We woke up early to take the ferry from Athens to Santorini. Originally, A. told me that it would take about 8 hours, but his mother was a legend and bought us tickets for the speedier ferry, which took about five hours from Athens. I was lucky enough to be assigned a window seat, so I looked out at the ocean and islands as we moved swiftly through the early morning light. Sorry for the lack of photos. The windows were super dirty and because it was a speedboat, I couldn’t go outside!
We arrived in Santorini at around noon, at the Athinia port. It was heaving with visitors both coming and going, but having A. as an experienced local guide, we were able to pick up our rental car and get on our way seamlessly. I think my first impression of the island, through groggy and travel weary eyes (and feeling a bit sea sick, to be honest), was how high the cliffs go. The ports are (obviously) at sea level, but the cities and most houses are perched above the sea, and many hang off cliffs that are over 100 feet high! Not a short fall, if you’re inclined to shudder at heights like I am.
The early afternoon traffic through Fira, the capital, was pretty fierce, but we still got to the other side of the island in about half an hour. We parked the car in a small lot and I looked around, expecting to see the villa right in front of us. Instead, A. led us through a maze of houses to the most beautiful home I’ve ever seen. But you have to work to get there. The villa is in the traditional settlement of Finikia. No cars can access the settlement– you either get in by foot or you don’t get in at all.
A.’s family have owned the villa since the early 80s, before Santorini attracted many tourists, and have been working on refurbishing it slowly since then. How, I asked him, did they manage to get all the supplies to the house from the main road, since its paths are so narrow. The answer? Donkey, of course. I saw many during my trip, collecting rubbish from the settlement, bringing tired or unfit tourists from sea level back up to the villages on top of the cliffs and just hanging out in the fields.
We spent a few hours marvelling at our luck for having a friend generous enough to let us stay in such a beautiful place, settling in to our cavernous rooms (in what was once an underground vault where wine was stored, A. told me). Each of the cavernous rooms are well-appointed with all you need to sleep comfortably, but the real beauty of the place is outside. There was the grape- and bougainvillea-covered arbour, under which there was a table just begging to host meals surrounded by friends and wine, and a bit further in the courtyard a small coffee table for early-morning chat. On either side of both were staircases leading to open decks that covered the entire second floor of the villa. I wanted to go up immediately, but…
…after a while, my tummy started to rumble. If you’ve been following along on my travels for a while, you know I march to my stomach. I had only had a light breakfast on the ferry, and it was well past midday. I was hungry. A. had just the solution: lunch at a traditional taverna deep in the maze of the settlement, well liked by locals. We all practically ran to Taverna Krinaki (although not too fast, as we had to follow A. to know where we were going!). Once I arrived, I couldn’t decide if I was more excited by the prospect of a Greek salad, or the view.
The Greek salad won, though. Fresh feta, crunchy cucumber and the sweetest tomato I’ve ever had, drizzled in olive oil.
The first thing I did when I got home was hike up to the balcony of the villa. There’s a jaw-dropping views of the settlement and, beyond, the sea.
I perched myself on a sun chair and didn’t leave until the sun was setting.
There are a few tourists in Finikia, but they certainly aren’t noisy. They seem to be there for the same reason as we were: peace and quiet.
After the sunset, P., the second man in our motley crew, arrived from the airport, so we decided to take a walk to Oia, the town that is perched above the northern side of Santorini. It was about a 15 minute walk from Finikia, and in the late evening light, was just warm enough to enjoy- while not roasting us in the broad light of day.
It was still light enough to get a good view of the caldera, my first. Santorini is a fascinating place for both geological and cultural history. The caldera captures the former. In the 10th century (?) BC, Santorini was one large island was a massive volcano in the middle. The volcano erupted, blowing the island in two, and water rushed in to the area blown away, forming a caldera that is now over 900 feet deep! The view of the volcano, which is still active and forms a small island in the middle of the caldera, and Thirassia, a much smaller island that used to be part of Santorini way back when, is probably my favourite view on the island (of many).
We continued the walk into Oia, which was pretty hairy at times. Much of the city is very old, and was build way before cars, not to mention tour busses. And yet, busses squeeze down narrow roads that also act as sidewalks. I had a few close shaves with massive busses as they brought tourists out of the town.
The town was still pretty busy, mostly people who had watched the legendary sunset (that I had been able to watch from the privacy of my villa rooftop, YAAAAAAS!) and were now focusing on dinner options. We battled them to walk around the narrow paths in the darkening city. Most of Oia is restaurants and tourist shops, so I wasn’t particularly impressed.
Around 11, we finally stopped for dinner. (My body clock is still getting used to eating meals at much earlier times than I did in Greece!) We ate at Skala restaurant, which overlooks the caldera. It was quite dark, but we saw the sparkling lights of Fira across the caldera.
In Greece, it is apparently quite normal to order a variety of foods and share them. Being a vegetarian wasn’t even particularly restrictive, as many of the starters were veggie friendly. We ordered a bunch; fava, a puree of split peas topped with onions and capers, tzaziki, a yogurt-based dip and Greek salad. And, of course, a nice local rose. For my starter, I had a tomato and pepper stuffed with rice and feta, which A. informed me was very traditional Greek fare. Sorry for the lack of photos- it was so dark none of them came out very well.
Around 1pm, we stumbled back from Oia, sated from the delicious food, exhausted from a day of travel and most importantly giddy for the adventures that awaited us.
Comments
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