Soundtrack of the weekend (in no particular order)
Memories- by the genius david guetta
I got a feeling- by the beloved black eyed peas
Baby I want you like last summer- by nicko (this has been my jam for the summer…and a sign that I’m basically part greek now)
Starting from the beginning. This post will be super long and descriptive since it’s one of my last and so epic. Also- pictures to be posted but can’t until friends upload them since I am sadly camera-less:
Friday July 23rd 2010
Day one of epicness. We hoped onto our 11 am flight- for once, we’re flying at a semi-normal time. On the flight over we met four friendly Aussies. We took this as a good sign bc of their names. So John for some reason has been a very popular name for us- Johns tend to be very friendly towards us…it’s odd. Marj had to try very hard not to laugh when he introduced himself. One of the Aussies was called John. Another two who were besties were called Andrew and Simon (which is ironic since two of my friends at yale are Andrew/simon). Anywho- as we were at baggage claim they got our number and we met up later in the day. Yay for making friends!
Santorini- though beautiful- wasn’t what we expected. It was actually less developed and much more decentralized then we expected. Certainly the main spots were very crowded with tourists but unlike Mykonos it is very spread out. The actual developed areas are very small and dispersed- and transportation (as we found out) is a GIANT pain)
We went to our hostel- it lied when it said it was 800 meters from Fira (the main town). Rather it was 800 meters from Fira’s outskirts and a 15 minute walk from the actual town. The walk really wasn’t that bad though. We passed by some hilarious stores/restaurants including a penguin spa dry cleaners and an ice cream shop with a smurf on it’s sign. We checked in, then we went to Fira for lunch. Marj/I were the only ones who came early Friday. For lunch we had DELICIOUS spicy meatballs. The meat was cooked very well and well flavored. It was served in a spicy tomato sauce with onions and yogurt on top and pita on the side. We were able to recommend it to some American tourists at the same restaurant. We also split saganaki as an appetizer. Then we wandered around Fira for a bit- got the lay of the land. Found a travel agent and booked a tour of the nearby volcano and hot springs (only for 18 euros..which is pretty good bc you have to get out there on a boat and this is pretty much the only way).
After the meatballs we went to a winery/wine museum. Santorini is famous (or infamous) for their wines- they have a ton of wineries and vineyards. The grapes are supposed to taste different because of the volcanic ash in the soil. Anyway- the museum was insane. They basically had automatons acting out the history/steps of wine making. They were motion activated so they’d just suddenly start moving (there was an audio guide to go with them). One scene was of the initial harvesting and had a robot dog that wagged it’s tail and rabbit that popped out of the bushes. It was ridiculous. Then we tried three wines. They were interesting- the last one was really weird. It was a desert wine that they only sell at the winery. It tasted like liquid raisons- it was insanely sweet (by the way, the best ways to describe the weekend are insane, ridiculous, epic, and big- so sorry if they get repetitive). Afterwards we took some pictures with the grapes…and may have eaten a few as well. It’s an interesting juxtaposition/conundrum because Santorini is a very dry island (they have no source of fresh water) but the soil is very rich and fertile because of all the volcanic ash. So like they should be able to grow a lot but it’s hard to irrigate (they’re also famous for the tomatoes, white eggplant, saganaki and fava beans in terms of foodage). We had to walk back from the winery which was TERRIBLE- we waited for the bus for 20 minutes and when it came it was too crowded to get on. So in the heat, lugging our beach bags, we walked back for 30 minutes to our hostel.
Quick shower/change and then we got on the bus to Oia for the sunset. The bus was really packed and actually left early because there were already too many passengers. Our Aussie friends had texted us during the day to meet up and we decided to meet in Oia. In Oia we actually ran across them and then found a good perch for the sunset. While there we met another 6 aussies who were touring together- there are a ridiculous number of Australians vacationing in Greece (not just santorini). Marj and I went on a detour because on the walk over I got a blister/cut (unclear) on my foot right under my sandal strap and it hurt. So I got bandaids to go over it. While on our walk we found THE CHURCH. This is the white church with the blue dome that’s usually in every picture of Santorini. We also saw a floor that had a dolphin mosaic in it similar to the one in Mama Mia (will do research to see…). Got back. We popped champagne (literally we split a small bottle and the cork flew out without us even pulling at it) and watched the sunset. It was gorgeous- also really fun to watch with so many people. A nice change of pace to have lots of English speakers to talk to. Then Marj and I wandered Oia a bit more. We peeked into shops (tried and successfully restrained ourselves). Then we grabbed dinner around nine (shared babaganoush, greek salad, and spaghetti puttanesca)all of which was quite scrummy though the service wasn’t very nice. Then we waited for our bus (which was 20 minutes late). Putting us back at the hostel around 11:30. We then took a nap (plus or minus an hour and a half).
