Day Thirteen -- ATV Madness

Brett had done some research on how we might be able to get around Santorini without paying exorbitant taxi prices or waiting in long lines for the local bus. So at 9 a.m., after Greek breakfast on the beautiful terrace, we rented three ATVs for 24 hours. Brett, Brendon and I headed for the archaeological site of Akrotiri, an ancient site buried in ash, much like Pompei. I rode on the back of Brett's ATV, which slowed down his speed, while Brendon enjoyed the speed. It was a thrilling ride.

 

Akrotiri is an ancient Minoan site, like Knossos Palace, but not reconstructed like Sir Arthur Evans attempted to do on Crete. The site is covered which helped with the heat.  All the frescoes, art and vases have been removed to museums...of course. We wondered through the site, marveling at how many thousands of years ago such an advanced civilization lived in this place.

 

When we finished we took Captain George's advice and headed down towards the water for lunch at the Cave of Nikolas Taverna. It is difficult to find and down a steep staircase. Jane and Matt intended to join us but never found the place. Given its location it wasn't flooded with other tourists.  This cave was used as a place to park boats when the weather got too rough.

 

We ate a leisurely lunch next to the ocean. It was actually a lot more leisurely than we intended. You can ask for the check in Greece but they will bring it only when they are good and ready.

 

Back on the ATVs we drove to the other end of the island, Oia. We walked there the first day but we were too tired, hot and hungry to poke our heads in their many shops. 

 

Oia was jammed.  When I say jammed, I mean it. It appears that two or three cruise ships disembark daily for excursions to Oia. Thousands of people are bussed to this picturesque, little town every day during the summer. A bus couldn't pass on the narrow road and the whole road shut down. We parked the ATVs on the edge of town and hiked in.  

 

We found some treasures, ate some gelato and hiked back to our bikes. We drove the exciting, narrow road on the cliff back to Imerovigli.  Matt and Jane had returned from their day at Red Beach and Kamari Beach.  The hotel had moved us to two rooms while we were gone.  They blamed it on an internet glitch. We tried not to give the stink eye to the people now enjoying the terrace.  We watched the sunset from our respective porches.

 

Then we headed for dinner at a restaurant called Avocado. People eat late here and our reservation was for 9:30 p.m. By the time we finished our meal it was 11 p.m. Sometimes by the end of a dinner meal in Greece I feel too exhausted to walk back to our hotel. 

 

We went to bed sad that tomorrow we have to leave paradise.