I am on a Ferry watching the Italy vs. Paraguay World cup match and I’m heading to Italy, so hopefully they win so the country will be in good spirits when I arrive!. We left Santorini last night after 4 of the best days of my trip. I loved Santorini and am honestly really sad to be leaving Greece. Of course I am happy because we are heading to Venice and then Croatia, so my beach days aren’t over, but they certainly are numbered.
We arrived in Athens on the 8th and stayed for two nights near Omonia station. Great location, 10 minute walk to the Acropolis and right in the middle of other sites such as Prostitutes and junkies shooting up, and as Melody so unfortunately encountered, grown men jacking off in the early evening on public street corners (Ya this happened, ask her about it, she loves when the scene replays over and over in her head lol). The location worked well for us though. Because it wasn’t safe for us to be out of our hostel after 10pm we were home both nights pretty early so could have early mornings for sightseeing.
Our first night in Athens was really very fun. Melody met Elsa and Stathus on her travels to Hawaii. They are a happy and fun Greek couple who love to travel. In Hawaii they raved to Melody about the beaches she would encounter in Greece in comparison to Hawaii, so Mel was super stoked to be here finally. We contacted them and to our delight they planned a night time tour of Athens for us on their Motorcycles!!!
(Authentic Crete food and drink after motorcycle tour with Elsa and Stathus)
Melody and I were pumped and were able to take in the sites with two locals showing us the way. We ended up in their neighbourhood Exarchia, which is a really cool neighbourhood that reminds me of Kensington Market but on a larger scale. They told us that they liked living there because it was a very informed area full of people with ideas and people who were able to discuss and take action on issues; I was inspired by the revolutionary feel of the place. Before going to Athens Melody and I, like many misinformed westerners were worried about the protests and violence happening in Athens due to the Greek economy. Fortunately before deciding to nix Athens we had talked to Elsa who told us that the only issue is there can be remnants of tear gas in the air, but because she is active in the protests she would have extra masks for us to use if necessary!….but no protests were scheduled while we were to be in town, and anyways I had packed my own masks…you know for all that microscopic razor sharp volcanic ash that was going to be in the air…. Hahaha (I am a worrier and the daughter of a worrier…. thanks mom!)
Elsa and Stathus took us to a park in the area called “Your parking, Our Park”. Literally, it used to be a junk yard which the government had promised the community would be transformed into a beautiful park, as the area and Athens in general is lacking in park space. Well the government never put their words into action, so the community got together and basically cleaned the area and made their own park…revolutionary no? There is a playground for children, public gardens, a lot of sitting space and mosaic work.
It was very lovely at night, and really cool during the day when Melody and I went and checked it out later. We felt like we were seeing a part of Athens that not many tourists get to see, and of course that was due to Elsa and Stathus our exceptional hosts!. I really appreciated the neighbourhood and the park as it made me even more confident that my schooling in Recreation and Business studies was the right choice. Parks and public spaces are key in building community and safe neighbourhoods. Public space is used inappropriately in so many places. In Canada we have so many parks and public spaces, but many are underused and people are afraid to get out there and get to know their neighbor. But in Athens the people were starved for a public space to get together, so they took it upon themselves to make it happen. I just felt very inspired and I think I may need to go back to school and continue my education!
They next day Mel and I headed to see some more ruins, Greek Style! The Acropolis really is a site to see, but like many old European buildings it’s in a constant state of restoration; kinda ruins a picture for you. We wandered the streets and made sure to eat a Gyro (with French fries of course), and I also purchased my third pair of shoes….which I love. We made it an early night though because we had a big day of going to the most wonderful place in the world ahead of us.
We arrived in Santorini after a long day of ferry travel and were greeted by a smiling Greek old man who was delighted to take us to International Youth Hostel Anna in Perissa, the south east town of Santorini. This is where we saw our first white houses, but they would not be our last.
(the black beach)
We signed up for the Traditional ship boat tour for our first full day in Santorini. We got on the boat around 11am and started our journey with about 60 other tourists to the Santorini Volcano, the hot springs, the fishing island of Thirassia and we would end our tour watching the sunset in Oia (the place you see on postcards or when you google Santorini). At the first stop of the tour we learned that Santorini had really only been a tourist destination for the last 20 years. It was purely a fishing village until the volcano erupted its last time in 1958. After the island was decimated the Greek government went to Santorini to help rebuild and they brought with them infrastructure; Santorini now had electricity! It was completely rebuilt with tourism in mind and now 75% of the inhabitants make a living off tourism, the other 25ish% are in construction.