Around 2 we headed out to Fira to meet up with all of our Aussie friends. On our way we guessed who was American by seeing how stupidly they acted. One guy put a bucket on his head- he was definitely American. At a kiosk in fira we found the best thing ever. Some Swiss company makes marijuana ice tea and an energy drink…the drink is called chillo so it’s weird that it’s an energy drink. We were also surprised they were selling it since marijuana is highly illegal in Greece but the ice tea had a super tiny percentage (basically enough to flavor but not do anything). Of course Marj/I had to try it- it actually tasted pretty good. After wandering (the Greeks give TERRIBLE) directions, we met one Aussie couple outside the club that we were supposed to meet at (Enigma) and they said people had gone to another club (Koo). So we went to Koo. Our friends weren’t there but we chatted with the couple and then marj and I had fun dancing. I saw my soul mate there (this guy was ridiculous, he was tall, very awkward looking, had glasses, kind of looked like a dinosaur) and he would just go insane dancing- but in a crazy happy techno way not a normal way. I admired him from afar haha. We also were able to see the sea and stars which were gorgeous (Koo is right at the top of fira so you can see all the way down). After we met all our aussie friends who were in Enigma. At the bar at Enigma was an abandoned Vodafone red baseball hat which I took to add to my collection (I have two blue ones). Ended up coming back around 5 and met up with Ray (who had arrived later that night and gone clubbing with some Portuguese friends he made).
Saturday July 24th 2010
Day two. We woke up at nine because we had to make it for our volcano tour at 11. Liz and Angela came in on one of those terrible 6 am flights. I grabbed a delightful sausage pies (Greeks really do wonders with various flakey, phyllo pies) for breakfast. We went to buy tickets for the tour for Ray/Angela/Liz (the office was in Fira). Then we went down to the port (we wanted to go early to check out if our ferry reservations for Ios had gone through). Marj and I decided to burn the many calories we’ve consumed (I’ve definitely gained weight…ahhhhhhhhhh) and walk down (it’s recommended you take a donkey or cable car to the port). Unfortunately we had to walk down the donkey path. So in the terrible heat we had to walk about 15 minutes down a cliff dodging donkeys and their excrements. I hate donkeys. At the top and bottom all the donkeys were crowded together. At the top we had to slide by one that suddenly turned and kicked and caused quite the disturbance. There’s no donkey overseer so hightailed (pun intended) out of there to avoid getting kicked. At the bottom I had to push one out of my way- donkeys are stubborn and hard to pull in the correct direction- especially Santorini donkeys. Finally we made it down to the port only to find out that there’s a different port for the ferries. Nick and Sam (who came in on an 11 o’clock flight that day) kindly took care of getting the tickets.
The boat for our tour was awesome- looked like something out of Pirates of the Caribbean. First we went to Nea Kameni. It’s a volcanic Island in the caldera of Santorini. It has 4 major craters that we visited and two active volcanoes (there are three active volcanoes in santorini). So we climbed up to the most recent crater (named after King George, it was created in 1950 and is still active). The view from the top was amazing- you could see the entire Santorini caldera. The island itself was also very interesting and in an odd way beautiful (it was…of course…all black volcanic rock with some red lava thrown in). Some parts were also smoking and smelled stinky (sulfur). The tour guide was also very helpful- she explained the history/creation of santorini. I never realized the Santorini caldera referred to the submerged part.
EXPLANATION OF CALDERA: Hopefully this picture from online/description helps explain it. So santorini used to be this big round island. Then due to the volcanic activity- a giant caldera was created- meaning the middle parts of the island became submerged under water thereby creating the effect of having multiple little islands. 
The middle water that you look out onto, therefore, isn’t the Aegean but the Santorini Caldera (you can actually see the line that separates the Santorini caldera water and Aegean). A fun effect of the volcano was creating several black beaches (tiny black sand pebbles of volcanic rock) and one red and one white beach. The biggest/most famous eruption is the Minoan Eruption. Thought to occur around 1500 BC it’s one of the biggest eruptions in the world. Some believe the tsunami it created destroyed the Minoan civilization on Crete and also caused the Atlantis legend (if Atlantis did exist it probably is modeled of Santorini Minoans and Santorini is one of the most likely locations of the legend of Atlantis). The Egyptian biblical plagues may also have been caused by fallout from this volcanic eruption.
