Up in the morning to find three cruise ships of people added to the existing crowds which have made the paths of Santorini virtually unbearable. We enter store and the owner tells us most locals leave the city and come back later in the day. He recommends a beach that is about a fifteen minute walk away. He shows us a map. It has a restaurant so we decide to make the trek.
We walk through the town and off the backside as directed to find the path. We realize we are not finding it but continue on. We pass through several hotels. There is a cafe with a large swimming pool area which we traverse and wind up in a parking lot. We notice a small icon of a church on the map and both agree we are still heading in the right direction. The sun is hot. Off in the far distance we see a small church up on a hill - this must be the one on the map. We follow the road down and run into a couple coming up. They speak English and confirm we are going the right way. We walk across what we call the deadly desert. Dry scrubs and loose pumice dirt. When you walk dust comes up on every step. We see a lone guy taking what I will loosely call a path. We take it too and eventually make our way up a hill to the church. It has now been about forty five minutes walking.
At the church we shoot some pictures then look over the edge and now we see the pebble (not sand) beach we have been searching for. But there is no discernible path to get down there - we study our options and see a way down to what looks like a new road carved loosely out of the pumice. So we back-track a little and we could walk all the way around or go down this steep little section. Of course we take the short-cut and step over the edge into the loose gravel. It is very dusty and fills our sandals with rocks and dusts our legs. Once in the path of the “road”, the sidewalls look like they could fall in at any time. We walk in the center just-in-case and make it down to the restaurant by the beach. We need liquids and ask when they open. It is a fifteen minute wait. After the deadly desert what is another fifteen minutes. We wait and finally can order a beer. It tastes great. When does the kitchen open? One hour from now. Let's relax and wait.
We have all day so we are in no hurry. The kitchen opens and we order an eggplant dish with pita bread, a hand made Italian sausage dish and guacamole and chips. When the food arrives it is excellent. It was worth the two hours it took to complete the meal. We walk down the path to the sea. The waves are crashing and the beach is completely rocky. We swim and lay in the sun for awhile. It's hard to swim so we decide to return to town and head to our new friend’s (the London group) hot tub. They invited us and they know we will show up at some time.
We follow the road back up hill and see a hotel pool with a bar at about the half way point and decide the oasis would make a good stop to refuel. Two cold beers go down great even if they are 7 euros each. We finally reach town and decide to stop by the artist’s studio to meet the father, Dimitris. We pop in and Dave sits in a chair close to where he is working and starts talking. We explain we met his son yesterday and that we are both artists and understand the difficulties of what he is doing. He pulls up a stool for Monique to sit and offers us coffee or beer but we don't want to impose. We talk about art and tourists and how things have changed. We ask about him and his life and learn he is married and his wife is a poet. We talk about art more then an unknown man comes in and gives him a couple pieces of pizza. He thanks him profusely. Then he says we both must eat with him. We say we are not hungry but he cuts up his pizza anyway. You must, so we do eat. Dimitris wants us to come to his house tonight but we explain we have reservations at a restaurant and are meeting some people. We ask when his son will be in the store because we want to buy one of his icon paintings. He tells us to return at 1:00 pm tomorrow.
We leave and Dave feels weird about eating part of his dinner. We stop at the restaurant to confirm our reservation and return to the villa. Dave runs to a pizza place, buys a large slice. He returns to the store and gives him a new piece. Dave says "you need to eat" and leaves the store. Dave can see the smile on his face as he leaves.
We go to the restaurant "Takis - Melitini" at 8:00 pm as planned. The waiter is really dramatic and when Monique orders he says, “no, I do not recommend that." He changes her order and she agrees to follow his recommendation - mince meat pie with potato. Dave orders the the lamb shank and the waiter approves. We have a starter of fava beans which Santorini is known for and start talking to a couple from Houston who are sitting next to us. He is in sales and she is in marketing. She just found out she is pregnant before their trip and would love a glass of wine but refrains. They were interesting to talk to and after Dave's lamb comes they follow suit. Monique doesn't like lamb but tries this and loves it. She has minced meat pie which is also excellent. The restaurant was a recommendation from a couple we met down at the beach - thanks for the tip - we will pass it on. Great prices and great food. We retire to our villa and work for awhile until we run out of gas.
We found this path and it took us pretty far down the hill - and then it ended so we were left to our own devices - it was time to cross the deadly desert.
The church on the hill we hope is the church on the map. It is remote and we aren’t quite sure how people get here. There are some dirt trails around it but that’s it.
This is the makeshift road that leads to the beach - we are hoping it doesn’t cave in while we walk on it - so we move to the center.
We finally made it to the real road - nice signage.
Katharos Lounge - our oasis in the desert. You wouldn’t think it, but they had really good food.
We hung out here for a while - a 15 min wait for beer, then a longer wait for food. They have pillows so it's okay.
This is the beach - it’s rocky and a bit treacherous.
When you plop down on the rocky beach and look behind you, this is what you see. It’s spectacular.