GREEK ISLANDS – PART 2

We began the second week of our Greek adventure by sailing from Naxos to Mykonos, with the mandatory swim stop along the way. It being a cloudy day, no one was brave enough to test the water. Skipper Jiorgos had caught several nice bream while spear fishing on Koufounisi and treated us to an amazingly tasty fish soup using a recipe of his own making.

Mykonos is a high-end tourist destination much like Santorini. For the average traveller, that has its good and bad points. A walk through the narrow streets is enchanting, with a surprise around every corner, but coffee and tea cost us $14.50! We finished our evening with a lovely group meal at a fancy restaurant worth every Euro.

A typical day on board Serendipity begins with breakfast in the lounge, a small but cozy area amidships that includes a well-equipped galley. The group buys its own food for breakfast and lunch though some passengers choose to buy breakfast at a local bakery. We usually leave port around 9:00 and sail for five or six hours, arriving at our next port of call mid to late afternoon. That gives us enough time to explore the local town on foot and head out to dinner in a local restaurant. Time spent on the water is quite relaxing whether we’re under sail or being propelled by the boat’s 160-hp diesel engine. One learns to just do nothing, something we should all do more often.

Our cabin, billed as a double, is about the size of a small bathroom with a bed narrower than a double. Head room above the bed is no more than 2 feet. The bathroom is about the size of one on a small regional jet and you shower in it using a pull-out sprinkler from the sink. Best to remember to remove everything before you take a shower as there’s nothing worse than wet underwear or wet toilet paper. And, oh yes, before I forget, no toilet paper in the toilet! It has to go in the waste basket, something I still have a hard thing getting used to. For comfort, while it rates above a Central Asian yurt, a swag in the Australian Outback, and some of the places we’ve stayed in Central America and Bolivia, it’s pretty basic.

Day 6 of our journey began with a steady rain that seeped through one of our cabin windows and dripped onto my legs. While far from a deluge, it was enough to wake me up to retrieve a bowl from the galley to catch the worst of it. We woke a few hours later to find that a whole shelf was soaked and some of our things with it, of course. When we docked at the village of Finikas on the island of Syros, a man was waiting for us with a gasket to fix the leaky window and skipper Jiorgos soon arrived with a fan to dry things off. No muss. No fuss. We couldn’t have asked for better service.

This next tale is one right out of Ripley’s Believe It or Not! The couple in our neighbouring cabin noticed a fishy smell one morning and lifted their mattress to find a sardine under it. Two evenings previous, we’d watched fascinated as a group of men fished for sardines with a net cast right off the dock. They used a light to attract the fish and herded them into it with a small boat. Sardines were jumping everywhere and, we guess, one must have been attracted to the cabin light and jumped through our neighbour’s open window. It’s things like these you remember, and they help explain why we like travelling with Intrepid. Expect the unexpected, deal with the problem and just move on…

We made the best of a rainy afternoon in Foinikas and spent part of it in a lovely bakery/café. I keep wondering why the bakery/café model isn’t more popular where we come from. Supermarkets here don’t even try to compete with local bakeries because folks insist on fresh and a nice place to have a coffee or tea. People here know something we don’t. And to top it off, coffee and tea cost $4.50 in Foinikas, less than a third the Mykonos price. That evening, we had a local family prepare a delicious dinner for us and left there with full bellies. Greek food has been amazing!

We took full advantage of our day on Syros, taking the bus into the main town, Ermoupoli, in the morning. Along the way, we saw olive orchards, vineyards and greenhouses, this island being far greener than others we’ve seen thus far. It started raining not long after we arrived, so we had to find something to do indoors. After hanging out in a local café for awhile, we visited the Greek Orthodox Church of Saint Nicholas and the nearby Apollo Theatre. The Theatre, built in the 1860s, operated until the end of World War II when it closed and was later declared unsafe. Restoration began in the 90s and was completed in 2000. We watched from the upper balcony as three musicians (piano, flute and violin) rehearsed for a music festival taking place there this week. We spent a relaxing hour or so there, just listening to the beautiful music and taking in the classic surroundings.

Next on my list was a climb up to the Catholic Cathedral of Saint George, perched on the highest point of land in Ermoupoli. It was still raining when we started the hike up. At the top, the humidity was oppressive, but the climb was worth it, as they always are. The Cathedral is built atop smaller chapels and churches, the first one dating from the Byzantine era in the eighth or ninth century. Ermoupoli, population 15,000, is the administrative capital of the Cyclades and boasts a sizable shipyard. It is a very busy place, even in this, the low tourist season. The wet marble alleyways sparkled, making for a pleasant wander around the old part of town before we rode the bus back to our marina.

