Day 7: Santorini - "Wow, you really suck at chilling"

 

Take two! (I finished this entire post already.  Then the app crashed as I tried to save it.)

Anyway, remember how I told you that we were going to spend the day just chilling?  Jes and I had been moving pretty hard the last few days and we were both getting pretty close to exhaustion.  Well if.you know me at all you probably knew that wasn't going to happen.  My ADD and FOMO kicked in and by bedtime last night I was already planning today's itinerary.  We both woke up before the alarm and after a quick shower I started unveiling the day's plan to Jes. That's when I noticed his look of simple morning hunger transition to dispair as he walked down the stairs uttering this entry's title words "Wow, you really suck at chilling!".  Ok fine. I get it!  I reassured him that I was completely fine going off on my own, as long as he was good to just chill on his own.  I told him I'm the same when travelling with his mom, where we often have at least one day of a trip where I like to venture out and experience a different side of whatever locale we find ourselves in and socialize with the locals.You can call me ADD all you want, but I just want to experience as much as life has to offer before my next 45 years comes to an end.

So we headed out for a quick breakfast and then came back to the villa so I could pack a bag for the day.  Remembering to pack a towel, water, sunscreen, and some flip flops... Just in case.  I didn't really have a plan.  All I knew was that I was going to rent an ATV and just see where it took me around this beautiful island.  I walked up to Tony's, picked out my single-person ATV, and received somebasic instructions on the vehicle as well as some very specific instructions not to exceed 40-45 km/h. Being a good law abiding citizen, I assured him I'd go slow and  slapped on my helmet then headed out braving the Greek roads.  I punched in Akrotiri into the GPS and headed south.  I followed the speed instructions mostly, some of the time, well, maybe the only time I kept it within the limits was while going up hill and the tiny engine couldn't get my fat ass up the hill faster than at 41 km/h.  Anyway, I'm back so no harm done.  I chose Akrotiri first as it's at the southern end of the island and home to an ancient settlement and the Black Beach (named for it's volcanic black sand).

As I made my way down, the scenery kept stopping me, urging me to photograph it.  At every turn, a new photo-worthy scene developed.  Had I stopped at every opportunity, I'd still be making my way back.  I did have to stop however, when I came to a sign advertising a museum for the Lost City Of Atlantis... How can a legend have a museum?  Better check this out.  This was a pretty neat experience actually, and the ONLY museum dedicated to the legend of Atlantis. Go figure. The small museum presented various immersive displays providing theories regarding this once great city which was first spoken about by Plato.  He was convinced that Santorini was its ancient location.  The evidence they present is interesting and who knows?  Maybe there was a great city once sitting in the centre of Santorini's Caldera.  It was fun to think about.  That experience was capped off by a 4D movie putting into motion Plato's theory.  There is evidence, and it has been confirmed that one of history's greatest volcanic eruptions happened here over 3700 years ago, which completely changed the landscape of this island.  Fossils were discovered in the lava rocks indicating there was a civilization that was wiped out at the time.  This eruption also sent a tsunami towards the Island of Crete which killed over 50,000 people.  Sorry for the downer.  On to happier things.

Time to continue on to Akrotiri.  Again, from there I was stopped for multiple photo ops, but I did eventually make it.  Once in town, I noticed a castle atop an elevated plateau.  A quick glance at my map told me this was an ancient Venetian Castle.  Ok, lets check it out.  I made my way through the narrow winding roads on my ATV only to have an older Greek woman yelling at me and pointing.  Apparently, I had mistaken a pedestrian walkway for a road and she was pointing at the parking lot I should've parked in.  However, everytime she tried to yell at me, I opened the throttle on the 4x4 and pointed to my ear that I couldn't hear her. She got frustrated and moved on... And so did I, to the parking lot.

