Day 14 Naxos to Santorini

We were meant to be picked up at 3:00 pm this afternoon, but the boat was delayed for two hours so we were not picked up until 5:00 pm.  We had to make several stops on the way to the port to collect tourists of all nationalities.  At one stop our driver spent a considerable amount of time looking for two French tourists.  Eventually, he decided to leave without them.  When their friends realized they were not on the bus, we had to go back for them and as a result we only just made the port in time for our ferry to Santorini. 

I had spent the day in Naxos at the beach and had another swim in the beautiful Aegean Sea.  Close to shore, the water is a bluey green, but further out where the water is deep, the colour is almost purple.  The water is so clear and clean that you can see the sand on the bottom.  I did some walking along the beach, along the road that runs parallel to the beach with its twelve restaurants, side by side and along the little streets that ran perpendicular to this street.  The locals who live here all grow their own vegetables and have fruit trees, olive trees and animals.

Santorini is as beautiful as ever, but we were quite tired and hungry as our guide filled us in on what we could do while we were in Santorini, after he had delivered us to our hotel at 8:30pm.  From the port we were transported by bus up the 250 metre sheer rock face of the Caldera.  Our hotel is very interesting.  It is called the Cliff Face Suites because the 15 rooms are built into the cliff face of the caldera.  We felt like Barney and Betty Flintstone when we were ushered into our cave like room.  We have an arch leading into our bedroom from the living room.  The bedroom has a high ceiling but the living room has a ceiling twice as high with a window set up towards the top of the ceiling.  Even Bill could not reach this window.  There are little arches everywhere in the living room.  The bathroom, on the other hand has a very low ceiling.  Bill has hit his head a few times on the bathroom door and his head touches the ceiling when he has a shower.  Outside our room on our private balcony we have a Jacuzzi and then three steps up to another private balcony with spectacular views over the caldera.  To reach our hotel from the street, we have to descend by many stairs of different width and depth.  We were very cautious and had difficulty keeping up with the hotel porter who met the bus and carried the luggage down the stairs.  While we walked gingerly, he ran with Valerie’s 20 kg suitcase and Tom’s 14 kg suitcase.  Just as well that Bill and I had decided to travel lightly to the islands and only had a light backpack each.  The porters of these hotels are extremely fit.