ARRIVING IN SANTORINI

The flight to Santorini took ½ hour longer because of traffic at the airport. We circled for a while and got to see the island from above. Not having luggage checked was a blessing. There was quite a mess of people waiting. It was drizzling outside so we hit the ATM quickly and grabbed a taxi to Fira.

THE LUNCH THAT NEVER HAPPENED AT TAVERNA NIKOLAS

We were quite hungry by the time we got to Fira, the biggest town on Santorini, and decided to grab a bite there before catching a bus to Ia. We had heard good things about Taverna Nikolas. After walking in circles for a while (it seemed each shop owner we asked for directions sent us in an entirely different direction) we found it. The place was small and backed, but one table was just opening up as we came in the front door. After telling us that we could wait for that table to be cleared, the Owner came back over to us and told us we weren’t welcome because we had bags with us. I started to argue that the two tables in front of were all occupied with guests who had more luggage then we did, but he repeated it again. He then said that if we really wanted to eat there that we could put our bags out in the alley in the rain. I was so overtired that I felt myself about to cry. Instead I pulled out my guide book and took us to the nearby Stani.

LUNCH AT STANI (FIRA)

At Stani, we made our way up the stairs to the rooftop. We were seated immediately and they even gave us a corner table so that we had more room to put our bags up against the wall. Since it was raining they had plastic covered pulled down over the open walls. There was a good breeze and it felt great after 20 long hours of traveling.

I ordered Mousaka (eggplant, potatoes & cream sauce casserole) and Josh got the roasted chicken and potatoes. We shared some water and tatziki. The tatziki was wonderful. Maybe I’d been living off of plane food for too many hours, but I ate almost the whole plate of it myself. It was extremely. I realized it didn’t compare to any I had ever had in the US .

ON TO IA

After lunch we ventured back to the bus stop, just behind the taxi stand) and jumped on the bus to Ia. Some people were confused about the bus because the sign on it read “Ia” and they were headed to “Oia”. They would walk up to the attendant and say “oy-yah?” Then the attendant would start this quick, almost song-like, repetition of “ee-yah, ee-yah, oy-yah”. I felt like I should join in with an Old McDonald had a farm… I believe that the town can be spelled both ways, but that the pronunciation is with the O silent.

The bus stopped right in front of the Ecorama Holidays office at the end of the route to Ia in the main turnaround. There are only a few shops there, so it is impossible to miss it. We discovered that if you tell the bus driver what hotel you are going to, he’ll stop at the right place for you. Good to know; much easier than trying to learn all his stops.

MUSSES STUDIOS

We checked in with Ecorama. They also have an internet café there, that I would end up using later, for 4 euros an hour. After we got checked in for #5, we were told to wait 5 minutes and that someone would come to take us to our room. After 20 minutes, the rain was picking up and I really wanted to put my things down and rest. We asked if we could just have directions to our place and we would walk. After much deliberation and a phone call to the driver, we were told how to get there. (From the one side of the phone call I heard, the driver had not left and wasn’t intending to for a while). The directions were really simple. We just had to walk back down the main street a few minutes and turn left after Alkion (sp?) restaurant. Musses was right there.

The studio was quaint and fully stocked like we had been told. Downstairs was a bathroom, kitchenette (with dishes, pots, microwave, minifridge, hot plate, etc.) a table for four and a sitting bench/sofa. There were French doors opening on the sea facing (not caldera) terrace. The coolest part (a lot of the places had these) was how the inserts on the door opened so that you could keep the doors open but see out the glass windows in the doors. You could also open the whole thing and just have the screens.

We really liked Musses and enjoyed staying there. It was a quick walk over to the caldera side. (If you are coming from what I call the boardwalk, walking away from Ia and towards Fira, turn left at the Filotera Villas and that will take you down to the main road and close to Musses. It is easier to walk that route than along the busy main street.) Considering it was only 45 euros a night and got a full kitchen, I think it is a great budget place. The cons were that it was the most uncomfortable bed of our trip. I felt springs. Also, we had cold showers the whole time. Now, we later learned that at many of the places you have to turn the hot water heater on 15-30 minutes before taking a shower. This was probably the case here and we just didn’t know it.

