Santorini Day 1

Santorini Day 1

The morning started out with an early departure from the hostel in Athens. We had to catch the subway and make 2 connections to get the the port of Piraeus. From there we bolted out of the subway, took the stairs up and over the busy highway and saw 2 huge ferries loading with huge lines and cars. Of course we went to the wrong one and had to back track to the other, but it was right next to it. Ferry riding must be something that Greeks love. We have never seen so many cigarettes being smoked. It was like being in the 1980's in the USA. You can't smoke in the ferry, but everyone outside was, or at least it seemed. Also, personal space is something different in Greece, but even more crazy on ferry riding. Bags can go anywhere, you can sit on stairs, block doors, and lay down like you are on an international airplane flight. I am not being negative, it was just interesting. We were in the Mediterranean, which I have never been on before, and the ride was super smooth. Inside you can't really tell that it was moving even with the little chop out there on the water. We made 2 stops. One on Paros and the other on Naxos. These ports were cool and after Paros many people left. When we leave Santorini we have to rock the ferry again. We then go to Mykonos, Samos and then to Selcuk, Turkey. Bring it.

Here is a little gem about finding a restaurant in Greece. The host of the restaurant hangs out in the front and tells you that there food is the best in town and that you have to eat at their place. Every response I give them seems to be wrong and if you don't make eye contact you come off as rude and they will talk about you as you go by in English, of course. You can smile, they let you have it. You can tell them you just ate, they tell you you made a horrible decision. You an tell them you are looking, bad idea. Then they hound you. You tell them you are not hungry, they want to take you in for drinks. But, if you do eat there, like this evening, the guy says come by tomorrow and it will be free to use their umbrellas and chairs out on the black sand beach. So what I have noticed thus far is the Greeks want to play little games and you just have to give it back to them and joke a bit. But I have to remember this, let them win. It's easier.

So, the first glimpse of Santorini was a crazy ride from the port to the east side of the island. You can rent mopeds and four wheelers to cruise around all over. This is the beginning of their busy season, but things seem pretty calm. The beach really is black where we are staying from all the volcanic activity. The entire island is a caldera that erupted violently in the 1950's. Much has been rebuilt, but I plan to take a trail run up to the top of a peak tomorrow to check out some ruins. I might be solo on that. Tomorrow will be sites and sunset pics and the next day we are trying to get two scuba dives in the morning. They offer some guided wreck dives that might be cool. We'll see. The island has no fresh water and everything is desalinated from the ocean. You can't drink the water since it has still too much salt and this makes the showers fun with saltyish water. So, everyone has to drink bottled water. Not cool. It looks like there is some govt help to keep water prices down since it is really cheap on the island.

Wrote too much. Probably boring, but who cares. Gotta get to bed.