Recap of Vaca - Part 2

Continued...

Day 4: Sun 10/02/05

En Route
...luckily, the alarm worked. as did my body's natural alarm...fueled by adrenaline and excitement about going to the islands. Caught the 45 mins flight to Santorini. Ok, now a talk about flying vs. taking the ferry to the islands. Depends on time and money, basically what it comes down to. I had found a flight for 90 euros inclusive for a flight and the ferry would've taken 9hrs (at least the one for that day). that's a whole day of my 10 day vacation i would've wasted. now, the flight is more expensive but i had worked hard to save for my trip, i wasn't going to be cheap in everything, at least not this. the flight was full of 'yuppies' while the ferry would've been locals and backpackers. On this trip, I was a bit of a sell-out I guess cause instead of the usual roughing it, I had some luxuries. But then again, I shouldn't rough it just based on principal....in the past, I was on a tight budget but only based on basic financial survival. Am I growing up? Gasp...oh no! So since it took an hour to get to the airport and i had to be there an hour earlier, total flying travel time was 3 hrs approx. To take the ferry, it would've taken 30mins to get to the port plus the 5-9 hr ferry ride (depending on the schedule). but then of course, with the faster ferries, the cost would've been right up there with the flight cost, so to me, it was definitely worth it. but for sure, if i had like a 2 month trip of Eastern or Mediterrean Europe, I would've taken the ferry. So that's my opinion on ferry vs. flying.


Fira, Santorini
Had a bit of trouble getting from the airport to the pension but I made it, dropped my stuff off and off I went. Wandered through the narrow shop-filled streets for a bit before I made it out to the caldera. BEAUTIFUL. I was amazed. It had been a while since I was that mesmorized by the scenery. White-washed buildling all perched on a steep volanic cliff, high above crystal clear turquoise water. Just like on the postcards. Now I had my own postcard in my memory. Wandered along the caldera for the rest of the afternoon. At one point, I walked down to this purch halfway down the caldera and I looked right, then looked left. Looked up, then looked down. I was in awe.

So, I decided to spend the next 2 hours just sitting on the wall next to that little church and took it all in. It felt so relaxing to be there.








Eventually, I left and found my way to a cafe/bar on the caldera. The view from there was breath-taking so I decided to camp out there for the sunset. A great place for some (a lot) of wine and to read my magazine. Oh, did I mention that the waiter there was super hot and that was part of the breath-taking view? Movie star hot, really stylishly dressed, trendy sunglasses, cute accent....the wine + the cutey waiter made me giddy for the rest of the evening.


Day 5: Monday 10/03/05

Kamari Beach, Santorini
Woke up with my left eye swollen, not itchy but a bit painful. Plus a few other bumps around my face, plus a few other itchy bites fromt he day before. WTF? Asked the pharmacist and she gave me some cream to reduce the swelling (see previous blogs). Anyway, went to Kamari Beach, a black sand beach. It's not the best black-sand beach I've been to but it was the next bus that came along. Spent the day baking, it had been a while since I had been on a beach. Wasn't quite ready for topless suntanning yet cause it was quite an organized beach and there were a few families around. Just wasn't feeling it. But I was working up the nerve....

Oia, Santorini
Took a bus to Oia, a spot famous for its sunset on Santorini. The atmosphere in Oia reminded me of a pilgrimage. But I have to admit that the view from Oia was quite nice. And it was a good chance for me to try some photographic techniques during the sunset. Plus, Oia's streets were quite charming, more so than in Fira. They were more winding and the shops were more subtlely touristy. That night, decided to consume less wine because on the previous night, my walk home was more difficult than I had thought it would be. In my drunken state, I had managed to buy a ferry ticket (which I didn't remember until the next day), bought a gyros which I had dropped on my shirt and left on a big stain, and twisted my ankle slightly on the cobblestone roads. So, I went for a safe night - just one glass of wine.

Day 6: Tuesday 10/04/05

OK, things got serious cause now my right eye was swollen and there was a total of about 10 bumps on my face. Not pretty (see previous blogs). Went to the pharmacist again and seeing how much worse it got, she recommended that I see a dermatologist. So, he was nice enough and prescribed me some antibiotics and more antibiotic cream. I love doctors in foreign countries. Unlike my visit to the emergency room in Japan, this doctor did not cause more pain nor did he laugh at my pain. We actually engaged in quite a delightful conversation about the future of China in the world as a superpower. Anyway, took my drugs and off I went.

Akrotiri, Santorini
NO ONE TOLD US IT WAS CLOSED! A busload of us dumb tourists got off and all walked towards the gate...in a simple English, the sign read "closed". We were all confused. It wasn't until after I returned to work when I found out from a former employee who was dropping off some papers the reason why Akrotiri was closed. He was on a month-long European vacation and he had been at Akrotiri a week before I was there. It seems that in between the time he visited the excavation site and when I went there, there was a fatal accident - a ceiling had collapsed, a tourist was killed and another broke her back. Yikes...it still would have been cool to see the Greek version of Pompei but luckily for me, I had planned to spend only half day there and the other half day at the red sand beach so I had my beach gear. So instead of a day full of ruins, it was a day of people-watching and sunbaking - two days in a row!

I must now talk about food. I must say I was very DISAPPOINTED in the food during my vacation. Of course, I could've just made bad restaurant choices, which is very likely. However, from the menus I saw, compared to the variety of quality Greek food available in Toronto...I was disappointed. I was really looking forward to lots of lamb and fish. Although I do recognize that Toronto has a tremendous Greek community offering some great Greek and Mediterrean cuisine, I was certain that Greek Island tourism would have similar offerings. However, most of the restaurants I saw, whether on the main tourist street or in back alleys, basically offered the same menus - only prices were different. To site down at a restaurant, I could either pay a moderate price for a standard 'popularized' entree selection (i.e. think Jimmy the Greek or Mr. Souvlaki but not in styrofoam) or pay a fortune on more gourmet food items. And I mean fortune even in Toronto standards, not just my cheap standards. So up to this point on my trip, I had opted for a simple meal or just a quite bite fast-food style and spent the time and money on coffee and wine instead.

However, on this particular night, I splurged. I spent the same amount on one meal as I did on all meal up to that night. I had grilled whole black snapper, freshly caught from the sea that day. And I could taste the freshness. The waiter cut off the head and tail and filleted the fish right at my table. Yummy....I was happy. But at the back of my head, I was thinking "chew slower you moron, each bit is costing you a lot of money" and "mom makes this at home and it's just as good but a heck of alot cheaper". I downed my glass of wine to suppress those negative thought. Ummm....then the fist was yummy again. So that's my food story.