Walking the Caldera

To recap: Santorini is a crescent-shaped island, and we are staying about a mile from the town of Oia, which is perched on the tip. Ok, now picture the center of that crescent, on the caldera (concave) side. That is the approximate location of Fira, the capital city of Santorini.  We walked there today, which I think means we walked half the length of the island! A foot path meanders the cliffsides from Oia to Fira, and it is about 10 kilometers in length. The hike sounded cool and as our apartment is right on the path we decided to give it a shot. We figured if it got too hard, or too hot, we could hike back to the main road and catch the bus instead. But we made it! Not too surprising for me and Zach, but pretty awesome for Melina and downright amazing for D’s tiny legs, especially given the steep slopes and rocky footing. Even more impressive was that both girls were happy and didn’t  even whine or complain once! Our strategy was to keep them talking about their favorite things. That started out as Percy Jackson and then when I couldn’t take it any more, we changed the subject to birthday party themes. So for 3 hours we planned Melina’s “Greek Gods” party and Diane’s “Willy Wonka” party in excruciating detail. But it was fun. And the views were truly magnificent.

Views of the caldera

Family photo at the first chapel on the trail

More caldera

The girls loved lizard-spotting

Giant spider just off the trail (about the size of my palm)

Pit stop for freshly squeezed orange juice in the middle of nowhere

Just another gorgeous church. The path was smooth and wide at this point, quite rare in the first half of the trek.

The views never got old.

Imerovigli

We started early to  avoid the brutal midday sun, and at exactly noon arrived at our lunch destination in Firostefani, just outside of Fira. Then for 2 hours we wound through touristy Fira, and Diane spent all but $0.50 of her money. She has purchased: a necklace, a bowl, a snow globe, and a glass ring box. All very breakable and all for a total of $19.50. Melina bought a book and a tiny metal owl (the symbol of the goddess Athena) and still has $4 left over. She sweetly has offered to share it with her sister (but we’ll see if that really happens).
By 3pm we were exhausted and the heat was stifling. We sat at an ice cream place and sipped the best mango smoothies I have ever tasted. As we finished our smoothies and pondered the location of the bus station, the local Fira-Oia bus lumbered down the street towards us. We gathered ourselves and chased after it for a few blocks, getting to it just in time to be the last passengers allowed on the packed charter-style bus. There were no seats left and the aisle was already full of standers, but the ticket lady shoved us in anyway and the bus took off. She then proceeded to force herself through the crowded aisle to sell tickets. If you are thinking this would have been a lot easier before she packed us on the bus like sardines you would be correct. I ordered the girls to sit in the aisle and Zach and I quiely made contingency plans for when D inevitably would have to vomit, but in a stroke of miraculously good luck, the two people in the seats right next to the girls  got off at the first stop, not 5 minutes into the ride! They were the only idiots to pay for a 5 minute ride on a bus packed to the brim with tourists. It honestly would have taken the about same amount of time for them to walk the distance. Anyway, we lucked out and it was an easy and uneventful 10 minute ride back to Finikia! 

The bus (those aren’t empty seats, there are kids in there)

The girls goofing around once we got seats

By this point, we were happy but totally and completely exhausted. We rested in and around our apartment until dinner, which we ate on our private patio with the two adorable resident cats as entertainment. There is an all white female that Diane has named Snowflake, and an all black tom that D calls Shadow. Snowflake and Shadow are both very young and likely siblings, but definitely best friends. They are always together. We have had so much fun watching them chase bugs and lizards and each other. It is Shadow’s great pleasure in life to sneak up on his sister and ambush her, and he does this every chance he can get. All it takes is for Snowflake to look in the opposite direction for 5 seconds, and Shadow is poised to pounce, tail twitching. Each time, Snowflake bats him away and you can practically see her roll her eyes. 

Shadow and Snowflake

Dinner and sunset on our patio

Enjoying the view

“Snowflake” joins us for the sunset

After our picnic dinner on the patio we ate chocolate Papadapolous cookies (a favorite of mine from when I was in Greece as a teenager) and Zach and I sipped the owner’s homemade dessert wine while we watched the sunset. It was beautiful, and all the more so for the lack of crowds and the easy, relaxed company! We took our time before coming back in, watching stars, bats, and even some fireworks on the coast. This is how to do sunset on Santorini. It was a perfect evening. 

But please…cross your fingers for us, because tomorrow we get on another boat…