Waiting for the next catastrophe

No, not a personal catastrophe... things have gone pretty well on this trip so far, all things considered. I'm talking about a natural disaster. Santorini (Thira) has seen plenty of them in its day, including several volcanic erruptions --one of which basically ended the Minonan civilization in ancient times-- and a real doozy of an earthquake that levelled alot of the Island almost 50 years ago. And yet, every time, people came back to rebuild. Why?

Well for us, the answer was clear as we arrived on the ferry. It was a bit of an ordeal getting here, though. We left Mykonos on Wednesday, but had to take a Fast-boat and stay overnight in Paros due to a mix-up. The trip to Paros was a horrible experience involving turbulent seas and people getting sick all over the ship-- we managed to avoid that misfortune, but not the smell, though! We vowed to avoid fastboats in the future.

Paros is a lovely island, and the port, in particular, has a fantastic waterfront, but it seemed a bit somnolent to us after the excitement of Mykonos, and we didn't mind leaving after only a day. On Thursday afternoon, as we approached Santorini, we were treated to the awe-inspiring site of the cliff-top bleach-white houses of Oia, which perch precariously above the northern point of the half-moon shaped Island. We cruised down the island's west coast, seeing more such houses with their colourful roofs and windows, as well as little paths here and there down to the small ports at the base of the cliffs. It was only later that we realized we were sailing through the caldera, which was the result of the collapse of the centre of the once-island after a cataclysmic erruption.

The volcanic rocks and fantastic landscapes of this island attest to the turbulent relationship Santorini has had with the forces of nature, but both of these things make travelling around the island a sheer joy. As in Mykonos, we rented an ATV and have made excellent use of it over the past two days, visiting beaches and lovely towns and villages all over the island. We also had the good fortune to stay in Oia, which was postcard-beautiful. This enchanting island will surely remain a highlight of our trip in our memories.

On the critical matter of selection of beaches:

We have been in Mykonos now for just a couple of days. It was Nesrine's idea to come here, but I'm afraid I'm getting used to the vibe of this place and the enviable lifestyle of the Mykonos holidayer: Up at noonish after a late night of carousing, coffee on the closest beach at Ornos, hop on the four-wheeler with my "old lady" and zoom off to some cove to stew in the sun and swim in the Aegean -- the ATVs are de rigeur here, nobody walks. Driving them around is a dangerous business, with all the rough and winding roads criss-crossing this picturesque island. Signs and traffic signals are few and far between. And those that exist (e.g. the speed limit postings) are taken more as suggestions by some of the people here, who seem hellbent on killing themselves in their pursuit of a good time.

Nevertheless, once you survive the traffic and manage to get to the beach, you are bound to have a good time....unless maybe if you arrive at a gay/lesbian nudie beach that you had not intended to visit. There is a big gay scene on Mykonos. Nesrine and I chuckled about that scenario as we observed a sign pointing in two different directions. One beach, Paradise is populated mostly by younger people, with a sprinkling of old hipsters. The other beach Super Paradise is the Gay/Lesbian beach. How many unsuspecting people, while exploring the many beaches of the island, have heard about Paradise and decided to go, only to showed up Super Paradise and not realize where they were until confronted by the sausage party.

Anyway, we like it here, and we don't think we shall come home!

Groan. OK, even the locals know that you can't live this lifestyle 365 days a year.