If it weren't for those I miss back
home, I would have happily stayed on Santorini forever.
On my second last day on the island I
rented a moped (scooter) to zoom around the island.
There are an absolutely unbelievable
number of accidents happening on the island – I personally met 7
people who had crashed either a scooter or quad bike. In fact, when I
was sitting at the hostel enjoying the peace and quiet, I witnessed
the hostel's driver, on his moped (he was driving one-handed, as he
had broken his arm two days before in a crash) getting hit by a
motorbike travelling at close to 100 km/h. The crash happened less
than a metre from me, and the motorbike went sliding at least 50m
down the road.
Needless to say, those who rent
scooters are less than keen to allow the unqualified to ride them.
(quad bikes they will give to anybody). My three times riding a
motorbike were exaggerated significantly to secure a lovely orange
one.
I was off to a shaky start – the
constant driving gusts of wind, the fact that I was driving on the
wrong side of the road, the incredibly dangerous driving of the
locals, the suspect quality of the roads and the constant hills and
bends made Santorini a bad place to learn. But I got the hang of it.
And it was fun.
Unfortunately the ATM in Perissa was
out of cash while I was staying there, so by the last day I was
reduced to 28 cents... which meant I couldn't afford the bus to get
to the port (and the hostel driver was... out of action). So I
walked. Which doesn't sound too bad... unless you know where
Santorini port is. At the bottom of a huge cliff.
What's more, my phone was dead, so I
didn't know the time (I left my watch at home...). Was very lucky to
just make my ferry to Ios.
Leaving Santorini was very strange, but
something I'm sure I'll get used to. You spend a week making good
friends with the people there... and then you just leave, probably
never seeing them again in your life. Boggles the mind. Although I
have run into a few people I know already in Ios.
Since arriving at Ios I haven't had a
single moment of sobriety until now. The nightclubs open at 1am, and
people start going home at about 9am. Every night. Fortunately, my
incredible skills at cards ensured that I didn't buy a single drink
last night, saving much money.
The beach here is gorgeous as well. The
only white sand beach I have seen so far in Greece.
I'm leaving in 2 days and I have no
idea where I'm going. Either Poland, Turkey or Italy. I think.
The internet here is free but slow, so I may leave uploading photos until later. I will try but my hopes are not high.
(EDIT: Photos are up. Took half an hour though!)
I'm very glad for this laptop - without one I would be paying a euro every 15 minutes for internet.
