The Journey's the Thing…

Santoini is a lovely island. The volcanic eruption in 900BC that destroyed the Minoan city and culture here inspired Homer to describe Atlantis. The ash blew as far south as Egypt, and many scholars now believe that the ash, falling fiery chunks, and the resulting tsunami (parting of the waters) were the causes of the Biblical exodus from Pharoah’s captivity. New translations of the Old Testament have also revealed that “Red Sea” is a poor translation of “Reed Sea” which lies just a few kilometers from where the Isrealites left. The Red Sea is much too far away to have allowed the escaping slaves to outrun the chariots of their pursuers. So, what were conceived of as miracles were actually Mother Nature.

What remains is called The Caldera, and forms the bay around which, perched on the edge of the crater, lie the towns of Fira, Ia, and Ormious Antonious. In the middle is the top of the cone, still active in some spots. There have been two earthquakes since that time: one in 1956 and the other, I think in 1978. Still, the island rermains a tourist center of grand proportions, and is just as busy as Mykonos, although more beautiful. You’ve seen pictures, namely the famous blue domed church with stark white structures overlooking the sea. That’s Santorini, and it all looks like that, and it is no contrivence for the tourist trade. Unfortunately the food has something to be desired. It is as expensive as Mykonos, yet lacks the quality and style of the other island.

My rooms are very nice. They are clean, neat, relatively inexpensive (45Euro), but the Almighty Dollar still sucks, so that is about 65US. All in all, it’s been an experience I wouldn’t trade, but it’s time to move along. This is the theory I call ‘Traveler’s Syndrome’.

Time to go. Hit the Road. Worn out my welcome. Not- moving- fast- enough. It’s that time when one has visited all the museums, seen the churches, eaten the food at most levels, and watched the television in linguistic bewilderment. Luckily I am doing that tomorrow, but not until 5:40PM when I catch a hydrofoil across the southern Mediterranean to Crete. I won’t arrive until 8PM, so I have booked my room already. I shouldn’t suffer from TS while on Crete since my schedule is tight and the sights somewhat numerous. It will be a daily juggling of hotels, buses, and archeological sites until I depart next Wednesday for Pireaus, the port of Athens, and my departure point for the convention. So I think this will be a cure for TS, but first I’ll check out one more site here on Santorini in the morning before I take to sea.

I have such luxury problems, I cannot begin to list them…

Johnnyboy

I left Mykonos with the sense of ‘mission accomplished’. While on Mykonos I accomplished my goal of viewing Delos, ate some good food (more about that) and met some nice folks. I was happy to leave, however for there is nothing really there for me. Paros, on the other hand is something completely different.

I left on a high speed catamaran, which cruised down to Paros at a brisk 45 mph. I was glad to see little Paros, which is still, in many ways, the island that Mykonos once was. This is not to say that there is no tourism on Paros, but the clientele is more sedate, family-oriented, and less apt to fall into the party scene. ‘Laid back’ is a good way to describe Paros. It is also a good deal less expensive, and for those same reasons. The population is about 20,000 year round, with a viable fishing and merchant community. There are not the plethora of gold and leather shops like Mykonos and the locals seem much more in line with Greece as a whole.

I arrived around noon and the temperature was a lovely 80*. The sun, on the other hand, was typically mediterranean and blistering hot. Thankfully my #45 sunscreen held out for a time, but by 3PM I had to go inside for little ‘ipnos’. My room is clean, comfortable, with a lovely little balcony overlooking the central plaza of the main town of Parika. At 25 Euro a night, quite a bargain. Like most of the country, this town is preparing for the summer which means construction and refurbishing. So what if the plaza was full of workmen with jack-hammers? After a few seconds I was snoozing away, competeing with the racket. After my rest, a shower and a chat with the hotel owner about the big football game (Athens vs. Piraeus), I set out for the evening.

I am only here for the night and my boat for Santorini (Thira) leaves at the main quay around noon. I’ll arrive in Santorini around 3PM, and spend the next hour or so finding a hotel for my 2 nights there. I’ll certainly update when I can before I leave for Crete (Kriti), but for now I think I’ll enjoy another espresso and search out a suitable restaurant for my supper. With the money I saved on lodging, I think I’ll splurge. There is a restaurant named ‘Dafni’ that is supposed to serve very good fish and traditional Greek dishes. I’ll try to find it, but if I can’t, there are plenty of other options to choose from.

Oh yes…The food on Mykonos is actually very good, not mediocre like P’town. It is, however, extremely pricey. After all, a captive audience must dine…

Kalispera!

Johnnyboy