Γεια σου οικογένεια και φίλοι
(Hello Family and Friends, in Greek)
Before our week on the Greek isles of Santorini and Naxos, we boarded a train in Briare to Paris, finding our pre-paid seats occupied by other folks due to an overflow of passengers from points south whose trains were not available! Some kid was in my seat with his dog in a cage on the seat next to him. He merely smiled at me when I showed him my ticket with his seat number on it. Anger management class might have helped at this moment. We got through this and arrived at our overnight dwelling, Hotel St. Christophe, off Rue Monge in Paris’ Latin Quarter, where we cleaned up, washed our clothing at a local Lavage and experienced a rocking Saturday night cruising around Mouffetard Square (we lovingly called it Moffett Turd Square), rife with bustling carousers and busking musicians (one of whom grabbed Maggie to dance with him, as she was dropping a tip into their collective hat), finally settling in for a meal at Le Petit Provence, a cozy, red & white checked table clothed eatery on Rue du Pot de Fer, dining on avocado salad, onion soup, lamb, veal and wine. Before leaving the next day, we wandered through the large Place Monge open-air market with vendors selling beautiful cashmere scarves, a palette of colorful fruits & shiny vegetables and hawking from aproned fishmongers (poissonniers).
Our flight from Orly airport with Mike and Karen, to the Greek isle of Santorini arrived at 7:45 PM. The ride from the airport to our B&B, Danae Villa, was nowhere to be seen. Eventually, all was well, meeting our hostess, Evi, around 9 PM. A bit of education before proceeding: Santorini, in historical terms was named Thera (or Thira) and the main city on the Caldera were we were to stay for 4 nights, is named Fira, a bit confusing for us visitors and non-history buffs. This Caldera was formed by the Minoan eruption (4 times the size of the 1883 Krakatoa eruption!) in the Bronze Age (somewhere between 1645 BC and 1500 BC), leaving cliffs that measure 300 meters from the water, with 400 meters below the water surface. Our ‘welcome’ to Fira was a torrential downpour while dining up the hill at the Caldera, at Ellinikon Restaurant, dining on carbonara and Greek salads, watching the collateral damage of those outside the restaurant, under sagging umbrellas! Welcome to Santorini!
On our 1st full day, the 4 of us decided to try out the bus system for this narrow island, targeting a ride to the hill town of Pyrgos, which was only 20 minutes away. We were all mesmerized by the maneuverability of the bus drivers coming in and out of a very small staging arena. Upon arrival in Pyrgos, we ignored directions and proceeded to wander upwards, on 5’ wide stoned walkways, winding our way around white and blue hued dwellings (much like Chefchaouen in Morocco), passing by artisan niches and eventually arriving at Franco’s café at the top of this hill town, with a commanding westward view. The wind was whipping, against a background of 1930’s-1940’s jazz recordings. Descending to catch a bus back, we came across a donkey burdened with luggage and sundries being unloaded, and a small chapel, again lighting a candle, this time for Maggie’s Book Club compatriots who are going through trying times. We got back to Fira in time for our 1st sunset at the Caldera, being waited on by Dimitri, who saw to it that we got front row seats. Our dinner that night consisted of squid and Santorini salad. We mused about the cable car down to the sea (587 steps if one was to walk it). Due to line-ups, that concept was quickly dropped.
Maggie and I, on our own, proceeded to take on the hike from Perissa to Kamarai Beach, via the ‘Saddle’ of Mesa Vouno Mountain and the Ancient Thira trail, a winding hike of 860 feet ascent over a rock-strewn path, passing by ruins, the Zoodochos Pigi church and natural springs (the main water source for the island in ancient times), then descending to the black sand pebbled beach of Kamari. After sunset and back in Fira, Maggie and I dined on lamb and Stamna salad at Garden Stamna, having a relaxing dinner until Maggie screamed, jumping up, and exclaiming something was on her leg. Turned out it was a 3” cockroach, which had then scurried behind a wooden picture on the wall, me killing it with my slip-on Keen shoe, becoming Maggie’s hero for the night. This was a great move on my part, as the next day was our 43rd wedding anniversary.
Our last day on Santorini, we all met up at Perissa Beach, the white sand swimming venue, doing a quintessential touristy umbrella and recliner afternoon, ordering drinks like the Full Moon Orgasm. The Aegean Sea was clear, pristine and in the mid-70’s temperature-wise…a wonderful end to our time on this isle. Our last dinner was at Nikola’s, a truly Greek local dining experience, with Ouzo, the Handmade Dolmadakia House red wine, octopus with Fava and Greek salad.
