My couchsurfer, John, picked me up from the ferry and we headed back to his flat. He lived in a village in the middle of the island, the only village without any public transport! John's flat was great - it had a large patio looking straight out at the sea. You could watch the sunrise through the windows in the morning. Summer is the high tourist season and John had been working for a car rental company. It was his final week of work before the season ended and he would return to his home based website development business.
John had to work that evening so he dropped me in the main town of Fira to have a look around. It was almost sunset, so I headed to the caldera (cliff face) through the narrow, twisting footpaths that ran between each building. Everywhere you looked there were houses and buildings built onto the cliff. It was like a patchwork quilt of rooflines and colours and designs. I found a good viewpoint high above the sea with a view of the town and the islands. It was stunning. When John finished work he picked me up and we stopped in a bakery to pick up some dessert before heading home. John was a vegetarian and a great cook. He whipped up all sorts of delicious meals for us over the time that I was staying. His neighbour also loved his cooking, and she would often pop in - conveniently around mealtimes!
John knew the island very well and he gave me some great ideas of where to go and how to maximise my short time on the island. I followed his advice to the letter! The next day John took me on his work round of dropping the keys to tourists who had booked a rental car. Then he dropped me at an ATV rental shop and I hired an ATV dune buggy for the day! John had recommended that I hire one to make it easy for me to get around. On Santorini, the ATVs are very popular for tourists because they are cheaper and more fuel efficient than a car, and the perfect size to explore the island. They are also a tonne of fun! They adapt them to drive on the road, although they are technically just designed to drive along sand. It didn't even have a reverse gear, you just had to physically maneuver it with your feet.
To begin with I was a little uneasy about driving it on the roads and I was concerned that I was going to go too fast and flip over (I was warned that it happened frequently). But after a while I built my confidence in driving it and soon I was zooming all over the island on it, and I would fly down any hills and see how much speed I could pick up. The fastest I ever got it to go was 45km/h. It was the perfect tool for getting around the island. I would arrive at a destination and then park it like a regular car. It was adorable to see all the little ATVs parked neatly in the carpark beside the regular sized cars.
I visited many beaches on the island and several different villages. I walked through their little alleys and lapped up the culture. I went to the tip of the island to the lighthouse and I went to the local market where I loaded up on all sorts of fruits and paid next to nothing. I was shocked at how cheap it was! Santorini is covered in rich volcanic soil and it has strange effects on some fruits and vegetables, for example, eggplant is white, and zucchinis are round! The last major volcanic eruption on the island engulfed a city and buried it, fully preserved. I visited it - it was fascinating, you could literally walk through the footpaths of the ancient city and see inside the ruins of houses. They said that it was an interesting place for archaeologists because of the advanced technology that the society had - including multiple levels and toilets on the second floor of the house.
I raced to visit the last village on my 'list' before it got dark - they had advised me not to drive the ATV at night. I met up with John back at his place, and we decided to go for a drink. We went to a local bar on the beach and chatted and listened to the live band that were playing. Later that night we swapped music and funny YouTube videos. The next morning I rode the ATV back to the rental shop and then took the bus to Oia, the second largest town on the island.
Oia was full of tourists and brides taking their wedding pictures. Their grooms dutifully trotted behind them, sweating in their suits under the midday sun. I walked all through the paths of the town and found a reasonably priced cafe (reasonable for Santorini, anyway) that had a killer view of the caldera and the water, with a couple of picture perfect blue domed churches to boot. I ordered an omelet and just hung out there, drawing in my sketchbook. It was amazing just to sit and behold the view. I also met an elderly woman who was drawing sketches on the table next to me. We got chatting and she encouraged me to really make an effort to draw in the sketchbook every day (before this I had really not been very good at making the time to draw sketches and had only drawn a couple). After being inspired by this woman, and after sitting at the cafe for so long that I had probably outstayed my welcome, I made my way to the bus stop.
I got off near John's work and one of his work colleagues kindly offered to drop me back at John's place. When I got back I found and his neighbor were sitting on the patio chatting and eating. I joined them and we philosophized over life. I was leaving that night on the 1am ferry to Turkey, so I began to pack.
John had to go back to work, but he suggested that I take a walk through the village and have a look around. I finished packing and strolled down the pathways of the village. It was lovely. It is hard to describe the layout of these villages, the paths are not like regular places. There is no vehicle access in any of the actual village areas, so the footpath runs right between the houses, separating their front doors. And the pathways are not symmetrical, they curve and twist with the shape of the cliff or the house. They go uphill and downhill, up steps, down steps, through doorways and other passageways - you never quite know where you are going to end up - it is just like a maze!
That evening John cooked me my last meal and he helped me work on my website a bit with his expertise. Then we loaded up his car and he dropped me off at the ferry. We had a hot drink as we waited for the ferry to offload, then we said farewell and I boarded the boat.
Santorini was so different than what I had thought it would be. It is such a well-known touristy place, and yet I was able to have a very authentic and meaningful time there. I was so glad to have met John and his neighbour and once again I was so grateful and happy to be involved in Couchsurfing.
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