Woke up at 7 am to the phone ringing. The phone in our little ship cabin was clanging and flashing it's pathetic little light to let us know that we would be arriving at the port in Santorini within 30 minutes. Groggy after a surprisingly good night's sleep on nautical bunk beds, we stumbled into shower (one at a time of course) and packed up our things. We loaded up and headed to the boat's outer deck to look at the island's northern side as we passed by to the southern dock.
We saw the white houses on top of the monumental cliffs-- very dramatic with the sun rising behind, silhouetting them against the morning sky. The wind was blustering by, as we were on the "high speed ferry", so sorry-- no photos of us. They all came out terrible (had Hollywood potential with our hair blowing in the breeze, but alas, they turned out clumsy and humiliating. Yikes!).
We arrived at the port and were rapidly shuttled off. Seriously efficient. When they talk about naval organization and everything being in "ship shape" they aren't kidding around. We hailed a cab (they aren't on strike here, what a treat!) and began the trek up the steep and curvy mountain pass to our beach apartment on the south-east side of the island, the town of Perissa. We marveled at how timely our arrival was. Almost to the minute. Ah, those sailors....
The new apartment (booked on airbnb) is sparse but sleeps 6 people, has a large kitchen (whose appliances unfortunately easily catch fire and coffee machine tastes like metal), a sizable bathroom and AC. Very suitable for a 3-day stay. We unloaded our luggage and went out in search of groceries with the intention of saving money on breakfasts and evening snacks, attempting to soothe my bleeding budget.
We had instructions to a mini mart (basically the equivalent of a gas station "quickie mart"), but of course had turned in the wrong direction. Never fear, we saved the trip by passing by one of the many moped rental shops. We need a moped! Surely transportation along the island was necessary! We signed liability documents, Mom answering each question the exact opposite way the woman inquiring about her moped experience wanted. Oh confused mother... how entertaining (and frustrating!) you are. I translated the woman's questions in to those understandable to Mom and, even though we eventually ended up with the correct answers, I'm pretty sure the owner was convinced that we were 100% lying to her. She let us have the vehicle anyway. Hmm, questionable judgement.
We hopped on the moped, found the larger grocery store (the Super Coop) and loaded up on peaches, yogurt, granola, bread, water (the water that comes from the sink and the shower in the apartment is straight from the ocean and filled with salt), vino, cheese and olives. Getting everything home was quite the trip: stuffing some items in the cavity under the seat, but mostly being balanced on either side by me as I teetered like a human scale on the back of the moped while Mom cautiously avoided the numerous potholes and sand traps. As proven numerous times on this trip, Katie seems to have taken any allotment of grace that I was due, leaving me lacking. It was interesting to say the least...
Unpacked groceries. Donned bathing suits, grabbed books and set out for the beach. The coastline is bordered by restaurants that sit on one side of the street and who claim the beach directly in front of their establishment with lounge chairs and tropical umbrellas. The deal is the chairs and shade are free, have full service and are open to anyone as long as you order drinks throughout the day. We selected an umbrella and ran across the course black sand (the color of this sand, stained black from the island's volcano, causes it to heat up to a searing temperature, sending visitors bolting and hilariously hopping across its blistering surface. Very good tool for people watching).
We read and relaxed for the rest of the day, stopping only to moped home for wine and cheese, a shower and change of clothes, then the short drive back to the "boardwalk" for dinner in the perfect night climate.
Hard day. Thankfully no moped incidents. (Not today anyway...)
...Glad my research is coming along so well. Sheesh.
