Day 2: Santorini: Exploring the Old Port, Another Winery, Black-Sand (Pebble?) Beach, and Sunset from the Airport

It's always awkward on the day that you check out of a place. You no longer have your room as a base, and as such you have to pack up your belongings and check out before noon, even if your flight isn't until 20h20 in the evening, as it was in my case. You wonder if you'll have time to make it out to do one sightseeing thing before it's time to check out: that's when I hit on the idea to check out the old port.

There are two port areas in Santorini, one modern port which I presume was built on the same level or with much better access to the roads above. The Old Port, on the other hand, was built long before the ropeway (lifts) existed, meaning that the treacherous roads up from the port to downtown Fira were only navigable by ... donkeys, or some kind of animal similar.

That means that from the touristy narrow paths that make up the shopping area or "bazaar" area in Santorini down to the Old Port is a several-hundred feet drop: that's enough to make your head swim if you simply look down. True enough, you can see the cruise ships arriving to drop off their passengers at the Old Port below. Along the way you can see the donkeys ferrying hardy passengers up and down the corridor.

Fortunately for those who dislike the smell of donkeys and the precariousness of the rides, there now is a ropeway that ferries you up from the Port to the shopping area: no doubt Uncle G and his tour group was fortunate enough to use this to come up and between the ferry area.

After walking through the shops and buying nothing (except for a baseball cap to stop my nose from getting sunburnt), I headed out to Santo Wines, which is run by a agricultural cooperative and which sells its white wines and the vinsanto, the sweet dessert wines, to tourists who make their way up to the winery. It's set on a beautiful location, overlooking the ocean, and very high up, so the wind's extremely strong. Evidently this is a mandatory stop for the tour buses: two consecutive groups of Americans came in while I was there and took group photos; the Chinese tourists who were there, looking glamorous as ever, insisted on the single shots with the city of Fira in the distance.

In the afternoon, with nothing else to do, I opted to see what the fuss was about the Greek beaches, where people sit under umbrellas and sun themselves for who knows how many hours. The beach I visited, Kamari, was a 1/2 hour ride from Fira (1,20 EUR buses rule!) and it was just like any other beach area, including the one in Nice. Except there was no sand, simply dark-colored pebbles which looked like they might've been dumped onto the beach rather than naturally deposited there by a volcanic eruption. So, yes, the beach itself is darkly colored, but it must be difficult to lie on the rocks in the middle of the day, with the rocks heated by the midday sun. (Any of those who remember the hot onsen sand baths in Japan, well, this is much worse: think Sauna rocks.)

The shops facing the beach catered in all ways to the tourists assembled there and (let this be a lesson!) even featured their own fare share of, shall we say, merchandise whose trademarks were of, uh, dubious origin. Even A's favorite brand, with a certain monkey character, was duly represented ...

After returning to Fira I had hoped to see the history museum there but as it was a Monday it was closed. Nearby, though, there was a fantastic Byzantine church with wonderful Byzantine murals on the walls.

A quick meal of "portion-sized" pork gyros kept me full for the rest of the evening (300g of pork, cabbage, tzatziki yogurt, and tomatoes).

I took my flight to Athens at 20h20 from the airport (the Guest House owner was kind enough to drop me off at the airport early), and I checked in without a hitch (just evading the tour group after me). Right about the hour of sunset -- fantastic, though not quite as beautiful as from Ia.

Arriving in Athens at 21h20, I missed the metro to the city center and opted to take the bus, X95, which costs 3,20 EUR and speeds down the Athens expressways at (I swear) 120 miles per hour. We arrived in the city center 45 minutes later (not bad! no traffic!) and then using what I knew from my guidebooks I found my way over to the hotel with a combination of metro and walking. Arriving at night, and passing the National Archaeological Museum guarded by machine-gun toting policeman, was intimidating, but once I was in the hotel I forgot everything and soaked in a wonderful long bathtub ....

Day 1 / Santorini - Ia: the Blue-Domed Churches and the Unforgettable Sunset

Early evening, and I made a wise decision to head up North to Ia to see the sunset. It was only 5h30 in the afternoon and the sunset wasn't going to arrive until 8h30 pm, but still I thought it best to be on a bus heading in that direction ... and my worst fears were confirmed when I arrived at the bus station with droves of people waiting for the Ia bus. Actually, as some people who have been to the island can attest, the bus station is not really a station in the sense of a covered area with bus "islands" where buses dock while waiting for the next group of passengers. No, this is literally a parking lot where six buses squeeze in with perfect precision and like clockwork depart with their full load of passengers.

On the bus I was on, the bus departed full with a 125% load: meaning that passengers were forced to stand in the aisles for the duration of the winding, 30-minute ride. The price, as I mentioned in the last post is right: 1,20 EUR for a single ride, rather than play with fire and taking an unmetered taxi ...

Ia appears to be a recent creation, given that many of the building were destroyed during an earthquake in 1956. Nevertheless, in the reconstruction of the town they've done an excellent job and made it colorful enough to attract attention.

When it came time for the sunset, people gathered on the city's edge, literally hundreds of people congregating on the city walls waiting for the sun to set behind the clouds and a distant mountainous island. I myself had staked out a spot for myself one hour early and occupied myself reading a book (Dad's case to always bring "reading material") until the crucial 10-15 minutes before the sunset.

