Santorini -- Perissa

 

One of my goals on this trip was to do it big for my 52^nd birthday.  I wanted to be on Santorini for the day – nothing else really.  Just get myself to the Greek island I’ve wanted to visit for decades.  I didn’t plan on the 13^th to be a travel day and the mishigas that goes with that, but that’s just how it landed. At the very least I got to go by ferry and not have to endure the airport.

I love being on the water.  The Blue Star Ferry was set up like a cruise ship in that it had multiple seating areas/lounges and cafes.  It was nice to be able to sit with my luggage in front of a table so that I could write.  The two hours flew by and, after a stop at the island of Ios, we reached Santorini.

The first thing you see when you reach the port is this huge wall of rock.  Not the most welcoming sight which only got worse when I realized that there is a road winding up the mountain.  I gawked.  Is that the only way to get out of the port?  Unless I were to get back on the boat, yes, I would have to go up that thing.  Now how would I do it?

At the base of the mountain are all the stalls full of people trying to take your money.  I stood there with my bags just a bit overwhelmed.  There were buses and taxis everywhere, transfer services with people out front hawking their prices, and plenty of cars on offer for rental.  I already knew I had no interest in driving anywhere in Greece (and certainly not up that beast) so I would have to hire someone. But who?

A gentleman had noticed my confused tourist vibe and crossed the street to get my attention.  He was with a transfer service and said that he’d have no problem getting me to my hotel. I followed him, paid him 30 euros and then waited.  We went back across the street to the buses, but there was some confusion among the drivers.  I just stood there for 5 minutes until they figured out who was driving which bus.  Turns out none of the buses were going.  Instead, this darkly handsome dude (think Oded Fehr from the Mummy movies) took me to a car and we were on our way.

The road out of Santorini port is just awful.  Both Portugal and Greece have their share of scary roads but this one takes the cake.  We’re in bumper-to-bumper traffic, including some buses, along this narrow, windy, barely paved road that’s way too close to the edge of a cliff.  The curves are particularly ugly as they are even more narrow and a hazard if someone was coming from the opposite direction.  I gritted my teeth and wondered at just how often I’ve put my life in the hands of complete strangers on this trip.

After a silent 20-minute journey, we miraculously made it to the hotel.  I gotta admit The Best!!! hotel looked kinda dodgy from the outside.  Kitschy and weird and not in a good way.  The reception office was empty of people, but full of stuff.  The area behind the desk was shrewn with mismatched furniture while the tiny area in front of it had shelves on my right crammed with books in multiple languages. A bell went off as soon as I entered and continued to sound until a friendly man showed up and turned it off.  He introduced himself as Mr. Vassilis, the owner, then quickly handed me off to a woman named Maria.  I got the impression that this is the person who really runs the place and I’d find out later that I was right.

Maria processed my paperwork and explained how the island worked.  She grabbed one of my bags and showed me to my room.  She let me know that while it was okay to put toilet paper in the toilet (yay) the water was undrinkable from the tap.  I learned that the hard way when I went to brush my teeth that night and, out of habit, ran the toothbrush under the tap.  Yeah.  Never did that again.  That water may look clear, but the taste is beyond foul.

One of the reasons I chose this place was its proximity to the beach.  Upon first sight of the black sand beach, I was a little … disappointed is not the word.  It was simply that I missed Naxos and its golden beach.  I was a little upset that I hadn’t given myself more time to really explore the island.  It was only on my last day that I discovered my new favorite café.  It was only as I was boarding the ferry that I saw the arch of Aphrodite’s temple for which the island is famous.  I didn’t even get a chance to go up there.  I thought, as I laid eyes on Perissa’s dark sands, that the beach was nicer on Naxos.

                            (I do love this shot.  There's a whole man-against-the-world vibe to it.)

It took a few days, but I came to love that beach.  The sand wasn’t as fine as on Naxos, being made of volcanic rocks, which meant that you could easily brush off the sand when getting up.  No finding silt on you for the rest of the day.  There weren’t too many tourists around (the water was still cold), so there were times where it felt like the entire beach was mine.  My favorite restaurant on the island had killer views of the ocean.  Watching the sun glint off the water in the morning while feeling the sea breeze was the best way to start the day. 

There isn’t much to the city of Perissa.  A bunch of white houses scattered among the restaurants, hotels, and souvenir shops.  Still being the off-season, a lot of places were closed or preparing for the summer.  I saw a lot of construction and painting of the buildings along the strip that borders the beach. 

Leaving my room one day, I ran into Maria.  She was cleaning the room next to mine and mentioned that there was going to be a ceremony that night and to not be alarmed if I heard a lot of noise.  The day was Good Friday and locals would walk through the streets, banging drums and letting off firecrackers.  The local establishments would set out a table of small treats and shots of booze for the participants.  I was initially confused as Easter had already passed in the states.  But in Greece, a very religious country, 4/16/23 is Orthodox Easter and a big deal for everyone.  I was glad for the heads-up otherwise I would have been really confused.

I’d planned to take the bus into Oia after breakfast on Sunday, but then remembered that it was Easter.  A pit had been dug in the sand in front of one of the restaurants and there were 3 lambs grilling on it.  The smoke smelled delicious as I enjoyed my breakfast.  Then, in walking back along the beach, I saw two more grills.  It wasn’t just the restaurants, but private homes had grills on their patios as well.  The air is filled with the smells of roasted lamb while Greek music plays from the centers of family gatherings.  Realizing just how seriously folks take this holiday, I figured it would be a very different day in Greece.

I ran into Maria cleaning my room and asked her if the busses were even running today.  She said it was something like Russian Roulette – the bus might make a stop, it might not.  We got to chatting and she told me that she’d been a teacher in Bulgaria.  When new policies made teaching unappealing to her, she packed a backpack and, like me, set off by herself to Greece.  She quickly found a job and had been living on the island since 2009.  She said it was very easy back then but new government regulations were making it ever more difficult to just pick up and move to another country.  When she first arrived, there were people from all over the world working in Santorini.  Over the years, most of those people had to leave because the laws changed.  The required permits and bureaucracy were just getting worse every year.  That news just made me more anxious about relocating to Portugal.  I might be cutting my year of travel down somewhat just to get the paperwork in motion.

Packing up to leave made me a little sad.  My time in Perissa wasn’t exactly action packed – usually just me on the beach with a book – but I really enjoyed my time there. I had scheduled another ferry trip for the 19^th and needed to find Maria to make the transfer.  Check out was at 11 so I cleared the room and went to wait outside reception.  It took a while for Maria to show up and when she did, she was still wet from the shower.  After arranging for my pick-up, she told me I could leave my luggage in the office and go enjoy the day instead of waiting at the port for the next couple of hours.  Have I mentioned that I freaking love Maria? I went to do just that until my pick-up at 2.

After saying my last goodbyes to the beach, I met Maria again at reception to get my bags.  She helped me to the curb to wait for the driver.  As she sank into a chair, she mentioned that she had been assisting her boss in painting the place and was tired.  I commented that that she really does do everything around here.  Did she ever get any time to just relax and enjoy her gorgeous surroundings?  She said she took her time when she needed it.  Her boss was pretty laid back (he was also grilling on the property on Sunday) so they had developed a good relationship over the last 15 years. 

The driver showed up and she handed me off.  She gave me a hug and wished me the best.  And, yeah, I have to say that The Best !!! hotel really was the best.