pace and then enjoy the beach.

The beauty of hiking the gorge the way we were doing it is that we were starting at the top and working our way to the bottom at the other end...meaning it was all downhill! It started out pretty wide and then narrowed to its slimmest section of about 3 meters. The Samaria Gorge, one of over a hundred gorges in Crete, has been turned into a national park and as a result, is well marked and has water fountains and WCs (restrooms, or whatever you want to call it when the toilet is a hole in the floor).  

 

The narrowest part

Brad practices Pilates

Watch out for the "great anger"

The sights in the gorge were pretty spectacular and the pictures don't do it justice. We passed quite a few people early on and in the second half, barely saw anyone. We stopped for a snack break at one of the designated rest areas and got a good deal of amusement out of all the mountain goats that had gathered around.  One actually jumped up on the bench I was sitting on and mounted my backpack that was next to me, putting its face right up to mine, trying to snatch a few bites of my almond butter sandwich. I told him to watch out, or I'd eat him for lunch so he could join his brother that I ate the previous day.

Not counting our breaks, we finished the entire thing in under 5 hours, arriving at the end of the gorge around 12:30. We then continued on to the beach, an additional mile or two.  At this point, we were on the southern end of Crete, as we had been with Elafonisi Beach, although further east. One of the cool things about the water at the southern coast of Crete is that is is part of the Libyan Sea. I didn't even know such a thing existed. Turns out we are closer to Libya than Athens.  Look how close Crete is to Africa:

Crete is the island in the center of this picture with Chania and Heraklion labeled

And in case you were wondering, Greece doesn't have a good relationship with Libya either. In fact, according to George, Crete has the largest armed forces base in Europe, which obviously helps to keep those Libyans away!

The water at this beach was extremely rough, unlike the calm protected waters of Elafonisi. It felt great after a morning of hiking, and it was nice to have several hours to relax.

Normally I am not one to post photos of myself in a bathing suit. However, I thought it was very cool that I matched the flag (Note: I was in fact, aware of the Greek colors prior to this trip and that knowledge did help me select which bathing suit to bring, because I am just that cool).

At 4:30 we met our leader at a tavern in the tiny village, where he gave us our boat ticket and we grabbed some dinner.  See, here's the interesting thing: the only way to return was to hike back up the entire gorge or to take a boat. I don't know if there were any access roads leading into this village- at any rate, no buses were able to get through. And not only is the boat the only way out, but there is only one boat each day, at 5:30.  So you don't want to miss it!

Due to high winds, our boat took forever to dock, but finally landed and we climbed aboard among the hundreds of other visitors for the hour long journey west. We ended up sitting across from an American couple from Rhode Island, who were very nice to talk to, especially after not meeting an American (not counting our prearranged meetup with Renata and her mom in Rome) since the woman from CT we met our first day in Cinque Terre! 

The bus was waiting for us where the boat landed, and we headed back over the mountains for the return trip home. We didn't get in until 9 pm, making it a very long day, but we couldn't go to bed yet: we had decided to treat ourselves and take advantage of the "Massage in Your Hotel Room" offer at the front desk. The masseur, a former professional basketball player in Greece, normally doesn't do massages so late but understood this was our only opportunity to fit them in and boy, were they welcomed after the day of hiking.  My calves were pretty tight from the downhills but what hurt the most was all of my back, which is fed up with carrying my blue Camelbak backpack.  When getting massages in the past, I've often wished they had a "napping room" so I could stay and sleep after being put in such a relaxed state. Well, here I was able to just climb into bed and pass out, 18 hours after waking that morning.

Day 4: On to Heraklion

So we spent our first three days in the western province of Chania but due to the only ferries to Santorini leaving from Heraklion, 3 hours to the east, we figured we would spend our last night near the port to catch our ferry Sunday morning.  So Saturday was another day of packing up, something I'm getting quite sick of doing!  I left for a run at 8am and it was already scorching out. I had to cut it short and only do 9 miles (instead of 10) because I had gone through all my water and was seriously dehydrated. After downing a liter or two of liquids upon my return, I jumped in the hotel pool, which overlooks the Aegean Sea from up on the cliff. Lovely! Meanwhile, Brad made a trip to the beach in front of the hotel to finally get in the Aegean, as the only water we'd swam in so far was the Libyan Sea.

The pool. Nice view, right?

We got one of the local buses to Chania, a 15 minute ride, where we then caught the 1:30 bus to Heraklion, the biggest city on Crete and still partially enclosed by the medieval wall, just like Lucca (and that I was able to run on this morning)! After checking into our hotel, Brad and I debated our options. It was already after 5 and while there were so many things to do, such as the Minoan Palace just outside the city, the oldest palace in Europe, or the Cretaquarium, a raved-about aquarium filled with Mediterranean Sea life, ultimately we realized we just didn't have the time. We were hungry and tired, so after grabbing a delicious dinner at one of the only places open at 6pm (the majority didn't open until 7), we walked around out on the pier, which is over a mile long and contains an old fort, and then through one of the main pedestrian streets, where we got some Greek frozen yogurt with choose-your-own mix-ins. As with similar places in the states, they charge you by the ounce. It was tasty, but I was not happy to pay 7.20 euro dollars for it!

Fantastic salmon and scrumptious pork medallions

On the pier

So now here we are, Sunday morning, on our ferry to Santorini.  Crete was fantastic.  Great for adventure, relaxation if you want it (we didn't really get much of that though), and fresh food,  I totally see what people mean when they say you need weeks or months to fully experience Crete. The only place that is even a bit similar that I have been to is Maui, on a much smaller scale. 

The hotel we stayed in for our night in Heraklion, the Lato Boutique Hotel, was great. Best of all was their breakfast, which they really went all out for today because of it being a Sunday.  Crepes with whatever fillings you want for them, fresh Cretan cheeses, homemade breads, delicious Greek fried pancake things, organic bacon and sausage...and what I truly marveled at was the fresh-squeezed orange juice machine. You just fill it with whole oranges (grown locally of course), press the button, and it squeezes the juice out of them.  Oh man already I miss it.

So onto Santorini we go, our final destination of this trip, where the theme of the next three days is relaxation. I'm having a blast, and am so thankful for the experiences, but man, I am tired.  The last couple weeks I've had many nights of less than 7 hours of sleep, some less than 6, and if you know me well you know that I aim for 9 hours or more a night. I've been catching little catnaps wherever I can, but it'll be really nice to rest up in Santorini and enjoy the beauty of our final few days in Europe.

Napping while Brad ate some hot dogs after finishing our hike through the gorge