Greek Islands - part 1

I somehow managed to get the kids up at 5:45, packed, washed, and raced to the ferry terminal, and we caught our boat to Santorini. We had just enough time to buy three round donut like things covered in sesame seeds; they're sold on every corner and seem to be the breakfast-on-the-go for the people here. I've been told over and over what we are umming and yumming about, but I can't seem to catch the long name that just rolls off everyone else's tongue. Naming it doesn't seem to matter, we just get in line with everyone and get handed the warm bread, and it's delicious! On the ferry we sat next to a couple from Canada who quickly became my living heroes. I want to be just like them when I grow up: they have been coming to Greece for 25 years, starting when their three children were babies! They have their favorite village they return to, as well as exploring all over Greece. They travel every winter for two months. They were so informative and relaxed, gave us all sorts of information about where we must eat and what we must do, and they proceeded to teach Michael the Greek alphabet and how to decipher all the signs we see. He was fascinated, as was I; while he was decoding words like 'good morning', I was learning the etymology of 'psychology' and 'idiot', and they weren't quite what I had always thought they were! Needless to say the 8 hr trip flew by, and the seas were calm.

We were on Santorini for two days, and it was a little odd. We were there just before the tourist season gets rolling, so many of the stores and cafes were closed, but there was a frenzy to get everything ready. Lots of hammering, painting, cleaning. I'm not sure I would have taken my children to this island in the middle of the Aegean if I had realized it is still an ACTIVE volcano, and on the edge of the biggest caldera on Earth! Our best time was spent taking a boat to the growing islands in the middle of the caldera; we toured the black lava paths, found the place that is still steaming with sulphur gases, Michael found the perfect piece of small pumice as a memento, and lots of climbing and lizard spotting was accomplished. But the afternoon was not over yet, we still had to get back onto our beautiful wooden sailboat and visit the the 'hot springs' - which really suffer a misnomer because the feeling was much more a luke warm one. And this after jumping off our tall boat into the gorgeous blue, and freezing, waters of the Aegean Sea and then swimming 50 or so yards before clamoring onto the mossy, mushy rocks. Anna was so brave and jumped right in, but I was dismayed because she wouldn't wait for Michael.

I miss my husband dearly, but at that moment I almost started crying for him, right there in the middle of the Mediterranean: I was going to have to jump in that cold water, get wet and swim across the open water to sit in a mud bath so that my son could join his sister. And swim back! This is not my job as a parent: I scratch backs, I don't do cold water swims. But one look at Michael's sweet, trusting face and I took his hand and jumped with a whoop and a smile. I solved my problem of getting back, for I had barely made it over to the hot springs with the two of us, by pleading, as maturely as possible in the frigid, mossy water, with a nice young man named Kevin to help Michael back to the boat. And still...we had more fun ahead. When we got back to the pier and prepared for the scary tram back up the face of the caldera cliff there were instead donkeys waiting for us! A boy of about 12 picked Michael up and plonked him on a donkey, said 'No problem' and the next thing I knew Michael was being whisked up the cliff by a very fast donkey with the bigget ears I've ever seen. Anna and I followed a little later, and despite the incredible views that just kept getting more incredible, I was worried Michael would be scared. Ha! When we finally arrived in the narrow streets of the village, Michael was laughing and wanted to walk down the steep path to do it all over again.

We left seismically active Santorini for Naxos and became enchanted the minute we landed on the island. We of course had to stay at Hotel Anna, across the square from the Orthodox cathedral; as we unpacked we heard the deep chants of the priests in their evening service. I made Anna and Michael explore with me in the dark the narrow and winding paths leading up and up to the medieval Venetian castle. I was excited and felt like I was in Disneyland - but it was all REAL - and Anna and Michael were terrified and clinging to me because of all the ghosts they felt lurking around. The next day I decided to rent a car because I wanted to find the small church Drossiani in a village in the center of the island. What a great thing to do! Anna was a highly competent navigator of our tin can with wheels, and Michael helped from the backseat deciphering the Greek signs. We only had to back up once, 200 or so feet down a narrow road hugging a cliff, because we had dead-ended into a village where only walkers or donkeys could go. We found the church, one of the earliest in Europe built in the 5th century, and still in use. Unfortunately, the woman who had the key wasn't at home and couldn't be found, despite the villagers best efforts at locating her for us. We spent a lot of time just soaking up the atmosphere in the orchard and courtyard of the church, Anna making daisy chain crowns and Michael playing Jedi knight and me simply resting in the sun. We then had time for more driving adventures and managed to get ourselves to the Temple of Demeter; my Greek ruin fantasy came true and we had the whole place to ourselves, just the three of us roaming around the ancient columns in the middle of the fields. If you ever have to make a choice of which Greek islands to sail to...no choice here, go for Naxos over Santorini. It is gorgeous and there are days and days of wonders to explore. We only had one day, so it is yet another place on my list of those to return to.

Things we've noticed about Greece so far: there are many, many cats wandering around and the kids love it!; almost all of the men have these loops of worry beads they play with all the time (it's driving me batty, as those of you who know my displeasure with noisy little sounds can imagine), it's like someone forever shaking the backgamman dice before they roll, but they never roll, just clicking and clacking - everywhere we go!; the food is thick here - thick yogurt, thick honey, thick coffee; cars drive fast; gyros are the BEST and CHEAPEST food around; and the people are super friendly and helpful.