After a week on Santorini, I truly felt like I had adjusted to Greek island life…it’s not actually that different from Vancouver Island life – touristy, beautiful, relaxed, windy…just a bit warmer.

My days on the island in October were my first few on my own after leaving my tour group in Turkey, and that took some adjusting. I spent a full day regrouping in my villa room before I could summon the courage and motivation to explore the island, at which time Elias, the the manager of the family-run villas where I stayed, basically said “You’ve relaxed enough. Time to go see things” and made me an itinerary. Once I ventured out, though, I kept myself busy: in one day, visiting the excavation site of the ancient city of Akrotiri, walking to the famous Red Beach and wading in the beautiful warm waves, wandering the town of Fira and browsing the shops, eating below average food with poor service but a great sunset view, and  finally cheering myself up in true Laura-fashion by purchasing a new scarf.

Red Beach

Following a recommendation from Elias, I ate dinner on my first night at Kampari, a taverna near my place. By the time I had ordered my meal, I had shed any sense of self-consciousness over eating alone and decided that I actually quite enjoyed it. I was so pleased with my sesame-crusted feta and fried squid, combined with the welcoming ambiance and friendly house staff, that I returned to Kampari twice more within the week. On my third visit, was invited by my very sweet server, Silvia, at the end of her shift to join her friends for drinks and dessert. It was such a welcome offer and reinforced to me how much deeper and more meaningful an experience of a place is when there is a social element and an opportunity for connection.

One of the “must-dos” when visiting Santorini is a day trip by boat to the nearby crater. I chose a particularly warm day to do so, and after taking the cable car down to the old port of Fira, boarded the boat in the morning. The volcano is a protected park, so we paid to go ashore, and hiked up to the top, where we could feel the heat and steam from the active volcano. After the volcano, we sailed to a small bay to swim where the water was heated by an underwater hot spring. Arriving back on Santorini, I was faced with a choice to ascend the hill to Fira by cable car, donkey, or on foot. Having already taken the cable car, and questioning the quality of life and treatment experienced by the donkeys, I decided that I could do it on foot. Probably the biggest mistake of my trip to that point. I was about an eighth of the way up the steep, unshaded switchbacks when I realized I would have happily paid one hundred euros for a donkey pick-up. I treated myself to gelato and a swim in the pool at my place as a reward after surviving the entire climb.

At the volcano

Apparently undaunted by my hill-climbing experience, I also spent an afternoon hiking from Fira to Oia, which is about 3 hours in the sun. Nearly killed me. I never expected to travel to Europe and spend so much of my time hiking (or wearing my running shoes, at that). Oia has more of the the postcard views of whitewashed buildings covering the cliffs, and is a bit resort-like, filled with galleries, stores and restaurants. I ate pistachio gelato and browsed for a couple of hours as I waited for the famous Oia sunset. Later, feeling discouraged after being told I couldn’t have my own table at one of the restaurants that faces the sunset (they only seat groups of four or more and indicated that I would need to sit with strangers and order a four-course meal), I found a spot along the sidewalk ledge, and got to chatting with a young Australian family: Vicki, Bill, and their daughter Rori, who were on a several-week tour of Europe. As Vicki recalled her own independent travels around my age, the three of them welcomed me into their evening. After the sunset, we stopped in a couple of stores before taking the bus back to Fira, where we got delicious gyros together. They walked me back to my street before we said our farewells. I felt (and still feel) so grateful to have come upon this family when I did – it was exactly the kind of evening I needed, and remains a trip highlight. Their openness, kindness, and inclusivity stand out to me as characteristics of the best kind of people you can meet while traveling.

Oia Sunset

As I have been working on my graduate coursework throughout my travels, I’m constantly trying to balance assignments with adventure. My first live online class of the term fell during my week on Santorini, and with the time difference to Calgary, was scheduled for 3:00am local time. I dutifully set my alarm for 2:45, and got up to sign on. I should preface this by saying that I’d been having some trouble with my power adaptor, and my computer plug kept falling out of it. As my computer was in the late winter of its life, leaving it unplugged wasn’t an option, so after three or four spark-yielding attempts to keep the plug in the wall, I decided to move it to another outlet. When I did so, the adaptor came apart in two pieces (one still in the wall).  I tried to put it back together, and then there was a big spark and a pop, and all the lights went out. In ALL the villas where I was staying. I took out EVERYONE’S power with my aged computer and dysfunctional adaptor. In my initial panic (in the dark), I realized that the wifi, therefore, was also out. There weren’t any night staff working, so there was no one I could go to or contact. As I calmed down, I decided that there was really nothing I could do at all. So, uneasily, I just went back to sleep.

As it turns out, this wasn’t the last (or even second-last) time that I’d take out the power at one of my travel accommodations…but those are other stories.

I love to hear from you all – thanks for all your comments!

xo
Laura