Badger Galore
Staying ‘Up Over’ for a while.
Farewell Santorini, forever!
So... after the trials of the previous day it would have been nice to say we had a calm and peaceful last day on Santorini, but it was not to be.
We checked out of our beautiful apartment early at 10.00am and drove down to the only part of Santorini that we had not yet explored.
It was sometime that morning that I got the first notification that our flight was delayed. I hoped that it would be resolved in time as we were due in Manchester very late and the last train we could catch into the city centre was at 23.40. The delay really put that in jeopardy.
We first visited Vothonas, a village where many of the houses were carved out into the side of the gorge. Will was still struggling with his illness but soldiered on. Next we went to Pyrgos, the highest settlement on the island and as it happened, the home of the fateful toilet from the day before. We wandered up to the castle and churches at the top of the hill to admire the view across the island.
After that we went to Kamari on the coast, which is the biggest resort area on the island, and yet still does not have a public toilet. We were getting tired of friendly taverna owners trying to lure us into their restaurants. At one point Will realised he had lost his coat which had been tied around his waist so we back tracked and luckily found it again hanging on a chair at a road side eatery.
" I ran after you to give it back " said a very glam, tanned woman of a certain age but you'd gone.
Hmmm, how could we have gone that quick I thought? The way Will was walking even a sloth could have overtaken us!
We stopped in a cafe for some lunch, we succumbed to pasta, but Will couldn't manage his. He was utterly miserable but still putting on a brave face.
We drove to Monolithos, a village with seemingly the best beach for children due to its's gentle slope but I was over Santorini at this point and if I lived in Monolithos I would have just kept walking down that gentle sloping beach into the sea.
We went to the airport early, at least it had toilets, but you couldn't put the toilet paper down the bowl, because apparently the sewers can't cope with it, you have to put it in a bin beside the toilet. It was news to me. Heck! I chucked all the toilet paper down the loo yesterday at Pyrgos! I've probably severely damaged the sewerage system in that town!
There had been more flight updates but all not good, in fact the delay had extended even more. It was obvious we were going to miss the train into the city so I went online and booked a taxi from the airport to our hotel. I also messaged the hotel to warn them of our even later arrival.
Our Easyjet flight was delayed for just over an hour but we eventually boarded and all got sat in our seats. Then the Captain spoke to tell us the delay was because of a shortage of air traffic controllers in Manchester the previous day but he then went on to say we now had to wait for a 'slot' to leave and it looked like we would be on the ground for another hour!
I am not a good traveller and like everything to go like clockwork so this was just stressing me out. I now had no way of informing the taxi or hotel that we were delayed for another hour!
After an hour of being cooped up in that large tin, forced to listen to the inane chatter of the cabin crew in the galley just behind us, we finally set off.
Farewell Santorini, we came, we saw and will never go back!
We were due in Manchester at 10.45pm but finally got there at 12.50am. Luckily, I had given the taxi company the flight number so they were able to monitor the flight and our driver was waiting for us.
It was very nice to get into a comfy bed after that long day. Surely our troubles were over?
Nah!
Unhappy Birthday!
So...I wanted to do something special with Will for my 60th birthday but we never got around to it until now. I have always wanted to see Santorini so decided we would go there and I would turn 61 whilst there too. How perfect!
Sadly my birthday turned out not to be how I had envisioned it.
(The following contains some scenes that people might find disturbing).
Friday 28th April 2023 dawned with Will feeling unwell. He had slept badly in the night, with a headache and woke up feeling drained and aching. He had actually started to feel unwell the previous afternoon but it worsened after we got back from our Fira to Oia walk.
I was feeling chilled and relaxed but he said I needed to get up because something was being delivered at 9.30 am. It turned out to be a room service breakfast, delicious french toast with blueberries and a kind of sweet custard.
My sister and niece had arranged this surprise for me which was very nice and very filling, though Will couldn't face his.
After the surprise breakfast I walked into town to get some tablets for Will. I got some paracetemol and Ibuprofen which cost 17 euros, 15 pounds!!! or 28 AUD!!!!
He took some tablets and braved going out so that my special day was not ruined. We had picked up a hire car from the airport when we had arrived but had not used it for the last two days so today we decided to head to the southern end of the island and explore around there.
I was very uncomfortable in a left hand drive car and having to change gears with my right hand but I had to get over it.
We drove right down to the southern tip of the island to Faros, a lighthouse, which sadly was nothing like the ones we had seen on Lewis and Harris. We made an unscheduled stop at an old Venetian castle in Akrotiri and then went to see the excavations at Akrotiri of a prehistoric settlement. It is Europe's oldest city and is 3700 years old. The excavations started in 1974 and are still ongoing. I was not prepared for the scale of it as we entered through a doorway. The building covering the excavations, sheltering it from the weather, was incredible in itself. It was an incredible sight and amazing to think that people had created these houses and streets 3700 years ago, even making clay pipes for a sewage system.
