Day #9
Planning our final day in Santorini, we decided to take a bit of a risk and plan a day excursion before we had to catch our late afternoon ferry to Crete. It was going to be cutting it close, but between the bus schedule and cabs as a backup, we intended to make every minute count!
On the pirate ship!
Julie found a three-stop morning excursion that left Santorini in the morning, and even better, it departed from the port down below at Ammoudi Bay! We took a quick bus down to the bay (we had enough of those donkey steps), and soon enough our pirate-looking ship arrived and we embarked on the first stop of our journey, Nea Kameni. An active volcano that last erupted in 1950, Nea Kameni sits at the center of the caldera of the Santorini volcano. As we stepped off the ship, we were immediately herded into a group of about 75 people that were all set to hike up the hill in a long, death-march style processional. The tour guide spoke many languages, and stopped three different times up the volcano (all hardened lava) to inform us about random facts of the volcano. Finally at the top, we were able to see small sulfur emissions coming from the ground, a sign of its continued activity. Definitely a cool sight to see, and despite the heat, we enjoyed the hike through the magma as well!
Shortly after we made the descent, we jumped back aboard our ship and made our way to the second leg of the trip, the hot spring at Palea Kameni. We set anchor a little ways off this tiny island (still within the caldera), and we were able to climb down a ladder into the water (or in my case, JUMP) and wade our way through the blue water all the way to a brownish-yellow patch of water where the hot spring was. Well, after making our way there, we came to the conclusion that they should consider renaming it a lukewarm spring. We had both been to hot springs before, and this water wasn't exactly a spa. The normal water in Greece is about 75-77 degrees, and the hot spring water was about 84 degrees. Not exactly a shocking transition...but nonetheless, it was always nice to jump in the water in Greece.
The final stop on this ship tour was another small island named Thirassia. This was a bizarre stop, as we only had one hour on the island, and to get to the main town, it was a 30 minute round-trip hike up some steep stairs. So while some made the trek to see the town, we decided to stay in the small island port and eat at a taverna called Captain John's, suggested by our boat guide. Captain John's had a beautiful outdoor patio that overlooked the water, and as we walked in, they were grilling octopus outside for everyone to see, and we couldn't wait to get inside. Once inside, we came across a huge buffet, where we had tons of amazing options, and bless her heart, my wife ordered completely with her stomach, and between the two of us, we had two of the fullest buffet trays you've seen this side of Souplantation. And the best part? We ate it all!
View from our table on Thirassia
Stuffed beyond belief, we ambled back onto the ship and made our way back to Santorini. We got delayed in hitting our port by a slow boat before us, and while we sat on our boat waiting, we realized we would miss the bus (the cheaper, but less frequent option) and would need to catch a cab in order to get to the ferry on time. We raced and got our luggage and hailed a cab down to the port. Because of the speediness of the cab, we made it there well before our ferry ride, so we settled in a taverna and ordered ice cream and crepes! Definitely a great treat on a hot day with us running around (although I'm not sure how we fit that food in our stomachs after our buffet lunch).
As with the last two ferry rides, I spent my time studying up on our next destination...Crete! After reading the LP Bible, I couldn't wait to explore the sites and restaurants of the famous island. A short ferry ride later, we arrived just after dark in Iraklio, the capital of Crete. We had plans to go to another spot in Crete, but Iraklio was the hub for the ferries, and there was a palace we wanted to hit...but I'm getting ahead of myself.
Thanks to my travel agent wife, our hotel was less than half a mile from the ferry port, so we dragged our bags through the town and weaved our way through some narrow, dark alleys in search of our hotel. Only staying there for one short night, we went on the inexpensive "just give me a bed" route, and found a great place just steps from the main square of local restaurants. We found it with relative ease, and with it past dark and our appetites ready for the next meal after the buffet had digested a bit, we dropped our bags and went to find our spot for dinner.
After walking around the square a few times (and me in an increasingly tired and not so fun mood), we finally settled on a place on the outskirts of the square that looked promising. Julie ordered a lamb dish and an appetizer, and not being incredibly hungry or feeling well, I chose a safe chicken fillet. And that ended up being the most boring, dry dish of the trip. That'll teach me to not order a unique Greek dish. Bad move Sawyer.
After dinner, we made our way back to the hotel, and despite the warm room, crashed pretty quickly. Now settled on our third island of the trip, we were loving life and ready to do more exploring the next day!
*Up Next* - Palace of Knossos, moving cities to Chania, a gorgeous hotel, and some ridiculous food. I mean, the best of the entire trip...easily.
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