Greece, Part The Third

We boarded the Odysseus and sailed to Oia, the romantic little town perched on Santorini's caldera, where some tourists departed to see the sunset. I enjoyed sailing the length of the caldera, seeing the white buildings clinging like barnacles to the lip of the cliff, a real testament to human tenacity.

We went on to disembark in Fira, where I decided, spur-of-the-moment-wise, to ride a mule up the hill instead of taking the cable cars. Callie had been loud and clear about wanting to ride a donkey on Thirasia (the small isle we'd visited for lunch), so I thought we'd have a go.

I didn't expect them to put us on the same mule. What an animal! I'd have been all right alone, since I have riding experience, but with a four year old to keep upright, it was a mildly harrowing ride. My mule enjoyed nothing more than stopping in the middle of the path, then rushing-rushing-rushing to catch up. To compound my worry, E was somewhere behind me. Fortunately, given my mule's propensity to stop every few minutes, E eventually caught up, sanguinely riding a large white donkey with a big grin on his face.

Reader, I should mention here that my husband took the practical route up, namely the cable cars. I should also mention that I wasn't able to get a good photo while muleback. I was too busy holding on to C, who loved every step of it and wanted to drag our "cwazy mule" onto the ferry with us to Crete.

The white fella was E's mount. Our big brown guy is not pictured. Anyhow, from there, we went back for our last night at the hotel. In the morning, we swam in the pool and then did a bit of sightseeing. We visited a museum--sadly not open--and had a long hike around, eventually winding up back in Fira for a late lunch. It was neat to take in the sights, including several cruise ships that sent its passengers to shore via smaller boats. E pointed out that one of them had a swimming pool on its roof!

 In the late afternoon, we headed to the port to catch the ferry to Heraklion. We took a fast ship this time, a catamaran, and arrived at our next destination in time to catch a Cretan sunset from our balcony.

In the morning, we familiarized ourselves with the local area and walked down to the beach, which was a lovely little area with a supermarket and several tavernas. By this point, it was a week later in the season and we were several hundred miles south, and boy did that make a difference to the temperature. It was hot! E enjoyed snorkeling, looking at the little fish that liked to dart around our legs.

Once we'd spent a day settling in, we planned a trip to Knossos, where the minotaur's labyrinth was fabled to be. Myths aside, we were standing on what was once a four thousand year old palace, and I was awed.

The kids were able to glimpse archaelogists at work. I don't know if they quite grasped the awe of such an ancient palace, but I think they'll remember their visit. In any case, the next day was our last day in Greece. We spent the time on the beach (found a fantastic taverna there that we really enjoyed! Did I mention they always brought out a tiny flask of raki after each meal? Gosh that stuff is strong.) and in the swimming pool.

And... that concluded our holiday. A little bit less than two weeks in the sun, lots of adventure, plenty of memories, and hopefully some good formative experience for the children. We look forward to going again in the future, and both B and I very much hope that the financial situation doesn't get any more dire than it currently is. We had such a wonderful time there.