After being blown away by the sight of the excavations we walked along to Red Beach, where red cliffs towered above the black volcanic sand of the beach. On the way back we stopped at a Taverna for some Giros, Will had chicken and I had pork. We had been trying to eat as many local dishes as we could but pizza and pasta were on all the menus.
After our lunch we headed to Vlichada beach to see how the winds had carved out the cliffs. Will was flagging and pretty much moving like the Walking Dead but, bless him, he didn't want t ruin my day.
Before we went back the guidebook suggested a wander through Emporio, a village practically untouched by modern life and some indication of how life used to be on the island.
We had only just been exploring the alleyways for a few minutes when I suddenly felt a sharp pain in my tummy. I knew I needed to find a toilet quick.
We went back to the car and Will started to search for the nearest public toilet. Now Santorini is very beautiful and lavish in places but it turns out there are only 4 public toilets on the whole island and the nearest one was a 10 minute drive away.
As soon as we got in the car I started driving but had chosen the wrong direction and we ended up down a very narrow dead end and had to turn round and go back again. My stomach spasms were getting worse but I was the only names driver so had to do the driving. We were bombing along with me wailing, arms outstretched pushing on the steering wheel, in second gear as I tried to hold back the inevitable.
Finally, we got to where will said the toilet was and I screeched to a halt at the side of the road and scraped the side of the car along some white fence posts.
" WHERE? WHERE IS IT?" I was utterly desperate, but we couldn't see it. We drove off a little further and spotted it just around the corner. I sped into a parking spot and dashed across the road.
"1 Euro" said a little girl, smiling.
" I only have two, take that" and I pushed past her and dashed in.
Once inside I sat down and tried to get my shorts off but I had fastened them tightly as they kept slipping down with the weight of my camera in my pocket. I couldn't loosen the knot and was frantically trying and then....it was too late.
So, there I was, at probably the worst moment in my life, in a toilet in Santorini, on my birthday, during a holiday that was meant to be so special, having just soiled myself. At least, if anything, the holiday was going to be memorable.
There was barely a quarter of a toilet roll available to clean up, so I used all of that and my socks, which were actually Will's socks, because I forgot to pack socks and he forgot to pack underpants.
There was no way I could put my shorts back on so how was I going to get back to the car?
Thankfully, I had put a t shirt on under my shirt, so I took them off and put my shirt back on and then put my legs through the arm holes of the t shirt and pulled it up to cover my modesty. I tied it round my waist and knotted the hole your head goes through and tucked it up. I was pretty pleased with my ingenuity. I tied my jumper around my waist to hide, a little bit, what I was wearing down below. I rolled up the soiled clothing as best as I could, checked that I had left no evidence of the horrors that had just occurred, took a deep breath and went out to wash my hands.
As I finally left the little girl was no longer smiling, in fact she looked utterly horrified as she glanced down at my makeshift shorts, that looked a bit like lycra. I just kept on going but her granny ran after me and handed me the one euro change. I took it but felt bad because it could have gone towards much needed disinfectant.
We drove back and while I waited in the car park for Will to bring me some tracksuit bottoms from our apartment I was able to scratch most of the white paint from the fence off the side of the car with my fingernail.
Back at the apartment I was cleaning myself and clothes for ages and had just finished when the phone rang. It was the restaurant at the hotel, they had something for me and could they bring it?
It turned out to be a birthday cake...
We couldn't face it! it was very nice of them but we binned it.
There was a very nice sunset that evening which I watched from the spa bath and later we did go out for a meal, but they got my order wrong and Will had finished his meal before I finally got mine and then for the rest of the meal the waiter who had made the mistake kept apologising profusely every time he went past as if my forgiveness would save his life.
Here are the pics from my Unhappy Birthday!
Fira to Oia.
So... yesterday we caught the bus from Oia to Fira and walked the 8 miles back to Oia along the edge of the Caldera. It was a great walk with stunning views. Here is the day in lots of pictures.
Oia, Santorini.
So...we are in Santorini for a few days. We are staying in a very posh hotel, Santo Pure Oia Suites and Villas. Yesterday we explored Oia, famous for it's sunsets. The day started overcast and we thought we were going to miss out but by early evening the cloud had cleared and we got our sunset.
La Sagrada Familia, Barcelona.
So...we set off on our Greek adventure yesterday rising at 3.00 am in Manchester to get to the airport for our flight except that when we got to Picadilly Station, it was closed. We waited around for 20 minutes before someone also waiting near us suddenly announced that the train had been cancelled. Shortly after a railway employee slightly opened the closed gates to tell us the same thing. Splendid!
In the end we got a taxi along with two other guys who were also catching flights. Our taxi driver drove like the wind through the deserted streets of Manchester, except for where there were speed cameras. We got to the airport around the same time we would have done if we had caught the train.
It was a stressful start and I was worried that it the day would continue to be trying but after that all went well. The flight left on time and arrived early in Barcelona and the trip from the airport to La Sagrada Familia was easy. So...here is La Sagrada Familia, a place I have wanted to see for ages. It was started in 1883 and is still not completed. Apologies for the mass of pictures but it was just amazing!
