We slept in again today, and took our time getting up and running. We started with a walk through town ahead of the tourist crowds, and then eventually found a bar/restaurant with a nice view where we could enjoy a brunch with some cold Greek beers. The morning sun was heating up quickly, but as long as we could find shade it was very comfortable.
Reading this you might think that there was a lot of open time where we weren’t really doing anything, and that is true. The views of the ocean were so dramatic that sometimes we’d just sit and stare out over the blue for a long, long time. Nobody was pushy about moving on or ordering more, so time just kind of slipped by. We sat at our table for probably an hour or more, but just shared an appetizer and a couple of beers. Sometimes we talked, sometimes we didn’t, but it was a very comfortable pace.
Our next adventure was to follow the steps down the western face of the mountain to a small fishing harbor. The steps were long and steep, and it took a long time to get down to the water level. As we walked down the steps we had to take care to avoid the donkey shit that was lying about. Going down is no problem, but there are some donkeys that you can hire to climb back up the hill. We weren’t really planning to ride the donkeys, but as we climbed down the steep steps in the sun I realized that somehow or another we were going to need to get back up them at some point. I wasn’t really looking forward to climbing all that way in the heat of the afternoon.
When we finally reached the bottom of the steps we found ourselves at the edge of a small cove. There was a boat landing, two or three restaurants with tables right on the water (you had to be careful), and a path that led around the hillside to the southern face of the island. Initially we walked along the path, deliberately ignoring a falling rock warning that said nobody should proceed. We walked a little ways enjoying the clear ocean water and we could see fishing boats tied up just offshore. After a ways we started to see big boulders that had fallen right on the path, and the it started to look a little treacherous, so we walked back to the cove. There we decided to sit at one of the tables on the edge of the pier and have a snack. The staff turned out to be originally from Canada, so ordering was easy. We had beers and some tomato fritters, which were apparently a local specialty. I really liked the fritters, and that made us hungry for more.
We asked about fish, and she led us inside the restaurant where we could choose from today’s catch. We settled on a fish called a ‘scorpion’, since we hadn’t seen that kind of fish before. They cooked it in a little oil and garlic, and it tasted great. A local cat came by to see if we were in the mood for sharing, and we did share a little bit. At one point a restaurant worker threw out some old bread into the water, and after a few minutes the crystal clear water was jumping with tiny fish tearing into the pieces. There were some very hungry fish in there.
As we wrapped up our lunch we asked the waitress if she could call a taxi for us so we didn’t have to climb up those hot steps. She agreed, but she couldn’t seem to get through to any taxis by phone. We waited for about a half hour and she still couldn’t find anyone to answer the phone, so I was starting to think about donkeys. The waitress was pretty busy with customers on top of trying to get a cab for us, and I was starting to feel bad, so we said thanks anyway, and headed out to the nearest road to see if there were any taxis waiting around for customers. As I said before, there aren’t many taxis on the island, so you either have to arrange or be very lucky. There was no taxi waiting, so we asked a guy who worked at another restaurant to call, and he got right through. After about ten minutes a taxi showed up, and took us up the hill for ten euros. It was totally worth it – the donkey ride was five euros.
We spent the afternoon in and around the pool, taking naps, and avoiding the direct sun outside. This was our last full day on Santorini so we wanted to get in the last of our relaxation time, and also to start to prepare for the next city, Athens. We did some packing in the evening, and then went out in a different direction to a tavern that was a little off the beaten path. It looked like they didn’t get much tourist business, and the staff were very shy speaking English, but were happy to speak Greek to us. The table was too short, and I couldn’t fit my legs underneath it, which made it necessary to eat dinner facing 90 degrees away from Kuniko. However, the food was excellent – the best in Greece so far. Kuniko had a delicious moussaka, and I had a cheese stuffed hamburg kebab, both of which knocked our socks off. We should have been eating here the whole time.
We bought a bottle of wine and a lot of olives on the way home, and enjoyed another mini-party on our terrace as the sun went down. Our third bottle of Santorini wine was delicious, although I thought the bottle we bought from the wine shop the previous day was the best. The little terrace in front of our villa got a lot of use while we were there, and it was one of my favorite parts of the trip to Santorini.
