THE HIKE FROM IA TO FIRA

Before we left I had printed a bunch of hikes, for both Santorini and Folegandros, from this website:http://www.cycladen.be/IntroductionEng.htm. It was great. The hikes were extremely detailed in the directions and gave you an idea of what you were hiking by.

We intended to be up and hiking by 8. However, I woke up at 7:30(I adjusted to the time difference immediately) and let Josh sleep in for another 45 minutes.  I was lucky this morning and was able to get one leg shaved before the water turned cold! We still got out the door by 9. We decided to do the hike from Ia to Fira. It said it would take 2 ½ hours and we anticipated it would be more scenic than strenuous. Boy, were we wrong. We were going up and down mountains. There were stone paths at some places, but most of it was dirt or hiking through a bit of rock. There were some absolutely beautiful views along the way and we passed a bunch of old churches. One church near Fira was very stunning. We went up close to get pictures and I was quite startled when I realized the Greek man sitting on the church was not a statue, but a real person staring at me silently.

We saw people during the first and last ½ hours of the trip, but were completely by ourselves on during the middle portion of the hike. The sun was going in and out and I can’t imagine how hot it would be during the heat of summer.

It was neat to come into Fira from this way as we got to see a lot of the resorts and restaurants we wouldn’t have seen otherwise. There was a group of private houses in a resort like setting that were absolutely gorgeous.

LUNCH IN FIRA AND FERRIES

Once we got into Fira, we grabbed a quick bite to eat before getting on the bus to check out the wineries. We each got a spinach pie that seemed to fill us up at the Bakery next to the Toast Club on the main street, not too far from the bus stop.

We then decided to go ahead and buy our ferry tickets to Folegandros. (You can’t get them in Ia, only Fira.) That was simple enough and the tickets were only 7 euros a person for the 3 hour ride. We tried to get our tickets for Sunday also, but were a little shocked when they told us that there were no ferries that day – Only Saturday or Monday. I got out my trusty printouts that I had brought with the schedule for Sunday. The lady shrugged and said it must have been cancelled. We decided to try somewhere else tomorrow and see if we got a different story.

WINERIES, ETC.

After rejuvenating ourselves, we hopped on a bus to Kamari, as the map looked like it should put us in the vicinity of Canaves Roussos. True to form, we missed the stop and saw the winery on the right as we buzzed by. Somehow we got our point across to the bus attendant and he told us we could stay on the bus and he would drop us off on the way back. It worked out, because we were able to see the little town by Kamari Beach where there were quite a bit of hotels and beachgoers. This town seemed much different than the other two. They had a lot of outdoor restaurants.

During our bus ride, we had a group of Greek teenagers behind us. They brought their own boom box and played music and danced during the whole ride. They were obviously regulars on the bus. I was sitting there thinking, “man Greeks have an artist that sounds just like Jay-Z”. Then I realized it was. I don’t know if these kids spoke any English but it was hilarious hearing them sing along to pretty inappropriate hip-hop songs and wonder if they have any idea what they are saying.

Canaves Roussos has a small cave like room that you can go and guide yourself through. There are some explanatory signs that tell you what you are looking out and printouts in several languages. We looked around for a few minutes and then came back out to the tasting bar. I believe there were 7 wines that you could taste for 1 euro each. I tried the Niktori, which was a fairly good dry white and the Athiri which was a semi-sweet white rose. The latter was way too sweet for me. The terrace where they serve you is extremely peaceful. A lot of vines were growing overhead on the terraces and quiet spa-like music played in the background.  We relaxed for a few minutes before making our way to the next destination – Art Space.

We had pieced together maps and directions and had a hard time figuring out exactly where all these places were. The lady at Canaves told us that Art Space was just a minute back down the main street and then off to the left. Once we were on the main street we saw signs that pointed us all the way to Art Space.

Art Space was one of our favorite places during the whole trip. It is a high end art gallery set in a series of cave-like buildings. The owner also makes wine and if I understood him correctly he had the last working pasta sauce making system. I believe he said he uses it for both the wine and the sauce. Don’t quote me on that because he had a very thick accent and I only understood about every other word.

When we first got there we were the only visitors and the Owner, in fact, was trying to fit in some lunch. He explained how busy it is and that it is hard for him to find time to eat. He unlocked the first cave for us and I instantly fell in love with the space. High quality art in a very rustic setting. Only a few minutes after we entered, a group of five Australians showed up. We ended up looking at each of the three rooms with them. The Owner explained that most of the work is from top notch Greek Artists, but that he did have some pieces from a Boston artist who loved painting Greece . The Owner would explain the background of any artist that intrigued you.

