Life is good, and conveinently, one of my best friends is in med school in Israel, which meant that we got to hang out together in Santorini for 3 days.
What can I even say about Santorini? It is painfully gorgeous. Almost irritatingly so, at times - if you are momentarily annoyed or sad, it whispers to you “Psssst - you are in paradise - you should be ecstatic.” Just look at the pictures. Or google image it.
Aside from sleeping in, wandering about generally gawking at everything around us, here are some highlights of out time there:
1) A visit to the black pebbly Perissa beach with our new Greek friends Tony and Billy (self-titled “Billy the Bad Boy”) and a dip in the chilly but crystal clear Agean sea, followed by beers at a fantastic seaside cafe. During a discussion with the bartender, I admitted to liking country music and southern rock, and this led to him putting on a Lynrd Skynrd album. Awesome.
2) A 2-hour afternoon hike along the ridge of the island, with some of the most stunning scenery I’ve ever scene. Buildings, yes, but also cliffs and wildflowers and visual surprises around every corner. We packed dinner (bread, feta, honey with almonds and walnuts, baklava and wine) and ate it at sunset at a deserted old church with a view of the sea and the town of Oia in the distance. (Note to self: picnics with multiple honey-based foods, while delicious, are ill-advised unless you have the proper clean up supplies).
3) Ridiculous soundtracks in 95% of the restaurants and cafes. I think they are trying to create a super Zen-inspired ambience, but I found it a bit over the top. Example: an entire album of what sounded like the Fransiscan monastery choir covering songs by Phil Collins. I am not making this up!! It was surreal. And not in a transcendental, Zen way. A marriage of funny and annoying.
4) Our touristy trip to the volcano and “hot springs” (which we later nicknamed “the rusty warm water”). Our new Canadian friends told us about this tour and having made no plans of our own, we happily got on board. In this case, that meant getting on what looked like a pirate ship with 50 other tourists. The first stop was hiking the famous volcano that created Santorini as it appears today. To be honest, historical significance aside, this was totally underwhelming. Like hiking a big pile of gravel. No lava, no smoking pits or bubbling mud. But we held out hope for the promised hot springs! And so we climbed back on our trusty boat, the Captain Yannis, which soon dropped anchor. At this point we were given the opportunity to jump into the quite chilly sea and swim 50 meters to the “hot springs,” which turned out to be a bit of a misnomer, as the “springs” were really just a rust-colored patch of open water closer to the shore that were only hot in the sense that they were somewhat less frigid than the surrounding water. Fail #2 for the Captain Yannis. But the boat ride was nice and I enjoyed watching the faces of tourists from 18 to 80 as they jumped into the water. Suckers. (I guess I qualify as one, too).
5) After our return from our pirate adventure at sea, we had another classic Santorini experience - hiking the old stairs from the base of the island to the town at the top. I have no idea how many feet it is, but it’s something like 600 steps. And it’s mostly only done by mules, which is telling. (In fact, mules were the primary mode of transport for people and supplies back in the day). Beautiful views (more of the same - yawn), dodging mule poop, all the usual. It sucked and I thought I might die, but in fact I survived and was quite proud when I finally reached the top and started breathing normally again. I think I also used this as an excuse to have ice cream later.
6) Renting a scooter! One of my all-time favorite things to do. We did this after the stairs, which made it feel even more luxurious. Stupidly, I left my drivers liscense in the US, and was heartbroken when I thougt this spelled the demise of our scooting in Santorini. But “the Greece is for the freedom,” and somehow we reached an arrangement with the proprietor of Moto Alex where we rented a 70cc scooter (for which you should have a motorcycle license) with Emily’s liscense (although she was clearly not going to be the driver) for $14 euro. He pinched my cheek like a mischevious uncle and told me to drive “nice,” and we were off! We drove to Oia, on beautiful, high, winding mountain roads and seascapes.
7) The smells and sounds of Santorini: the unexpected scent of wildflowers and honeysuckle; the tinkling of bells signaling that a procession of mules is about to round the corner.
8) Quality time with one of my favorite ladies who I rarely get to see!!
And so another chapter closes. I took Emily to the airport on the scooter (an awesome move, if I do say so myself), she went back to Israel, and I got on the ferry to Crete the next morning with our Canadian friends. No time to get bored; when I get to Bali and begin the 28 day training, it will be the longest I’ve been in one place since the end of February.
