Sailing for Santorini

Leaving Crete

If getting to Crete proved to be harder than we anticipated, as we shared here, getting off the island was a breeze. The good people at Cretan Transfers were waiting for us in the hotel lobby at 6.30am and by 7.30am we had wheeled our bags up the large ramp, to the SeaJet Super Runner. The boat that was to carry us from Heraklion in Crete to Fira on the island of Santorini.

And it was all going so well. We pulled away from the dock on time. Settled into our comfortable seats, and got our books out. About two thirds of the way into our two hour journey to Santorini, I checked my watch, and blissfully thought of that first cold bottle of Mythos. It won’t be long now. Or so I thought. Then came the announcement.

Adrift in the Sea of Crete

“Due to a direction from the coastguard, we have to change course and go help a boat in distress”.

We waited. And waited. And nothing else came. It seems this was the only update we were getting. Looking around the boat there were a lot of confused faces.

“What is going on”, I asked a recalcitrant staff member on the boat, “How long until we get to Santorni?”

“We don’t know”, was the rather unhelpful reply, followed by a shrug of the shoulders before they walked off.

This left us not knowing how close we were to our destination, nor how long the detour would be. It did not help that the sea was getting rather choppy and my stomach started to feel rather crappy. 

The Ghost Boat

What felt like an age later I could see people start to stand up and move over to the boat’s windows on the left. And then I saw what they were looking for. A solitary boat bobbing about in the water. This was our “boat in distress”. Tied up behind it, in the water, was the dinghy the owners must use to access the boat. The captain of our vessel sounded the horn. We started circling the boat. And yet, nobody appeared. It was like a ghost boat. Very eerie. As we were in the middle of the ocean the owners obviously hadn’t just jumped in for a swim. Something was amiss.

Circling the boat numerous times, each time bouncing up and down in the waves, I started to feel worse and worse. All around me I could hear people heave into sick bags. I took a few large breaths. Then a few more. We can get through this.

And we did. Eventually. After what felt like an age, we got another announcement that told us we could leave the boat and continue on to Santorini. The “ghost boat” would forever remain a mystery. Some four hours after we left Crete we spotted the island of Santorini. I would have preferred the scheduled two hour trip but after seeing the abandoned boat, I had a worry that somebody had had a much worse day than us. We had a lot to be grateful for.

Santorini

Santorini is a beautiful island. Without doubt one of the most scenic of the Greek Isles. It is blessed with charm and a coastline that has no rival. Unfortunately, this charm brings a side that drives me mad. Queues and queues of camera phone wielding Instagrammers. Some even bring bags for a change of clothes for each shot. Give me strength. We were last on the island three years ago and things were bad then. I even had a person ask that I move, in the street, as my “shadow was in their photo”. Correct, I didn’t move. Granted, three years ago we stayed in Oia which is particularly infested with these people.

We hadn’t planned to return to Santorini so soon, yet it made perfect sense when looking at options whilst we were on Crete. So here we were, although this time we spent three nights in Fira, the main town on the island. The views across the caldera are still breathtaking, but Fira attracts less of the annoying types than its beautiful sister, Oia.

One morning in Fira we got talking to an elderly Greek lady. Typical of the Greek islands she was dressed head to toe in black. And she was gazing out over the clifftops, and the water.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?”, she asked. “I was born here and return once a year for this view. Each time it is like the first time I have ever seen it”.

“Yes”, we immediately agreed, “it is truly beautiful.”

The look of peace and serenity on the old lady’s face was something that stayed with me for a long time afterwards. 

How to spend your days on Santorini

Our days on Santorini were spent finding the best gyros. Finding the cheapest moussaka. Squeezing in another long lunch down at Amoudi Bay. And doing our laundry. It is not all three star hotels and carafes of house wine when we travel. We also have to do the quotidian. Laundry being the one task we most look forward to. After wearing my socks for multiple days on the trot, there comes a time when if I didn’t take them to be washed, I think they would walk themselves there.

With a laundry bag of freshly washed clothes, we packed up for the last time and headed to the port. It was a travel day. And today, we were headed somewhere new for both of us. The island of Mykonos. An island with a reputation for partying. Not the reason we were headed there, I can assure you. At the port, we overheard one of these tourists that you encounter rather regularly. One that seems to know everything. Been everywhere. And is full of advice.

Mykonos is closed, apparently

It wasn’t advice we needed and when we heard her tell some fellow travellers that “Mykonos is closed”, we looked at each rather sceptically. She carried on. Saying that “everything has shut up for the season”, having been on the island and hearing all the fireworks for the various “closing for the season” parties that bars and clubs were holding.

What we found for our three nights on Mykonos was the opposite. Restaurants were open, and at capacity. Cruise ships were coming in daily and until they stopped docking in Mykonos I very much doubt that the restaurant owners would prematurely choose to close. Staying in a hotel just a 5 minute walk to the town, and the famous windmills, was a masterstroke. Visiting family tavernas, we both managed to get our fix of traditional Greek food. Kleftiko and moussaka topped the list. Would we ever tire of this cuisine? A rhetorical question I always ask myself.

It was to meet one of the cruise ships that had us walking to the port on a beautiful, if somewhat windy day. Little did I know that Mykonos is renowned for the wind that whips through the streets. Off the Norwegian Gem cruise ship came Victoria’s brother and family. We were going to spend the day with them. The timing had worked out perfectly as they were on a cruise between Croatia, Montenegro, and Greece. Having been on the road for a while it was great to catch up with family again.

Athens bound

With James back on the cruise ship, and our time on Mykonos coming to a close, we headed back to the hotel. We were to spend the afternoon around the hotel pool, considering where to go next. As we were nearing November, the smaller islands were closing up for the season. Very few hotels remained open. So we made a plan to head to the capital. The seat of European civilization.

We were headed to Athens.