Once we were situated, we took showers and semi-unpacked (more like dumped) the contents of our bags. We knew that if we stayed in the room for too long that we would fall asleep and we were determined to get adjusted to the time difference. We grabbed the camera backpack (very nifty contraption we bought for the trip. It looks just like a small hiking pack, but is made with special compartments for the camera and has a place on the outside to store tripod) and our guide book and headed into Ia. We had no idea where to go as we were dropped off at the main road, closer to the edge of the island, but we had passed all the main resorts further down the street. We opted to go back towards the bus stop and start wondering around.

  

AROUND IA

We started by just wondering around the alleys that we later realized were a little off the tourist route. As soon as we stepped back into the first alley, we were glad that we had staying here rather than Fira. Beautiful galleries, less crowded and more sophisticated. It was still drizzling outside and there were hardly any people out. It was actually quite peaceful seeing Ia for the first time this way.

DINNER AT KATINA’S

We ended up deciding to hike down to Ammoudi, after we found our way over to the main part of the Ia village. We stopped as we trekked down and as Josh took pictures I would say “oh, I’ve read about that place”. We got down to the harbor just as the rain cam in. We ran for cover under Katina’s outside roof and nabbed a front row table for what would prove to be a beautiful show. Throughout dinner the rain poured down and we watched as the boats rocked back and forth. I can’t imagine a more peaceful setting. It was like lying in bed listening to the pitter patter of rain on a tin roof. We shared fried Calamari, a delicious and huge chunk of feta, a huge tomato salad, a “sea dream” fish, a beer and water. It completely filled the two of us up. Plus, at the end we got complimentary tastes of San Vinto. The funniest part was when the waiter asked Josh which fish he wanted and he said, “a little one”. They smiled and told him he had to pick it out from inside. I wouldn’t go look at the assortment but he said they have all the fresh, whole fish out from what the fishermen bring in that day. When they brought it out, it was served, cooked, as a whole fish. It was complete with the head in tact. We had no idea how to eat it. Although we were embarrassed, we were more concerned about butchering the dinner. Since I was the girl, I politely asked the Owner how to eat it. He again smiled and asked if we’d like it filleted without the bones. We happily said yes. Those folks must have thought we were idiots. When the fish returned it was open but still had the bones. We were happy enough.

While we had been waiting for dinner to be served, we noticed signs about, “Extras Wanted”. Once we read the sign we realized that Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 was being filmed in Santorini when we returned later in the week. Two of my favorite TV shows are/were Gilmore Girls and Ugly Betty – so I was pretty excited that the two stars would probably be here. I’m guessing that filming here will be much different than in LA.

THE END TO OUR FIRST DAY IN GREECE

Right as dinner ended, the clouds were parting slightly and the rain had stopped so we decided to climb back up to Ia. Oh my gosh! That climb was horrible. I thought I was in shape, but I felt like I was going to have a heart attack. The sky had started turning black, so we were almost running up the steep incline.

We weren’t ready to go home yet, when we got back to the top ofIa. It was still early and we tried to photograph (unsuccessfully) the lightning for quite a while. We walked through some shops and I told Josh that “Yes, even though that glass blown chandelier is made with Santorini sand, is absolutely gorgeous, would look awesome over the new kitchen table and can be shipped and rewired, it would cost almost as much as this entire trip>” He was a little bummed but I finally got him on to another subject. We wondered into a bunch of gorgeous galleries. We made note of one photographer (I think his first name was Nikos and his studio is to the right of Zoe Houses) who did beautiful work.

By 9 the lightning had started to welcome rain and we ducked into an unnamed bar/café that seemed to be the liveliest. The doors were all open and it was on the corner across from Moby Dick’s. They served drinks and ice cream! We nixed the ice cream and each had a drink while we waited for the rain to stop.  As we sat we marveled at how the dogs would all lay at your feet at the restaurants, but never beg for food. Most of them looked healthy and as if begging wasn’t required.

A little after 10 we headed home, proud we had stayed up so late.