In my defense, the 2 roads looked exactly the same except for the smoother walkway.  Anyway, I started walking around the narrow pedestrian walkways trying to make my way to the castle which I finally walked up on. No signs, door wide open.  Just walk in and have a look.  Wasn't much there but a small cafe with two tables and an old topless man looking miserable under an archway.  I climbed around the old stone stairs up to a platform where I met a couple from Ottawa taking selfies with the flag.  We exchanged photography services and small talk, and they suggested I check out Amoudi Bay.  I seem to remember hearing about it but hadn't really planned on going.  Well thank you Ottawa people, as my decision to take you up on the suggestion was a highlight of my trip.

So for the second time today, I punched in a new destination on my phone, stuck one AirPod in my right ear for the audio directions and headed north to the opposite end of the Island.  This was such a nice drive.  And despite my previous comments on the driving in Greece, I found it quite easy.  You just go.  You let people go.  They let you go.  Nobody gets angry.  Not for long anyway.  I purposely took alternate routes presented by google to experience more of the "back country" and was not disappointed.  But after about 45 minutes I had made my way through world-famous Oia (pronounced Eeyaw) and had found the long steep road down to Amoudi Bay.

The road was chaos.  Barely wide enough to allow two cars to pass, with people parking on the shoulder.  Once you get down to the bottom, it's a cluster fuck of tour vans trying to pass, turn around, back up, and everyone else trying to get through.  I was getting worried this might not be worth it.  I turn around and due to the small footprint of my vehicle, I didn't have to drive back up too far to find a spot.

I made the rest of the way down on foot and was rewarded by one of the most amazing scenes I'd ever walked upon.  It was something I would've only imagined on a movie set.  A shoreline at the bottom of a huge straight hillside lined with restaurants and a bay opening itself to nautical travellers from all over the Mediterranean. Above at the top of the hillside were stacked dozens of villas offering premium price views of the Santorini sunset to the west.  With the mouth of the bay facing west, the restaurants situated within it are a prime location for all sunset lovers.  At this point, it had been a few hours since breakfast and I thought this was as good a place as any to sit down for lunch.  And it was...better actually... But I warn you.  Not sure if it's the restaurant I chose to sit down at; all the restaurants kind of blend into eachother, but these aren't your regular tourist prices.  These are, "you're in Santorini, in a bay, giving views of the most beautiful sunsets in the world mother fucker, you're gonna pay for that", prices.  My gin and tonic was 17 Euros, or about $26.  Needless to say, I kept it to one.  Besides, I was driving.  I polished off a plate of fried squid and sauteed seabass and continued my walk along the jagged shoreline to find a hole to swim in.

I started my hike and realized I wasn't finding a "beach" here and would need to just climb down some sharp volcanic boulders to get in.  I kept walking, at times through some pretty treacherous terrain but I eventually came upon a clearing with a relatively nice platform where a crowd had gathered to swim and soak in the sun and salt spray of the Mediterranean.  Not to be left out, I set my bag down, stripped off my shirt and shoes and slid in to the chill blue sea.  Twenty seconds later I was towelling off and getting my shoes back on for the hike back.  At least now I can say I've swam in the Mediterranean.

I started my walk back to my wheels and planned my drive back to go meet Jes and relax until dinner.  I bet he'll be hungry soon after the McDonald's he had for lunch.  I did manage to catch a couple more sites on the way back, including a little hidden beach bar on a black sand beach.  Couple minutes to check it out and I was back in my bike to the villa.  And that's about it folks.  Jes and I just capped off the day with a delicious meal at Kokkalo and are no completely exhausted.  Our transfer to the airport leaves at 5am so to bed we go.

So now we found ourselves at the end of another amazing trip.  A most memorable 45th birthday that's for sure.  But now we're both looking forward to getting home.

Thanks to anyone who actually took the time to read these.  I know this isn't typically how people like to record their memories anymore, and even less so "hear" about them, but I enjoy the writing process. More than I enjoy editing videos.  For the rest of you, fuck you, you suck, go watch another TikTok 😉.  I kid, but really, you won't see this anyway.

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