I arrived last Thursday via an all night ferry ride from Pireus (near Athens) with hopes of going to Crete to see Gnossis and old ruins and the great park on the west side of the island. Those plans are gone since the morning I arrived at Santorini, it was a very hot and windy day and the owner of the pension, Anna, suggested I rent a motorbike (scooter 50cc) to see more of the island.
Santorini is considered one of the most beautiful of the 3000 Greek islands, and it has dramatic cliffs from it's volcanic eruption at 1300 bc where it destroyed quite a bit of Crete and affected the geology all around the region. There is still a volcano in the middle of the sea near the island, but I haven't seen it. I spent the morning in the museums marveling over the 4000 year old vases and statues that were excavated from Fira, the main village where I have been staying for the week.
I took my little scooter all over the island last Thursday, to three beaches- two that were very touristy with hundreds of umbrellas and lounge chairs lined up on the sand for as far as I could see-- well, at least a quarter to half of a mile. The town of Fira, was full of tourist shops, fine jewelry, fine clothing, and any think you think you would like to adorn yourself with. I haven't been in such a touristy place before, even though I've been to a few islands now. To be honest, it's too busy here for me-- the beauty of the landscape, the 1000 foot cliffs, the white houses somehow attached to the cliffs with streets that make Provence look flat, well-- it's too many tourists.
So, I planned after my long day with a finale of viewing the sunset at this village called Oia, a ritual all tourists must do once-- even I agree. I planned I would leave the next day.....
So, I scooted at 7:30 from Fira to Oia on a very mountainous, windy road that had 1000 foot drops with views of little farms and white houses.... It was spectacular and scary. People drive like bats out of hell here. I'm a good driver and was pretty scared most of the day driving my scooter. Not only the speed of the locals, but the volume of traffic here makes a scooter really dangerous.... I planned after this sunset experience to drive right back before dark and eat dinner close to my room in Fira.
Oia was really beautiful, even if the town was created for tourists. It had a stellar view of the sunset, with enormous boats out in the distance. I'll post this for now and continue with another page......
Annie Thoe is an Assistant Feldenkrais Trainer and Practitioner in the Feldenkrais Method with 22 years of experience in bodywork. She has taught numerous modalities of massage therapy, supervised students and practitioners, and teaches locally and nationally. She is on the Board of Directors for the Wilderness Awareness School in Duvall, Washington. In addition to her outdoor naturalist study, Annie has an extensive background in martial arts, sports, and music.
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April, 2007