THE FLIGHTS

All of our flights, ferries, etc. were on time throughout the trip. So we had no major catastrophes with travel plans.  Josh was deadset on getting to the airport early so Chris dropped us off by 10:55 A.M. for our 1 P.M. flight. By 11:03 A.M. we were standing on the other side of security wondering what to do for 2 hours. We ended up just planting it at the gate and chilled.

The flights were uneventful. Well, the Athens flight had its moments, but apparently I was passed out for them. I have never taken sleeping medicine before now. Because of the 7 hour time difference, I was worried I wouldn’t get any sleep and that it would trigger my migraines. I gave in and took the medicine. I really didn’t notice any difference other than the fact that I slept at least 7 hours of the 10 hour flight. That is completely unheard of for me. I normally can’t sleep on planes at all. Josh, however, said that I was acting drunk and saying nonsense things. I woke up in the middle of the flight and thought that I should take another to go back to sleep. He forbid it, though.

While I was asleep, I apparently missed the near fight in the two seats in front of us. There were 2 guys in their 30’s in front of us. In front of them were a family of 3 who would rotate positions. Apparently, Dad wanted to lay his chair back – pretty normal for an overnight flight, right? The guy in front of us wasn’t having it, though, and would kick the chair repeatedly. Mind you, this same guy stored all his items under my seat, instead of his like you are supposed to, so that he could have more leg room and had his seat reclined the whole flight. Poor Dad finally got to recline after words were exchanged and the military looking guy next to us stared down the troublesome duo. I was happily asleep, though, and only Josh got to enjoy the shanigans.

Going through customs was very quick and painless. We foundAegean and were ecstatic when we were allowed to each carry both our carryons on the plane. We each packed our large camping backpacks and one additional small backpack. We didn’t check any luggage AND we fit all our liquids in those two little Ziploc bags. I was quite impressed with our packing abilities. The airline not only said you could only have one bag as a carry on, but it said it had to be smaller than either of our bags was. We lucked out. Our liquids bags got checked twice before we even got to security. Good thing I had packed them well.

We slept in, had breakfast at Frank's Place and grabbed a few last minute gifts.

Frank's Place was the only place that charged 10% service (which about half of the restaurants did) and then charged taxes on top. However, the set up at Frank's was really nice for a morning meal. We sat outside and there were a good number of people around.

I mentioned before I had a horrible rash reaction from the Isla Tortuga trip. My arm was on fire and I almost had a breakdown in the grocery store when I asked for calamine lotion and they handed me rubbing alcohol. I was terrified to use any sort of medical supplies that I couldn't understand the writing on. Luckily, Milarepa was great and gave me some sort of poison ivy/baby diaper rash cream. The owners told me that it didn't look like sea lice, but we couldn't figure out what else it could have been. I used that and Lore gave me a piece of an Aloe plant. Not sure which one helped but the next morning my arm was much better.

All in all we loved Malpais. We will definitely be going back. It was the perfect place for us. Very chill and gorgeous. One thing that made us sad was the commercial center being built right by Frank's Place. They are putting a hotel, condos and spaces for stores. At the rate they were working, it should take a while to complete.

We checked out and drove up to Alajuela.

ORQUIDEAS INN

We had a lot of trouble finding this place. The only time we really got confused during our trip. We had the map from the website, but since we were coming from the other direction it was hard with no streat names off the highway. We ended up going all the way from the airport and backtracking. We still got lost because the map would show landmarks. At one point it showed a church and a gas station. I thought they were across the street from each other, looking at the map. They were actually 4 blocks apart. The turnoff is actually where there is a large number of signs. I think Xandari and Doka Plantation all have a sign at that fork in the road. There was a sign for Orquideas, but we didn't see it the first time around.

Once we were there we felt at home. We had a roadside room and it was fine. The restaurant was quite expensive, so we spent the evening at the bar eating appetizers and had the strongest margarita I've had in a long time. They had live music, but we were asleep by 7:30! The musician was warming up when we were in there. He even played some Eric Clapton for us. They did have a TV, which we hadn't watched in a long time. The only thing in English was a marathon of Summerland episodes.

Great place to stay before or after the airport.

Sorry this was so long. Believe it or not I left out a lot. Feel free to ask questions.