There have been a few eruptions in the 20th century (three or four I think). Currently there are three active volcanoes in Santorini (a fact which made me happy to leave haha). The most volatile one is a submerged one which tends to cause sudden earthquakes…and I learned about this while on top of a volcanic island…great. The view from the highest crater is spectacular. You can see the entire Caldera/Santorini. My favorite island supposedly looks like a cupcake. It’s entirely made out of pomus and the tour guide described it as a cupcake (rocky bottom with giant white layer aka frosting on top). Apparently it was recently bought for 10 million euros. The view from the top though is absolutely gorgeous- you can see the caldera, the Aegean, santorini, and various other islands. After we wandered around the volcanoes, took some pictures of course (by took I mean others took them for me), and got back on the boat.
The next stop was Palea Kameni or the hot springs (supposed to be good for the skin etc). It’s a smaller, newer volcanic island next to Nea Kameni and on the side has hot springs. We jumped off the boat (Marj tried to dive, changed her mind, and ended up belly flopping hilariously in front of most of the boat). Ray had his own snafu- while swimming back he was doing the backstroke and ended up swimming the wrong direction for a while- marj’s swimming/diving error probably was funnier though. We swam over the hot springs and fooled around. We played with the mud and ray got his first and last moustache (made out of mud). Some of the water is green (sulfur) but most is orange from the copper. All of our swim suites/towels/clothes are now orange. Marj’s elbows are still orange today. And we stank. But it was so much fun! On the boat ride back we of course sang I’m on a boat and took orange sulfur pictures- including titanic ones. We took the cable car up (the donkey walk was hell and is supposed to be a terrible 45 minute hike uphill on the way back). The view from the cable car of the buildings in Fira (the classic blue and white) and Caldera was gorgeous. Greece really is one of the most beautiful and geographically unique countries.
When we got back (tour ended at 2) we reeked but didn’t have time to shower. Instead we met up with the Sam/Nick and tried to get a cab to the port for ferries (the bus had already left). We tried to get a cab but it was IMPOSSIBLE. We started looking at 2:45 and barely made it for our 4:20 ferry. It actually took over an hour because Santorini has so few cabs and we needed two. One of the most frustrating experiences ever. Finally we made it to the port and got on our ferry.
Ios was awesome. It was much more what we expected Santorini to look like. The classic Cycladic blue/white houses but in a concentrated area. There was also much more pedestrian activity rather than concentrated tourist activity in a few spread out areas. Our hostel was great. It’s called Princess Sissy and a sign proclaimed it to be the Princess Sissy Pansion. I have always wanted to live in a Pansion of course…even though I have no idea what that’s supposed to mean. There was a great balcony view though and a pretty good restaurant there too. It’s nicely located midway up the hill from the beach and main town (about 5 minutes either way).
After we settled in we went to the beach. The beach is a beautiful white sand beach and the water was really warm and perfectly clean. We didn’t go to the main beach (there’s a party beach like in Mykonos) but ours was very nice and peaceful. We also got chairs towards the end for free. We went swimming (shockingly angela’s first time in the Aegean- she hasn’t swam on past beach trips). Marj also procured a cosmo so we read the Red Hot Reads out loud (a ridiculous excerpt from a trashy romance novel). Of course we read quite dramatically complete with voices. We saw the sunset on the beach. The best part actually was watching the moon rise after. I’ve never consciously watched the moon rise the way you watch the sun rise or set. It was almost prettier because the sky was still lit a light blue and the moon rose over the hills and little houses.
We went back to our pansion and grabbed dinner there (they have a restaurant/bar attached). I had a shish kebab (pork souvlaki with baked tomatoes, peppers, and onions, pita and tzatziki). Then we took showers and again a plus or minus 1.5 hour nap. Our room was super hot (we decided not to pay for the AC- Angela and I toughed it out) so we left the door open. But that meant we could hear all the other happy guests on their Saturday night…so napping was difficult. We regrouped downstairs around midnight. Got some drinks, chatted. Played thumper (each person has an animal noise and you have to make yours and then say calling and then make another person’s noise. You can’t show your teeth meaning no smiling or laughing). I of course chose to be an angry ibex. After we played the game where people write down famous people and you put it on your forehead and have to guess who it with yes/no questions. I was trying to guess mine and my only clues at that point was that it was a person in the asian/middle eastern area who kids loved…my guess was mother Teresa. Turned out to be the Disney princess jasmine haha.
