On-the-Road Tales

Spent the day exploring the oceanfront. Walking out along the seawall to the light house etc. Nice town. Next morning, I shuffled up to the bus station and boarded a coach for the “2.5” hour dirve west to Iralkio or Herculion. Another city cursed with a myriad of english spelling which is fun when you are buying a bus ticket.

There was a lot of yelling on board as little greek women dressed in black shawls wanted off in the middle of some random village and the driver would not stop. Not sure what the commotion was about, this culture yells a lot at each other as a form of normal communication. The busses apparently are not so punctual. I found this out at the wrong time as I am still sitting on one when I should have been boarding my ferry. I got to the bus station with 15 minutes to spare and hit pavement to make the boat on time. Ick. Fun running with a pack but in the end all was good. I met some friends on board and we swapped travel tales. They had unfortunetly been hit with a string of bad luck hainv stuff stolens, and bags rifled through in several places. I had actually gotten quite lax about my belongings since I have not had any problems but this was a good reminders. It also helps that my passport and memory cards, the only two things of value, are with me at all times, even when I am sleeping usually locked nearby.

4 hours across the mediterrean sea, we were approaching Santorini. While I knew this island had been formed from a volcano I was not expecting its size of the sheer height of its cliffs. The 2 or 3 towns were nestled way up high on the peaks and consisted of white structures. They appeared like snow on the hilltops. I had booked a recommended, cheap hostel so parted with my new mates as they were headed to the beach area. As I waited for the 2nds bus connection to take me there i was hoping I wouild not regret my decision and I did not.

The town of Oia is indescribable. Touristy yeah, but the cobblestone paths and striking buildings in white with cobalt blue trim were a sight and the remains of the volcanos caldera stood of in front in the sea. Defintely one of the most atmospheric towns I have come across. This would have to be voted my number one honeymoon destination if you are looking for one. The hostel is a superb, clean, cheap little paradise on the edge of a mountain. Fab. I spent the eve exploring and catching the championship league final which was being held in Athens. I left in disgust when AC Milan made the 2nd goal over Liverpool but I could expect the final results and was not pleased with them…

Tags: Travel

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 24th, 2007 at 6:21 am and is filed under Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.