Boat tour around Santorini

Today, I finally succumbed, and went on a tour - seeing a series of not so thrilling things. These included a Volcano, which is responsible for the islands, but remains dormant. Then there were hot springs. I would think thermal springs means hot, as in caliente! I also think of enclosed areas. These were just areas where the water was luke warm. Not exactly refreshing or rejuvenating. I did enjoy diving off the boat though when I felt like the line to get into the water seemed to long. In retrospect, I should have climbed higher, but that's ok.

In fact, when you came out of the water warmed by the hot springs, it was just a little inlet, then it was awful since you hit the other water which comparatively felt ice cold. On to some island, not very exciting, not well known for a reason. I hiked to the top where the town was. It was an awful town, mostly boarded up buildings, trash all over the place - no restaurants save a single one, so I decided to go back to the port. I found a place, asked if it was self service or full service. I was told table service, full, so I went and sat down. After a few minutes I tried to order, and was told it was only self service. So I got up, went and got food, and came back. It turns out, since I ordered a lamb kebab, it had to be delivered, so I sat and munched on French Fries while I waited for my kebab.

When I came back from ordering food, my seat had a bag on it, so I started to sit at the next table. No... No... I heard, we were holding your table for you. Then the couple asked me if I remembered them, I paused, and then recalled. You were also watching the sunset last night I asked. They smiled, and invited me to sit with them. Like most people I have met on my trip in Greece, they were from Paris. She is a lawyer and he is an artist who works for an automobile manufacture doing design mock ups using clay and other materials for prototypes. Sounded very interesting. We got back on the boat together (the lamb was awful, mostly fat) and talked about things. The next stop was Oia, but first we drove over some reefs. It was the highlight of the trip because of the glass bottom, we could see the reefs very clearly.

They got off in Oia for the sunset (which is not for a couple more hours I thought), and I continued back to Fira. They invited me to dinner, and said they would email me later this evening about where to meet up.

The hike up from the port was not that much fun. To begin, the sun was on my back most of the time and it was very hot. But then, to make matters even worse, all the donkeys and everything they left behind was sitting in the sun, cooking. It reeked of donkey, and every step became about avoiding feces. It took a nice hike up and turned it into a stinky activity. I arrived in Fira town, soaked in sweat from the heat. Bought a large bottle of water, and made my way to the hotel where I dropped my bag, and dove into the pool.

I was hoping to get internet, but it looks like I will have to upload this using my blackberry. I discovered a neat little trick where I transfer the text files on the mini sd card on the computer to the blackberry, then send them from there to the blog. Had I thought of this earlier, I could have posted much more realtime while traveling on the train. I take a taxi tomorrow afternoon to the airport, and from there, I fly to Athens.

Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T