When I was awestruck with the beauty of the space, I told the Owner how much I loved it. He looked at me carefully, smiled and said, “You have beautiful eyes. (I actually get complimented on my eyes a bit, so I wasn’t too taken back, but then he continued.) Everyone has them, but so few people ever use them.” I thought about the simplicity and truth in what he had said. This set the mood for the rest of my trip – To actually “see” what we were experiencing.

After we were done looking at the art, we were invited to try his wines. We tried the San Vinto, the Nixtori and two grappas. He got a thrill out of seeing me try his double distilled grappa, which was an extremely potent straight alcohol.  We hadn’t tried any grappa during our trip, yet, but the other group of folks told us that it was much better than any they had had at the restaurants so far.  I bought a bottle of white for only 10 euros and he wrapped it up for us to take. He also gave us some suggestions of places to go in Pyrgos (the last small town on our itinerary for the afternoon), but Josh’s ankle was hurting and we decided to catch the bus.

Well, we should have just caught the bus back in front of Canaves Roussos. We decided to walk a little to meet the bus at the next stop. We were passed by the bus coming the other way, so we knew that it would be coming back around in about 15 minutes. We were relieved when we finally found a big blue sign with a red X on it. We had seen those before and assumed it meant bus stop. I looked in my guide book to see if there was an indication as to what bus signs looked like, but nothing. Within a few minutes we saw the bus come, keep going and stop about 50m past us. Hmmmm. We hadn’t found the bus stop. This was not good and the next bus wasn’t scheduled to come for quite some time. We flagged down a taxi and asked him to take us to Fira where we would catch the bus back to Ia. He tried to convince us that we had already missed the Ia bus and to use him all the way back. We decided to take our chances. That was a good choice as the taxi driver was wrong (or lying) and we still had 5 minutes to catch the bus.  We were exhausted and headed back to the studio to rest before dinner.

We got back and Josh read (although he said he was taking a nap) while I went into Ia to get on the internet and check the ferry situation. On a side note, when did my husband start reading? In the 7 ½ years that we have been together, I think he has read one book. On this trip he read 3.

DINNER AT CONDOUNI

When I returned, we got ready and headed into Ia for dinner. We were amazed at the hordes of people walking towards the end of the village. We made our way over there and saw everyone lining the walks a good hour before sunset. We didn’t want to waste this great lighting and spent most of the time just wandering and getting pictures. We then fought our way into a spot on the castle to watch the sunset. Unfortunately, the sun slipped behind the low horizon clouds and there was no Santorini sunset to watch.

We then headed over to Condouri where I had made reservations earlier in the day when I was doing my internet errand. I wandered into the restaurant and was told to pick my table for the night. I ended up with #4, which I think was the prettiest. It was tucked into the left corner as you entered. When they reserve the table, they reserve it for the whole night. We came in and helped ourselves to our table. I can’t say enough about this restaurant. First it is absolutely beautiful at night – almost magical. I’ve only been to one restaurant that even came close in terms of romantic. I love candlelight, so that probably had a lot to do with it. There were candles everywhere. The walls that enclosed the terrace had alcoves built into them where candles were placed. The old wax dripped down the walls. There wood and fabric awnings over the sides of the outdoor terrace. Absolutely gorgeous. There were four other couples outside with us and a few groups inside. There were enough people there that it was alive, but not so many that we didn’t feel privacy. The closest table of people was a good 15-20 feet away. We ordered the Grilled Houllumi cheese as an appetizer. (I get hungry just thinking about it). They also brought a fava bean dip and caper spread with the bread. I had the penne in a light white cream sauce and Josh had the lamb with mustard sauce. He said that the lamb was the tenderest lamb he has ever eaten. We don’t usually order bottles of wine, but we felt as though this was a special occasion. We took the woman’s advice (I’m guessing she was the Owner’s wife?) and ordered the house white “Condouni” wine. I was a little skeptical why she was pushing the cheapest bottle of wine, but I figured that they must clear more on the house wine. I was wrong. The wine was a delicious semi-sweet white. Not too dry, not too sweet. Josh asked for a taste, but I knew what that meant. He would always ask for a taste, then pucker his face when he sipped it and hand it back. However, for some reason he really liked this one and ended up sharing the bottle with me.

We couldn’t believe it when we realized it was 11 and we were still at dinner. We got our check and headed out. We went over to Melenios bakery, because we had been eyeing the desserts in the window that looks down into their shop. We ended up getting a chocolate soufflé, a piece of mixed cake and a beer for 5 euro. You can’t beat that. I don’t think the beer was really part of the deal and it was a very shady encounter where Josh really wanted one of the Coronas that a “friend of the bakery” was drinking.  We took our dessert back to the studio and ate it on the terrace before heading off to bed. 

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.