Maggie and I had purchased online tickets in Seattle for a ferry from Santorini to Naxos Town (Chora) on the island of Naxos, the largest of the Cyclades isles. So, on October 4, we arrived at Santorini’s port of Athinios via a cliff-side and winding hairpin-turned road down to the docks, where we were non-plussed about the boarding process since there were hundreds of folks standing around, no signage or personnel who could tell us what to expect. We eventually discovered we would all be using the same vessel and dropped off at various islands, kind of like Shuttle Express. In the process of waiting and not understanding what to expect, we approached a woman sitting near us, asking if she spoke English. Turns out she was Glenys, an Australian from Melbourne, traveling on her own and was in the dark as well. The ‘ferry’ was not of the Washington State variety…it was a massive, 280 foot long, 85 foot wide, 5 ton, catamaran, the Champion Jet 2, with 2 huge aft doors for loading massive transports and, this day, 800 passengers. When we boarded through these massive entrances, we felt like we were just so much cattle, seeing luggage being dumped, expecting that we would all be sitting down in the hold, on our bags. Nope, we put our stuff on racks and walked up steps to the passenger area where seating was available. On the voyage, Maggie and I went outside and aft, where this vessel was throwing up a huge wake (felt and looked like 50 mph but, when asked, we were told it was 35 mph!). We bonded with Glenys and upon disembarking our vessel, we let her know that we had a car rented for the next day and would be traversing the island, targeting Apeiranthos, a hill town Anthony Bourdain had highlighted in one of his Parts Unknown segments and if she was interested in joining us, “show up at the Avis office at 9 AM”.
We were met dockside by Teodoro, husband of Rena, the owner of Pension Sofi, our B&B for the next 3 nights, upon arrival meeting Rena’s father, Panos, a warm and stoic Greek who started this business 40 years ago and now just hangs around, smiling, drinking coffee. When we told Rena about touring the island, she quickly brought out a map, noting places to seek out. She’s the reason we are attracted to small, boutique offerings. We left shortly to check out Naxos Town (Chora), using a map with no street names, only pictures and names of key landmarks, e.g., ZAS, Hotel Coronis and Main Square. Our most important target was AVIS, to find it (note, we were told it was close to Main Square) so that we would arrive on time in the morning to set off on our daylong road trip. We took the long way, following the harbor route, finding Main Square and voila!, 2 blocks away, the AVIS logo. It was 7 PM and the office was open, so we introduced ourselves to “Irene” at the front desk and discovered she had just been visited by Glenys, who had done the same thing as we had done…sleuth out the location in advance…RECON missions accomplished! So we knew we would be a trio on the road.
On our walk back toward Sofi, we espied a sign, “Old Market Entrance”, a magnet for us which we responded to quickly and entered to find a warren of narrow and cobblestoned paths with small shops on either side, easily getting lost, trying to find a way toward a restaurant recommended to us, Doukato, which was prominently displayed on the map, but not easily found. Finally, success! We entered an open air courtyard dining area, draped with the leaves hanging from the branches of gnarled trees and surrounded by wandering cats, one of which was nestled in the branches of our tree. The ambience was enhanced with London-like gas lamps hanging from tree branches and Greek music in the background. We were presented with great wait staff, who quickly advised us to take a table against one of the stone walls to diminish the rather strong winds whipping us, coming from the north, something that would prevent our swimming and be ever present wherever we were on Naxos. Our dining experience included a huge plate of mushrooms with garlic, and equally huge Greek salad and 4 huge grilled shrimps, red wine and Ouzo. An excellent recommendation from Rena, especially for our 1st night.
The 3 of us took off around 9:30 AM, the next morning, driving a white Peugeot with a manual transmission for what turned out to be a 9 hour day filled with wondrous scenery, ruins, great food and hilarity. Of course, almost immediately, we screwed up the directions given us on how to get out to the primary roadway to head east toward our target hill town, Apeiranthos, and ended up at a machine shop where Glenys offered to ask for help, given that she could speak Greek, learned as a 20-something year old when she had lived in Greece for several years, living a “Mama Mia” life, performing Greek dancing with a small group of fellow vagabonds. What a pleasant surprise for us!!! Not only did we all bond, but her language skills were extremely helpful on this day trip. Next, getting re-oriented, we narrowly escaped another faux pas when we stopped to gas up (our tank was only a quarter full) and I pulled up to the unleaded pumps, wherein, the attendant (thank god) motioned me to the Diesel pump, since the gas cap said “Diesel”!