The sun was strong and the sea calm as we left Foinikas headed for Paros. After a swim stop, we docked at the main town called Parikia, which has a charming harbour framed by two very nice beaches. We strolled through the typical labyrinth of narrow streets framed with orange and pomegranate trees and made our way to the town’s main attraction, the Panagia Ekatontapiliani, or “church of one hundred doors”. It is said that its oldest features date back to the fourth century AD. We came back after sunset to see the oldest part of the existing structure under the lights. Before that, we watched the sun set over a traditional Cycladian windmill. Not a bad way to end our day.

Jiorgos told us to expect bad weather between Paros and Ios, but even he had no idea what lay in store on our second-last day aboard Serendipity. What started out as gentle rain got progressively worse as we spotted the black skies on the horizon. The wind freshened and we heard a few claps of distant thunder. Just as we thought we were through the worst of it, the shit hit the fan.

Four of us, including Elva and I, stayed in the cockpit to watch the spectacle unfold. Lightning bolts hit very close to us and were followed almost instantaneously by loud claps of thunder. The boat rocked and heaved and the awning over our heads began to leak under the force of the wind and rain. My earworm through the whole ordeal was the theme from Gilligan’s Island; it kept playing in my head over and over again. As the storm peaked, Jiorgos ordered the four of us belowdecks as he tried to keep the boat going in a straight line. The first video was taken by Claire before we were sent belowdecks.

The peak gust hit 66 knots, equal to 122 km/hr, Beaufort 12, a wind speed that would result in a hurricane warning. The short video below was taken by our skipper.

Upon reaching Ios, I got down on my knees and symbolically kissed the dock. To be honest, I loved the feeling of being in such a violent storm. It made me feel alive! To get our land legs back, Elva and I hiked the 3-kilometer trail out to the lighthouse that guards the entrance to the main harbour on Ios. It was a great way to finish another exciting day. Along the way, we got a good look at the private island being developed into a Greek billionaire's estate.

We left Ios early on the morning of our last day, headed back to the island of Santorini where we docked at Oia, said goodbye to our companions, took a taxi to Firostefani, and walked to our nearby hotel, the Ellinon Thea. Both of us welcomed a real bed and our first real shower in ten days. It being my 72^nd birthday, we had a nice meal at a nearby restaurant, where we shared a table with a nice couple from Red Deer, Beth and Joe Benoit.

The Cyclades make for a wonderful trip but one that’s not simple to organize. Those calling at one of the islands on a cruise ship, especially a busy one like Santorini, have to plan their day carefully and in advance. The two other options are to island-hop by ferry or to do it like we did on a small boat with a knowledgeable skipper. We considered the first but decided against it simply because of the logistics: ferry schedules, transport from port to hotel and back, and packing and unpacking. This way, we saw just enough of each island to give us a taste and, with Jiorgos’ help, experienced the best each had to offer. Elva might have been a might cold on a few of the rainier days, but she dressed for the weather, stopped taking Gravol after the first two days, and didn’t get seasick!

 

GREEK ISLANDS – PART 1

It took 22 hours door-to-door to reach our hotel in Firostefani on the island of Santorini where we were welcomed at our small hotel, Remvi Suites, by a smiling hostess who went out of her way to help us get orientated. The hotel hangs on the cliff edge, overlooks the caldera and offers spectacular views of the sunset as it falls over the nearby island of Thirasia. Just outside our door is the “Caldera Trail”, a bucket-list hike that runs from the main center, Fira, to Oia, the island’s northernmost town. A “caldera” is a large volcanic crater, especially one formed by a major eruption leading to the collapse of the mouth of the volcano. Although this is the shoulder season, the Trail was wall-to-wall people on the Sunday afternoon of our arrival.

In land area, Santorini is about the same size as Charlottetown and Stratford combined, not that big really, with a permanent population of about 15,000. It is visited by 2 million tourists annually, compared to the 1.7 million who visit our province. Santorini is one of the chain of islands called the Cyclades, over 2,000 in total, 33 of them inhabited. The eruption that formed the caldera and all but destroyed Santorini occurred about 3,600 years ago and is thought to have been the second-largest eruption on earth in the last 10,000 years.

On our first full day, we hiked the Caldera Trail from our hotel to Oia, a 10-kilometer stretch along the cliff edge featuring jaw-dropping views of the sea far below. Much of the Trail is lined with hotels and restaurants though some sections are barren and rocky. We passed several blue-domed white Orthodox churches on our way. The volcanic landscape reminded me of other islands we’ve visited, Iceland, the Galapagos, Cabo Verde, Dominica, and the Canaries, for example. The countryside is barren and dry, not much to look at really, and I wouldn’t want to try growing anything here. Arriving in Oia, we were surrounded by passengers from the four cruise ships in port that day, many with stickers on their shirts, dutifully following tour guides they probably couldn’t hear. After a refreshment stop at a nice outdoor café, we took the local bus back to Fira. My Garmin showed almost 20,000 steps and over 100 stories, not bad for Day 2!