After that it was sheer pleasure to watch the sky shift from yellows to oranges and reds ... truly an unforgettable sunset. When the last bit of sun disappeared from the horizon, the crowds applauded in admiration. And then it was back by bus to Fira (luckily got a seat back, too, this bus was just as crowded).

Day 1 / (cont.) Santorini / Boutari Winery

The manager at the guest house where I was staying met me at the airport at 7 am and took me back to the hotel, where he told me to rest on the couch in the common room. The San Giorgio Villas, where I stayed, reminded me of the guest houses I had once stayed in in Thailand, sparsely furnished, but functional units with air conditioning, refrigerator, and clean beds. Again, I had given up a reservation on Best Western for this: but more important than comfort was location. And being in Fira, the geographic center of the island, was important, since it gave me access to all other major parts of the island by bus.

I slept for two hours in the common room, then opted to take the local bus down to the Boutari winery, just fifteen minutes south of Fira. The welcome center was staffed by two employees, one person who appeared to be in charge of the winery itself and a Greek-Canadian employee who took me on a private tour of the winery (meaning, basically a trip to see the underground fermentation tanks and the barrels they use to age the wines).

Then to the degustation! Two wine varieties, one aged more than the other, and finally, vinsanto (evidently a wine variety loved by the Venetians (!), who had controlled the Santorini wine trade way back when). Unfortunately without check-in luggage, I was unable to buy a bottle or two, but I promised the guide that I would buy a couple bottles at the airport and would also get in contact with the distributor in Japan.

In the afternoon, I decided to take a nap -- a good idea, seeing as the hottest time of days, and the worst solar radiation, is during these hours. I woke up refreshed and took a packed bus (at 17h30! way ahead of sunset!) from Fira to Ia. In fact it was so crowded that people stood in the aisles the whole way. Amazing! But at 1,20 EUR it was a true bargain, and much, much safer than taking a moped or ATV (all-terrain vehicle) up those dark, unlit roads.

Day 1 / Entering Greece

My flight took me from Lyon to Athens, via Amsterdam. At check-in the first class seat I had reserved was denied for some reason for the short connecting flight to Amsterdam (funny that when I boarded the first class section still had a few seats open -- perhaps it was celebrities or royalty who needed the section blocked off). But the flight from Amsterdam to Athens, all three hours of it was glorious fun. The purser showered attention on the maybe ten of us who were in first class, bringing up meals, extra alcohol, ice cream, water, newspapers, and offering us first dibs at duty free (important because the Droste chocolates they still for 1,00 EUR always run out!).

I arrived in Athens at 00h55 (one hour of time difference) and ... my checked-in bag didn't. When I received my bag one day later, apparently it had been tagged correctly but "left behind" ... not quite sure what that was supposed to mean. In any case, I had fortunately packed one change of clothes in my carry-on (standard practice, as they say), and I was able to ride out the emergency. The mineral water I had packed in that bag was also replaceable. The Swissport agent who handled my lost luggage even offered me an amenity kit with change of clothes, shampoo, cream, razor, etc. They wouldn't give a voucher but it was still a nice gesture. And besides, it was 01h30 in the morning.

Thinking on the bright side, it was just as well that I had something to do, some way to kill time, seeing as I would have to be at check-in for my connection to Santorini at 04h30.

And so I killed time by doing what most people do in airports: sleep on the hard seats. Although I didn't really get any rest, I did try to lie down and camp out in the secured area (luggage zone). At about 4h00 I decided to explore the airport and took a cart through the area and visited the metro (scoped it out so that I would know where to pick it up later on), looked for mail drops, checked out the airport Sofitel from the outside ...

And then check-in! Athens being a 24-hour airport, even at 4h30 in the morning people were lined up for both Olympic Airways and for Aegean (which is what I flew on). I had expected it to be much emptier at that hour, but it was more bustling than London Stansted (not Heathrow but an airport which caters to the low-cost carriers), which I remembered started moving after 6 am in the morning. Even the check-in agents were perky and efficient (Aegean is a young airline but with the bulk of their bookings done on-line they are able to issue tickets and process passsengers quickly and efficiently.) (PS, Dad, yes, I did get mileage on Lufthansa Miles and More, of all things.)

And then I was off! 5h50 to Santorini.

Summer in Lyon

Schools went on vacation in the middle of July and Lyon has become practically desserted of French people (ah, but I jest). Stores have shuttered up until mid-August (they write messages to their customers, closed for "vacances" or "conges") and the hordes of Lyonnais who had walked the boulevards have been replaced by tourists, with more than a fair share of Americans.

Finally, just as I'm possibly about to leave Lyon, I see how beautiful a city Lyon can be: it's gorgeous with its lit-up buildings, its monuments on the hills, and my favorite place, the Theatres Romains (Roman ruins -> now outdoor ampitheatre), where I was fortunate to see four (yes, count them!) outdoor concerts this past year.

I was at a party with some French colleagues just a few days ago, and it seems that they had finally decided to leave for vacation on that weekend (4 August). I imagine that Lyon might as well be completely dead right now, and for that reason, I guess it's a good thing I (impulsively) chose to head on over to Greece for a short trip. More on this later. I'm only in Greece for four full days but I've gone at an incredible pace. It's taken me to one of the islands and to the sprawling megapolis (funny, reminds me of Tokyo) Athens.