|
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 Sunday, October 8: Toni had invited us for breakfast at 8:00 a.m. There we met Ore's sister Lisa (Elisabeth) for the first time. They showed us a lot of old photographs, including a darling one of Mina and their son Niki as children in Germany. Most of the photos were of Toni at military reunions. In fact, he was leaving that evening for Athens to attend another one. We also paid Toni for the room. The day was sunny, but the cool wind continued. We went to the Archeological Museum, then walked a bit, but Jane was very nervous. We went back to the room about 10:00 to read and wait to phone Tom. We called him at noon (6:00 a.m. for him). Jane learned that her mother's condition was not serious and decided we could continue on our trip. After a pita sandwich in Fira, we caught the 1:30 bus to the town of Oia on the northwest tip of the island. It was an interesting drive along a twisting road with a sheer drop at the edge. The mountain was terraced from top to bottom so crops could be grown. From the foot of the mountain to the sea, the land looked flat as a pancake. Oia was pretty and quaint, somewhat similar to Fira, though the cliffs are neither as high nor as steep. This allows building much closer to the water. There were two different marinas, one on each side of the island. Each one is down hundreds of steps, also like Fira's but on a smaller scale. There was a marvelous view of the caldera and of Fira.
Earlier inhabitants had lived in caves in the side of the cliff, and signs for modern "cave houses" were all over. We walked to the remains of the old Venetian fortress at the end of the city and of the island. It was a little scary to realize that, if another piece of the island were to disappear into the sea, this would almost certainly be it.
We caught the 3:05 bus back to Fira, stopped for an ice cream, then went back to our room for a nap. That evening we went to the Roof Garden Restaurant, but made sure we sat indoors. It was very cool and windy again. We shared a Greek salad, then had cannelloni, dessert (creme caramel for Jane, chocolate mousse for me) and coffee. We got back to the hotel about 8:30, read and made out postcards, and retired at 10:30. Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 |