Around 2 we went to the town of Ios. The first square was packed with people just chilling. Ios feels like a cross between Mykonos/a college campus/a fraternity. Most people in Ios are under 25. The only things to do in Ios are beach and party- it’s known as the party island. So at night all these college aged students run around and party- making it feel a lot like a college campus/frat. But the partying is done greek style (12-6 am with a break for souvlaki/crepes/greek coffee in clubs with electronic/greek music). First we went to a club where the bouncer was a friend (another Aussie) Sam made while in Santorini with the archaeology group. That was fun. Then we went to a club (69) which was written up in all the tour books. It was super fun. The guys ended up leaving for food/another club but Angela/Marj/I stayed and danced till 4:30 (after which we wandered till 5:30 when we finally got back to our Pansion). The music was a great mix (all the soundtrack songs were of course played). They also had a couple rounds of confetti and sparklers (the firework hand held type). We also ran into a girl we met in Athens who had just finished her summer study abroad program in Ios too- crazy. Headed back home.
Sunday July 25th 2010.
Day three. Woke up around 9 again (I’m impressed with myself and my new sleeping schedule). We had a great English breakfast (fried egg, bacon, toast, tea, orange juice) for 5 euros at our hostel. They were playing Scooby Doo in Greek while we ate. Then we walked to the port. Got on our boat- again watched Doug and Hercules (I may have recognized the episode…) on the boat (the sound was off sadly). Got back to Santorini. We wandered around Fira- did some shopping. Angela really wanted a stuffed toy Santorini donkey (marj and I of course disapproved of this encouragement of the donkey trade but he was quite cute and we named him John Kostas Leonidas IV). I finally found a pair of sandals to replace my dying/dead ones- yay! And it is fairly similar to them while being slightly different and meets all my requirements- successss. Also got another something for the house- I’m determined to hold out though and not tell everyone what all I’ve gotten them. I think I can last a week. It really scares me sometimes how much I channel mom while shopping. After that we found a creperia. We had to stop there because of the variety of crepes. I got an Indian one which was lentils, garlic, ginger, tomaters, cabbage, bell peppers, and yogurt. Basically it was daal and raitha stuffed in a crepe- deliciousssssssss.
After Fira we went to Perivolos (one of the black beaches). I splurged and for the first time bought a chair/umbrella combo (3 euros for a group discount haha). The black beach was a bit hot to sit on plus I wanted to sleep and really only do that in a chair. And sleep I did- one of the best naps ever. Ever ever. I think I also evened out my foot tan…a little. I have a ridiculous shoe tan in the shape of my nike sneaker flats. Marj flew a kite with some success (it wasn’t that windy) which was cool. We then called a cab to take us to the airport (actually cheaper bc Liz/Marj/Angela/I split it). While waiting for the cab we chilled in a bar- I sat in a suspended papasan chair sippin my peach ice tea- they played very chill reggae music there. And a two year old took a fancy to me (Maria) and so we rocked in my papasan together. All in all quite fun and relaxing.
Got to the airport around 6:30 for our 8:15 flight (early but we wanted to be safe). Got airport pizza greek which was surprisingly decent. As it turned out- there was a strike. Earlier there was a possibility of an airport strike on Sunday but the courts ruled it illegal. I guess the did it anyways. So we had to wait till about 9 to see if there was space for us on the flights (there were two flights which were pushed back to 11ish). We’re flying on space available so we were praying we’d make it. Fortunately we did. We then had to wait another few hours for our flight. Did some reading (finished Me talk pretty by Sedaris- hilarious). Ate a kinder joy (no where near as satisfying as the kinder surprise, my toy was this weird airplane that required way too much assembly for me/marj- angela succeeded though). Also wandered the tiny duty free smelling perfumes. I miss home so I sprayed mom’s enzo perfume (I also still smelled slightly sulfury). I texted mom twice…and she still hasn’t responded…which made me sad.
Got back home around 1 am. Showered (because I was disgusting). And went to sleep. Now at work. I had a freak out moment on the trolley because I realized I left my bus pass at home and thought they were checking tickets. Fortunately they weren’t. I would have been so mad at myself if had to pay a 30 euro fine for forgetting my pass. The trolley also kept stopping which was really weird- it took twice as long (an hour) to get here. So I was late. Fortunately no one was really here…so it was fine.
