Surprising Veronica

Our day started early. We woke up at 5:30 am to take a taxi to the bus station in Rethymno, then rode for an hour and a half to Heraklion to get on a ferry. The ferry took around 2.5 hours followed by a 25 minute taxi ride to our place from the port. We were not staying a long way from the port but the road up is switch backs with a section that is single lane alternating traffic. We were on a mission to surprise the mother of Andre’s quasi-second family, Veronica, who was visiting Greece with her daughter, Laurise, for her birthday. There was a later ferry we could have caught but it was the last one of the day and we worried that if any of our connections were late we could miss it and there would be no surprise. We only had that day because the ladies were heading to Athens the following day before flying back to Canada. So we pulled ourselves out of bed at what I consider an inhumane hour so that we could guarantee our arrival. 

Our host was just finishing up the place when we pulled in and had made us a spread of dips, olives, cheese, bread, and wine so we had a good feed and shower and then headed for the beach where the ladies were spending the day. We had been in contact with Laurise over the last several weeks and days planning our meet up. As we got off the bus and walked toward the beach I didn’t think to check my phone. Laurice had told me where their sun chairs were set up but as soon as we rounded the corner Andre spotted them sitting outside a cafe. Somehow Laurice had gotten her mother positioned in a chair facing away from us so that we could sneak up on her. Only later did I look and see she had sent me an updated message telling me they had moved to get food. As we walked up Andre asked her, “Is this seat taken?” and she was clearly stunned. I’m glad we got it on video.

 

We spent the rest of the afternoon at Kamari Beach and then headed back to Fira with them to change and get ready for dinner. During our meal we heard some music coming from the street below. We looked over the railing to catch people dancing through the street.

 

It was awesome to be able to meet up with these wonderful ladies in such a beautiful place. We felt really lucky.

Beach Side Versus Volcano Side

When researching where to stay we had read that the beach side of the island was dead in October and that there wouldn’t be anything going on. We are beach people but we also like to eat so we didn’t want to be positioned in an area where restaurants would be closed and we would have to take a bus to eat meals. For this reason alone we chose to stay on the volcano side. However, once we met up with the ladies we saw that the beach restaurants and shops were still up and running. It looked completely doable to us, but of course you don’t have the incredible view offered on the volcano side.

 

100 Days on the Road

On Saturday, October 12th we celebrated 100 days on the road. We have moved fairly quickly through Europe and the time has gone by quite fast. There are some days when I miss home a bit. The routines, our place, our friends and family. We are loving Greece though. The people here are great! Aside from writing and editing/sorting photos the only other thing I do most days is read. I have reread To Kill A Mockingbird. I forgot what a fantastic novel it was. I don’t think I really appreciated it when I read it in high school. Of the books I’ve read so far my absolute favorite has been An Absolutely Remarkable Thing, by Hank Green. This is not the type of book I would normally choose, but Andre had put it on my Kindle so I read it, and I loved it. Do yourself a favor and read this book!

The Carls just appeared.
 
Roaming through New York City at three a.m., twenty-three-year-old April May stumbles across a giant sculpture. Delighted by its appearance and craftsmanship—like a ten-foot-tall Transformer wearing a suit of samurai armor—April and her best friend, Andy, make a video with it, which Andy uploads to YouTube. The next day, April wakes up to a viral video and a new life. News quickly spreads that there are Carls in dozens of cities around the world—from Beijing to Buenos Aires—and April, as their first documentarian, finds herself at the center of an intense international media spotlight.
 
Seizing the opportunity to make her mark on the world, April now has to deal with the consequences her new particular brand of fame has on her relationships, her safety, and her own identity. And all eyes are on April to figure out not just what the Carls are, but what they want from us.
 
Compulsively entertaining and powerfully relevant, An Absolutely Remarkable Thing grapples with big themes, including how the social internet is changing fame, rhetoric, and radicalization; how our culture deals with fear and uncertainty; and how vilification and adoration spring for the same dehumanization that follows a life in the public eye. The beginning of an exciting fiction career, An Absolutely Remarkable Thing is a bold and insightful novel of now.

Santorini Is Too Pretty For Its Own Good

It may have been shoulder season but it was still crazy busy most days. I would not want to see what high season is like. There were three to four cruise ships on some days and getting through the narrow walkways could be painful. I totally understand that everyone wants to stop to photograph all the beautiful scenery but I’ve found when most people pull out their cameras they fail to observe everything else around them aside from their focal point. Like where they are standing. Blocking the flow of cattle like foot traffic. Or not noticing that that 20 other people are patiently waiting to photograph something that they are taking a thousand selfies in front of. Or, one of my favorites, people who don’t seem to know how to operate their camera but are trying desperately to get the perfect photo of their companion, again while everyone else waits. I love photos and I take way too many, but I do try to have some awareness of others while I’m snapping away. Rant over.

Despite the amount of people flooding the area, we were still happy we went and would do it again, although a bit differently. Next time we would cough up the extra money to get a place right on the cliff with its own plunge pool so that we could take in the view all day without having to be out in the madness. This place was just phenomenally beautiful. Here is a short video taken on a very quiet afternoon.