Our nearest target before Apeiranthos would be the Dimitra Temple at Yiroulas, a 530 B.C. structure, built of marble. It was not easy to find, but we received clearer directions while at the Bazeos Tower, a 17th Century monastery. We finally found Dimitra down an obscure narrow dirt road, walking up to the sanctuary on a path of large ancient slate pavers. The site exhibited the partially restored temple and an outbuilding along with miscellaneous medium-sized slabs of Naxian marble of unimaginable weights. Following the itinerary Rena laid out, we next stopped in Halki around noon, visiting the Kitron (Kitpon, many of the words were both Greek and Greek with anglicized spellings) Distillery, where we tasted Kitron Naxou, a liqueur made from the leaves of the citron tree. Before heading back out on the road, we wandered the few blocks of this small cozy town, espying a sign, “Homemade Custard Pastry”, and pointed it out to Glenys, who jumped for joy, believing it to refer to Galaktoboureko, a favorite of hers, which was confirmed by the little old female proprietor and baker. We were overwhelmed with this delightful dessert, which had been created only a few hours before our arrival. We finally had to leave this small local community hub, with the locals sipping their Greek coffees, relaxing and chatting it up, to proceed with the rest of our discoveries of Naxos.
Next stop, the restaurant Rotonda, located outside Apeiranthos and highlighted by Anthony Bourdain in a 2016 Parts Unknown segment we had watched. Along the way we would spot small chapels, their domes brilliantly white in the afternoon sun, isolated high on individual hilltops. Just before arriving at Rotonda, we stopped to walk up to a very old neglected windmill and were regaled with the overreaching view from its site. On the terrace at Rotonda, we had another magnificent view from our elevation of 2,000 feet, dining on Naxian salads and pork with wine sauce. Here we posed for photos of our newfound friendship and then moved on, searching for an old church Rena had told us about, first finding an old cemetery in Apeiranthos, replete with beautiful marble tombs and finally finding someone who had a vague idea of how we might find this unnamed church we were seeking. It now had a name, Panagia Drossiani, the oldest Christian church and a Byzantine icon dating back to the 4th Century A.D. Access to it was pretty tricky, with a faded sign we blew by on a curved narrow road, almost dismissing going back due to its location, up a small path and no apparent parking. However, we had been so determined to find it that we went back, parked precariously close to the road and walked up the path, coming across a vendor of scarves, table runners, etc., entering a very small edifice to find the hoary “guardianness” of this treasure who also was accepting coins for candle lightings. This small space was broken into 3 sections, 4th, 7th & 12th Centuries A.D., the first presenting as more of a dungeon than anything religious! Maggie took a photo of a very faded fresco that was in one of these rooms, allegedly the visage of the Savior. Attempting a photo of our “guardianness”, she refused, so you just have to use your imagination about her personage.
The trip back to Chora was a lot of fun, recounting our day’s experiences, getting back to AVIS at 6:30 PM, tangled up in all the myriad one-way streets, driving 4 times the amount we needed to end up in front of the office. We said “Good-Bye” to Glenys and thanked her for making this a truly memorable experience. We thought we would all meet up at the Domus Music Festival at the Castle later that evening, but, alas, we were too tired and pooped out.
Our last full day in Chora consisted of walking up to the Castle, visiting the theater we had missed the night before, walking out onto the terrace and seeing the Blue Star ferry loading and unloading huge trucks and cars, the wind whipping waves, the captain trying to maintain his ship’s position to allow an easy access to the ship’s hold. We revisited the Old Market’s narrow and warren-like corridors, running into Glenys and going to lunch together at the 1908 Lucullus Taverna, a totally authentic Greek eatery, with painted plates on wall racks, wooden barrels on the rafters, a quaint and cozy affair! Dining on lamb Klefiko (traditional recipe with Feta and Gruyere cheeses), Feast of Vegetables salad, sweet Naxos cheese (Glikonizithra) and vinaigrette of carrots and dill. Maggie and I finished off the afternoon walking along the waterfront to St. George Beach, watching wind surfers in this shallow bay, walking out 30 meters from shore and only up their waist. We traversed the back streets on our way back to Pension Sofi, passing communal potable water stations and imbibing, stumbling onto Papyrus in the Old Market warren, a huge used books store with a large English language section where I picked up a replacement book for one I was just finishing. Ended the day watching a beautiful waterfront sunset, sitting on sofas in a plastic covered venue, shielding us from the constant northerly winds that had beset us the whole time we were there, but which did not diminish one whit our great adventures on this island.
We leave you now, as we prepare to absent ourselves from Naxos, Rena, Teodoro, Panos and Pension Sofi to head to Athens and on to Istanbul.
Cheers, Stan & Maggie