No need to be nervous Mr. Tony

The first day, we were the only ones on the first tender. The second day the first tender of the day was packed. In fact, because of the higher demand (or maybe local union rules) they used a much larger tender that was run by the locals, instead of the relatively small tenders on the ship.

Actually, they ran two tenders back-to-back because of the demand. The first was reserved for those taking the tour, while the second was for the "Independents" as we were called. The Independents were all jammed up in the reception area, waiting to catch the first tender (we didn’t know until it was announced that they had a bigger tender, so everyone was crowding round to make sure they would be one of the lucky ones on the small tender. Turned out not to be an issue.).

Anyhow, the tour group had gathered in the lounge for a briefing, and then were led, single file, through an opening in the Independents to catch the first tender. The whole scene had a West Side Story Sharks vs. Jets vibe to it. The Tour group looked like they were being led like sheep, whilst us Independents felt superior in our ability to strike out on our own to explore the island.

Santorini is a really neat island – with the main town, Fria, perched high above the port, on the rim of what was a volcano. The entire bay is a caldera from which there was a huge eruption in 1450 BC – the Minoans who lived here then are thought to be the inspiration for the legend of Atlantis.There are three ways up to Fria from the 885 feet from the small port – walk the 800 steps, take the cable car, or take a mule. Going up, we took the cable car – the cost wasn’t cheap – 18 Euros for the family, but it was the quickest, easiest option.

We wandered the narrow walkways of the town to find a rental car agency. At one point, we had to press against the walls as a mule driver drove a number of mules through the narrow walkway. If we hadn’t hopped out of the way, we’d have been like Republicans in the 2006/2008 elections – crushed by stampeding donkeys. (Btw, in the elephant, my political party got the far better animal symbol than the donkey.)

We found Tony’s rental car agency after a bit, and Mr. Tony himself took care of us. We rented a car that actually seats five – a Hyundai Accent. Mr. Tony is a very nice guy, but three things jumped out. He kept stressing it is an automatic – and the way he said it, he was implying that made it more difficult to drive. He was also very meticulous in pointing out the damage that had already existed on the car (which is fine – I didn’t want to be responsible for a pre-existing dent).

He also seemed very nervous renting to an American family, but of course, how could he know that I enjoy the challenge of driving in places like Spain, Florence, Ireland, and yes, even the wilds of Boston and Manhattan.The one disappointment is that on Monday, both ancient sites on the island are closed – so we couldn’t go see Ancient Thira or Akrotiri. So instead we patiently fought our way through the crowded Fira streets and headed for Pirgos. The town is the highest city on the island, and is the oldest surviving city, with many beautiful blue-domed churches with impressive bell towers.

I immediately confirmed Mr. Tony’s nervousness, as pulling from a parking lot to a cobblestone street I managed to scrape the bottom of the car (no visible damage, no leaks!). Sorry Mr. Tony!

We parked and walked up to the top of the town through winding pathways. Very pretty views of the Mediterranean all around, and we never knew what would be around the next corner. Torie was especially taken with all the random cats in Pirgos. (There are a lot of random cats and dogs all over Athens and Santorini. We didn’t see many in Milos. I think many of the dogs are strays, while the cats are cats.)

Well, we’ve just docked at Rhodes, so it is time to wake everyone up (7:25 am) and get ready for the day. I will finish writing about the day in Santorini tomorrow morning – writing the riffs has put me a bit behind schedule, but hopefully my faithful readers enjoy those.