The next stop was awesome because we got to jump from the boat into the water and we had to swim about 5 minutes to get to the hot springs which were a copper red (white bathing suit top was a bad choice). We made friends with some American kids on a grad trip from Northeastern (for credit, so jell) and we got some fun pics of us with the-I’m gonna say “nutrient full”-mud all over our bodies. Not sure if we were supposed to rub it on us, but it seemed like a good idea at the time, and it was! The swim back to the boat was cool, literally! When we swam from the hot spring back to the Aegean sea there is a change in water temperature and colour ...and that temp change makes my nipples hard just thinking about it.
For lunch we stopped for 2 hours at the fishing island of Thirassia, but rather then eating fish, Mel and I took the much more budget friendly route of souvlaki platter for 2 and a coca-cola for 5 euro each….much more economical, and sooo filling!
Then it was off too Oia (pronounced EEyah) for the sunset. Now this wasn’t just any sunset, this was the most incredible sunset I have seen in my life. On this trip alone I have seen some fabulous sunsets, like sunsets I’ve literally written home about. But usually there is something on the horizon that blocks the sun, but nope not from Oia. The sun was a bright fiery orb and the world seemed flat as the orb sank below the surface of the horizon, never to be seen again….(until the next day). It really was amazing, see for yourself.
Also, we rode donkeys to get to Oia, and it was sooo funny. But truthfully I was a little put off by it because my donkey was real little and he was last and the guy kept whipping him and I didn’t like that he was doing it and it was also a tad scary because we were so close to the edge and there were like 50 donkeys, and its really hard to take pictures with one hand and hold on to the reins with all your might with the other…but I survived.
(My donkey, I called him Donkey)
Instead of island hopping as was originally planned Mel and I realized that we’d rather stay on Santorini for our whole time and really get a good feel for it, rather than spending hours on ferries and not feeling like we saw any islands. So the next day we spent the morning laying on the black beach (black due to volcanic rock), and in the afternoon Mel and I rented an ATV and did some intense island touring with our new American friends from Northeastern, George and Jonathan. At some points we were rolling with a sick ATV biker gang of 12 deep. We rode to the highest point on the island, and then headed to Kamari beach for the last of the sunshine and to do a little cliff jumping (I jumped twice and I was so scared, but you should have seen the little kids that were jumping, and the heights they were going from, like how do you have no fear?)
(Mel and both must learn how to jump without plugging our noses)
We ended our ATV adventures with a wine tasting at Santo winery and yes we saw another amazing sunset. This wasn’t the end of the night for Mel and I though, I mean it was Saturday after all. We had some drinking and dancing to do….and what better place to do it then at Beach Bar….the name says it all and it was really fun. Not as wild or crazy as something you might find on the party islands of Mykonos or Ios, but good enough for Mel and I because where we go a party is inevitable!
The next morning was our last day on the island because we were taking an overnight ferry back to the mainland that night. We kept our ATV for a few more hours and headed to the Red Beach which was probably the hottest beach I have ever been on and it looked and felt like what I imagine mars would look and feel like…RED HOT! Then we drove on some wicked fun windy roads to the middle of the island to the town of Thira. We said a farewell to our American friends with a promise to have a Boston-Toronto reunion soon and then headed into town to do what else but take pictures and check out the shops. Oh we also ate some more Gyros….!
I am sad to leave Greece because the people were just sooo friendly. I was at first worried about the language barrier and had practice sessions with fellow Canadians on the ferry here on how to pronounce “Meh Late Anglikah?” properly. Because Greece is a tourist hotspot their signage is for the most part both in Greek and English….ya the saying it’s all Greek to me is very accurate. I loved seeing the revolutionary side in Athens and being around people who cared about their government and who were excited about being involved in the issues. In Canada we don’t have that excitement about issues, at least where I hang, and the youth aren’t taking issues into their own hands. Maybe this is good and it means that we’re on the right track and all is gravy, or maybe we just don’t care? But it would be nice to actually feel enthusiasm and interest towards how my country is being run, like the Greeks do. Maybe I need to expand my own knowledge, or maybe Steven Harper needs to shake it up a bit. He should start by legalizing public drinking!….not public drunkenness, but being able to drink in public is something you can do all over Europe, and you’re bound to find people getting together in one of the many public squares chatting, and having a good time with each other. We have our pre-drinks, but if you want to go out you need to have money, and that’s something I’m just not going to be rolling in when I get home. Public drinking is something I am down for! Who’s with me?
Ok, rally when I get back! I’m working on pushing my flight back a few days so I can finish all the days on my Eurorail pass…Ill keep ya’ll posted though and let you know when I’ll be back. As always feel free to msg me and comment or send some love my way….I miss ya!
Love and Kisses,
T
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