 

Public Transport and Beaches

We didn’t get our international driving permit but the buses in Santorini made it very easy to get around to different areas. We spent time on Kamari Beach and Perissa Beach and traveled up to Oia for an afternoon to explore, thinking it may not be as crowded there. It was not less crowded. In fact the bus going there and back was rammed with people. Andre and I stood and held on for dear life on the way there which is windy and long. We were told it was about a ten minute ride. It was about a half an hour. During this time we were pulled in all directions as the bus lurched to a stop for oncoming vehicles to pass, hit the gas to get momentum up the hills and swayed side to side with all the turns. Andre was looking very green by the time we got out. Oia was also a beautiful spot but we certainly didn’t escape the crowds.

The beaches on the other hand were really quiet. I enjoyed them both equally and I loved the black volcanic sand/pebble beaches. We were not the only ones who enjoyed the sand. As we were basking in the sun a young man came trotting down and plopped down in front of us. He was oddly close considering that there was miles of beach and very few people around. He proceeded to gear down and sun himself with just his shirt over his business. I’m no prude and I’ve been to nude beaches, but this was not a nude beach. There were some women going topless here and there but I had yet to see any full frontal. We assumed he was German.

So after a short amount of sun he obviously needed to cool down. He had a little way to go to make it in and decided on a quick jump to standing position followed by a rather awkward dash. There was nothing graceful about his run. He had a wide gate, a bit bow legged, so although he appeared to be holding onto things in the front there was no missing the back bits bouncing along. Business in the front, party in the back? I feel like that works here. As he sprinted toward the water without any caution to the oncoming waves, he was swiftly taken out at the legs when he was mid-thigh deep and pretty much flew forward plank style, face first, into the water. He basically got sacked. Andre said it looked just like a football play. It was one of the greatest things I’ve ever seen. If I had it on video I would just play it on loop. We both completely lost it.

There was no recovering from this epic fail and so he spent a little time in the water composing himself and maybe looking for his misplaced manhood. As he bobbed around I was already wondering what his exit strategy was going to be. My brain played out a little movie of me gathering up his clothes and placing them a lot further up the beach. His sprint and crash had caught the attention of a few others and everyone just sat there waiting for him to get out. I prayed that he wouldn’t get knocked down on the way back. He deserved a break. He gathered himself together and briskly walked up the incline to his clothes and plopped his rear right in the sand. After about ten minutes of roasting his chestnuts (the sand was decently hot) he grabbed his shorts and scooted them on as he sat in the sand. There was no opportunity for him to rid his lower half of any of the sand or pebbles. It could have been my imagination, but I swear his gate was even wider as he walked toward the road to go home. And if you listened ever so carefully you could hear the sound of tiny pebbles hitting the concrete after each step. Like a trail of breadcrumbs.

Okay, back to transport. Along with cars and scooters, there were also a lot of ATVs. Really noisy ATVs. It reminded me of Holbox, Mexico, where the island is full of golf carts that sound like lawn mowers. You could also ride a donkey from the port to Fira if you’re into that type of thing. I love animals so I don’t partake in these things. I don’t know how well they are cared for. They may be bathed in rose water and fed caviar for all I know but I generally just don’t like the idea. I won’t ride donkeys in Santorini, elephants in Thailand, or get photos with drugged up animals in any number of places. We passed these little worker donkeys on our way home. I think they had just clocked out for the day, word has it that their union is strict on overtime.

 

Food and Drink

So far the food in Greece has been wonderful. In Crete the meals were a bit cheaper. In Santorini for a dining option that doesn’t view the water you will pay about the same as you would in Edmonton. Those on the water are much more expensive. For a very simple meal, like a Greek salad, two mains, a beer and a wine it cost about 40 Euro, or 60 Canadian dollars. This is the cheapest we have found. If you want to eat with a view and enjoy a few appetizers and drink cocktails you will easily spend over 100 Euros per meal for two. If you are traveling for a short time or money is not a consideration then no worries, but when you are budgeting for a year of travel Santorini can blow your daily budget fast. At some places cocktails ran 10 – 15 Euro.  

We found a real gem in a place called Posidonia. This place was a steal and the quality was fantastic. The owner, Vardis, was an easy going and friendly bloke who we really enjoyed chatting with. Everything we ate here was superb. We were sad to hear that he was shutting down for the season the day before we were to leave. I could have dined there every night.

Eggomio was another little spot that was good for breakfast or brunch. They make the bread fresh and it is delicious. Great sandwiches!

Fire Safety

One thing that we have noticed throughout our stays in Greece is that many main doors need to be locked with a key from the inside when you are home. In other words, when you want to go to bed and want the door locked you need to use a key, which we would leave inside the lock because I prefer not to be trapped in my home in the event of an emergency. This also means that for places with only one set of keys you have to be mindful. If Andre wanted to run to the shops I would make sure he didn’t take the keys and accidentally lock me in. I do not think Fire Marshal Bill would approve of this system. 

Farewell Facial Hair

Andre had a good go at the whole beard thing and it looked great but it was driving him mad. He was always scratching at it like a flea ridden pup. When I caught him scratching it with my hair brush I just gave him a raised eyebrow and shook my head. I could see the end was near. Right before we left Rethymno he decided to go down to just a mustache. Of course he shaved the beard off in stages to produce some less than desirable looks and would periodically pop his head out of the bathroom to show me all the options I could have on the journey from beard to stash. I was not impressed with any.

He said he felt much more clean with the beard gone but within a week he was also done with the stash. It’s probably for the best considering the weird tan line that would have resulted after long term mustache wear and eventual shaving.

 

102 days in…

Now to the tiny island of Paros.