On Day 3, we walked from our hotel to the bus station in nearby Fira and rode to Akrotiri. Local buses are cheap and reliable, but don’t expect drivers or the fare collectors to be friendly or helpful. They aren’t! Akrotiri has been inhabited for at least 6,000 years and was a major fishing and trading center in its heyday, featuring paved streets and an extensive drainage system. It all came to a sudden end with the eruption of the volcano, burying the city under many meters of ash and volcanic debris. As with Pompeii and Herculaneum in Italy, much of Akrotiri was preserved, and extensive archaeological digs have been underway since the site was discovered in 1867.

The modern excavation of Akrotiri began in 1967. Frescoes, pottery and a few golden objects have been recovered and preserved. A roofed structure covering three acres protects the excavated ruins and allows visitors like us to see and imagine what life must have been like in this surprisingly advanced society. The bigger houses were a full two storeys with an open rooftop area and had their own indoor “bécosse”, a lavatory that drained into a piped sewer system.

We walked from the site to nearby Red Beach, so-named for the ochre-coloured rocks which make up the nearby cliffs. “Beach” is a relative term I suppose since, in this case, what they call sand is just gravel to us. Still, the water looked very inviting and the place was packed.

Santorini is a busy place, too busy really, and we were there in the low season! It reminded me a bit of Bali and some places in the Caribbean: nice but overcrowded to the point where the attraction becomes secondary. And very expensive! Staff in the higher-end tourist establishments are well-trained and friendly but get away from the Caldera and you find the locals to be impatient at best and very rude at worst. I hope our island never gets to be that way.

We took the bus on the morning of Day 4 to the port of Athinios where we met our Intrepid tour guide and the skipper of our sailing vessel, Jiorgos, a handsome 30-something from the Greek island of Chios. We took a ferry to the nearby island of Ios and arrived there late afternoon, got settled in our tiny cabin, and went for dinner with our fellow passengers. There are ten of us in all, squeezed into very tight quarters: 3 are from the UK, 2 are from New Zealand, and 3 are from Australia. Most are experienced travellers and have been on adventure trips like these before.

We didn’t have much time on Ios, just enough to have dinner together at a nice restaurant. After a fitful night getting used to our 56-foot home for the next nine days, we sailed out of the harbour headed for Amorgos, a four-hour sail away. We stopped for an hour for a swim break and I took full advantage of the crystal-clear water that must have been about 22C, warm by my standards. The last leg of our journey was quite rough and a few of us were looking green about the gills by the time we motored into the harbour at Katapola, a village of some 500 souls.

Jiorgos told us that a visit to the Holy Monastery of the Virgin Mary was a must, so eight of us piled into a taxi and drove to the other side of the island. The pure white structure clings precariously to a cliff some 300 meters above the sea. We climbed the 300 steps to the building, entered through a low, narrow door and began our exploration of the interior. Though all of it is not open to the public, one gets a taste of how it must be to live there, a spartan existence, totally removed from society. Only two monks remain, both in their 80s, and one of them proudly showed us the icon brought from a monastery in Palestine not long after it was built in the ninth century. In the August high season, as many as 1,000 visitors per day make the climb. It is one of those places where time seems to stand still.

Next morning, we sailed out of Katapola harbour and headed toward a chain of islands called the lesser Cyclades. Our target for the day was the small island of Koufounisia. It being a very calm day, the skipper didn’t bother to hoist the sails. After the mandatory swim stop, we motored into the small harbour and moored the Serendipity before heading off for a walk along the coast. We walked past multi-coloured limestone cliffs carved into interesting shapes by the force of the ocean.

That evening, we dined al fresco at a local restaurant and I had my first feed of grilled squid on this trip; the biggest I'd ever eaten and it was amazing! The small town of the same name is quite beautiful and many locals were out and about as we walked back through the narrow streets on our way back to the dock.

We sailed past more interesting rock formations on the way to our next port of call, the town of Chora on the island of Naxos, largest of the Cyclades with a population of 20,000 or so and an area about one-fifth the size of Prince County. Chora is the largest town we’ve visited since leaving Santorini and is a much more laid-back and easy-going place. We took a walk through the lower town and located the place where we’ll stay for three weeks after finishing our Intrepid adventure. We took Jiorgos’ advice and dined at a quaint restaurant in the Old Market that reminded us of Le vieux Québec. It was a pleasant evening for a walk along the waterfront and, although the peak season is over, there were many people around.