For pics that go along with Day 2, click here.
Mr. Nikos runs the villas where we’re staying and appears to do all the heavy lifting. When I say heavy lifting, I mean this guy’s a pack mule. He runs up and down the stairs of this place without breaking a sweat, carrying heavy luggage, groceries, laundry, whatever, all hoisted up on his back. We’re embarrassed to be around him. he makes us feel small. This is, of course, not to dismiss his (what I have to assume is his) daughter Georgia, a cute little hyper-tensive that keeps the books and shows us to our rooms. She also brings us Frappes by the pool. She’s a dear.
So, our first morning, day 2, starts with breakfast by the pool. The kind Mr. Nikos delivers a basket of bread, a selection of butter and jams, two cups American coffee and OJ, and sets it all out for us with tablecloth on the small table in front of our door. He’s a real gentleman, this Mr. Nikos, obviously trained at the Empress.
Then, it’s time for a walk with the groom.
What a stupid idea that turned out to be. Intentions were good and all, with a little window shopping on the promenade and some more general beauty included, but mostly, it ended up with a lot of pain. I’ve talked about the stairs, right? There are a lot of them. And you think this isn’t a big deal — we’re young and virile men. You think, we’ll just stroll down to the water. “I hear there’s a marina down there!”
“Really?”
“Really!”
“Gosh! We should go see it!”
“Marina? Are you kidding? That’s why I’m HERE!”
Smile. Hug. Begin whistling.
At the top of this little town, where the stairs begin, we run into Dr. Doug. His shirt is off and he’s purple, pacing back and forth across a stone veranda. His first words as he points, “Those people over there think I’m dying. I don’t think I’m dying… I don’t think so…” He sits.
Doug had gone down the stairs. He’d taken the trip to the marina on a jog (which, it turns out, you shouldn’t actually take on a dare) and he recommended we not follow suit. Stupidly, we follow suit.
The trip down was not so bad. My knees were killing me just a little bit, but overall we were feeling strong. What better time for a full plate of fried squid, double-order of french fries, Greek salad and Mythos Hellenic Lager Beer!
Dodge’s brother Ben has been to Santorini. Since he couldn’t make it to the wedding, he sent Dodge this wonderful card and a set of pictures taken on the island. They were all part of a series — a pictorial treasure map to what Ben says is the most beautiful place he’s ever been ever in all his life. I’m taking some liberties with the language here, but the intent was right along those lines. Dodge and I had taken some time that morning to look through the pics and left it at something like, “sure would be cool to find that if we have time.”
There we were, eating our squid and fries when it hits me. We’re sitting in the restaurant that was in the first picture of the map! I could see, up around the bend, the out-cropping of rock where he must have been standing to take the picture. Giddy as a school-girl, I grab Dodge by the nipple and illustrate my discovery. We share great joy, pay, and follow the path.
Turns out it wasn’t much of a hike. About a hundred yards up around the corner we see a bunch of tourists snorkeling and voila — there’s the most beautiful place ever: a mini-Alcatraz about 30 yards out. Apparently, if you swim out to the other side, there’s a church there, and some cliff diving. It was really beautiful, to be sure, but I had my camera with me and no swim suit… and there was that thing about the four pounds of fried starch in my gut. So we snapped some pics and headed back.
Back to the stairs. Not to belabor the point, but if we were feeling strong coming down, we were feeling like idiots coming up. We were passed by donkeys. That’s right, a whole team of monkeys figured out that you can take DONKEYs up and down the hard stuff. An hour later, we were back at the villa, passed out by the pool.
Yeah, rough life.
That night, dinner and baklava. Often-naked Dr. Doug splurged for the duty-free Johnnie Walker Blue so we indulged in some good scotch by moonlight and played some guitar. Nice way to round out the day.