Med Trip - June 9

Today, the captain pulled a trick on us all. Last night he announced that we would be entering the lagoon outside Santorini, Greece, at around 6 AM. He said this was a beautiful site to see and passengers would find it worthwhile getting up early to see this. The front section of the 4th floor would be opened to allow for better viewing. We set our alarm for 5:45, a ridiculous and unhuman hour, threw on some clothes, and proceeded to this area. We were there before the sun, and were blown away with the view. I mean, literally blown away. The wind was so strong, it was difficult to stand straight. The crew handed out blankets because of the cold but it was hard to keep wrapped up. There were islands but they were rather misty. When the sun finally decided to get up, it shone right over the land we were looking at, making it difficult to see or take clear pictures. It was not until 7AM that our destination was in site, and frankly, it looked better in the afternoon when the sun was at a better angle. The captain must have laughed at all the suckers who got up early.
We had breakfast and got tendered in to land. Santorini, and the town of Fira, the iconic city of white and blue spilling over the mountainside was above us. There were only three choices for going there from shore, take a cable car up the cliff, take a donkey ride up the long, zig zagging road up the side of the cliff, or walk up this trail shared with the donkey riders, some 600 steps. We chose the cable car, which cost 5 euros and only took a few minutes. We were warned about the hour to hour and a half line ups that often formed as many cruise ships unloaded their passengers here. There were two other ships, but our wait was only about ten minutes. We were on top well before our 9:30 meeting time with our tour guide for the day. Our Greek guide spent the whole day with us, until just after 4PM. He drove us to all the points of this island, from the north to the south and across. He gave us a complete geological and historical account of the development of Santorini. There was a circle of islands around our ship, with Santorini being the major one. These were actually the rim of a crater from a volcano that erupted some 3,500 years ago. The water where the ship was, the lagoon, was actually the inside of the crater, filled with ocean water. We were told that a major industry on the island was wine production, with vineyards everywhere. We were a little confused because we saw no grape vines, only fields with short bushes. Later we stopped and walked into a field. These plants were actually grape producing plants. The island experiences high summer winds and very little rain. However, it gets so humid, that overnight, the mist settles, making the ground wet in the morning. This mist is the only source of water for the vegetation. The grape plants are manipulated to grow in a circle, with the trunk eventually forming a nest. As grapes grow, they are set to hang inside this nest ,along the ground. The plant gets watered by the mist and the grapes inside the nest get protection from the wind. One plant was over 150 years old, and to our surprise, when he lifted some leaves, it was full of grape clusters.
However, our first stop of the day was to the northern tip, the village of Oia. This was the village people think of, with stark white plastered homes into the mountainside, and blue-domed chapels sticking out here and there. We walked the narrow, very busy streets, in awe of the beauty of the place. It was surreal. We also visited a black sand beach, red beach and saw a white beach. The water here was about 12 degrees, unfit for human activity, despite the frolicking of some kids. We also stopped at a restaurant to sample local products and at a winery to sample local wines. Our tour ended in Fira, where, after some shopping Jo and I and BIL and sister decided to walk down instead of taking the cable car. There were no line ups but we wanted to enjoy the views and challenge of the walk. First we had to negotiate begging by some twenty or more donkeys at the top of the path. The donkey drivers, who looked like kind of grubby unkempt farmers, were not very helpful as some donkeys just stood blocking the whole path. Fortunately, when I pushed on the rope over his hind quarters, he stepped forward, for just a few seconds, but long enough to get by. Us city slickers were not used to manoeuvring animals larger than ourselves. The steps down were made of marble, and interspersed with donkey poop, which was scooped up from time to time and dumped along the side of the path. You had to be very careful not to slip or step into poop. From time to time we met tourists riding donkeys up the trail. I discovered quickly that the donkeys preferred to hug the mountain side of the path, rather than the outside edge. I decided not to challenge that, although on two occasions a donkey would walk right to where I was with no indication that it had any intention of changing direction. I had no faith in the amateur riders or the donkey keepers that did not seem to care for anyone not choosing their beasts. We all made it down unscathed. It was truly a fantastic day! We were 15 minutes late getting back for happy hour, but our waiter pleaded with the bartender and managed to get us our discounted drinks for the evening.



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