Imerovigli, Greece

As we began to unwind and relax and reflect on our tip so far we decided that we needed to just chill and would not bother going to the excavated town at the other end of the island that we had as an option to do here. We are of the impression that Greece is “traveller beware”, and that they are out to extract out of you by any means the most money that they can with no regard to service, ethics, or value for money. We have seen some awesome sights and are looking forward to seeing the treasures and artefacts from these sites at the National Archaeological Museum in Athens and therefore think that the village would be overkill and we would be better off to rest up than try and negotiate another site on this less than hospitable island. Rick Steves only rates it a “1” out of three as a recommendation too. I also wanted to catch up on a blog or two and see if I could upload some pictures once we moved to our new accommodation.

We had got some coffee, tea and milk in town last night so on rising after a reasonable sleep (bed a bit hard for my liking) and making a cuppa I sent Vernon off to find out what the procedure was for receiving our free breakfast (included in room rate). When he returned he informed me that when you are ready, you let them know and they will bring it for you to enjoy on your private deck. Breakfast was a nice filo based cheese and egg pie, a creme caramel type dessert, fruit, toast, jam, honey butter, and cake (a European thing to eat cakes for breakfast). It was nice to eat it on the deck on an already pleasant 22-24 degree and rising day.

It wasn’t long after our leisurely breakfast that our booked room was ready so we quickly packed and Manuel took our bags up. It was is two levels up and not by the stair path like the family room, so it is a lot quieter from passing traffic. The view is better, and we can actually sit in bed and see the water from there (why we treated ourselves) The room design is also better with the bathroom being the same level as the bed which is more convenient for night trips than the split level family room. I am feeling quite annoyed that we have been inconvenienced this way – its cost us about 2 hrs in shift and pack inconvenience and missed relaxation time which is harder to quantify. OK deep breath and move on and not let it spoil the remaining two days.

We managed a SKYPE with the kids which was actually a miracle given the internet speed and were able to share the lovely views with them live time!

So other than relaxing we planned to walk to Imervoigli to have lunch up there and check out the shops. Whilst the walk up is only about 10 minutes – it took more like 25 with stops for photos and air. After all the effort we did not find any shops per se or food places that appealed and were also affordable so we walked back down and got a takeaway souvlaki for €2.50 – with chips and some ‘tomato balls’ served with yoghurt dip €6.00 (a local dish) to eat in our room. Also picked up a radler to wash it down of course. The tomato balls are basically a fritter with tomatoes, spring onion, mint, flat leaf parsley in a light soft pale yellow dough, lightly deep fried to be crisp on the outside. The tomato balls were really good, the slouvaki ok, but we do not like the chips in as they soak up the tzatziki and bland out the dish. We removed them to improve it.

We continued to relax a bit more before freshening up and heading out for dinner and hopefully some shopping in Fira. By the time we got to Fira it was around 7.30 and so we quickly found a place or dinner, this time called Crazy Donkey which was also a boutique beer outlet. We ordered tapa style again; Santorini salad, baked stuffed white eggplant, Santorini sausage with relish and chips, and Courgette stuffed with rice and meat with a lemon sauce. It was really tasty and we struggled to finish it all, in fact we did not. A Santorini salad is a local variation of the Greek, and I think I enjoyed it more. They use locally grown cherry tomatoes, local capers and caper leaves (like a cross between spinach and grape leaves, tender but firm texture), spring onion, local goat feta, local cucumber. On the bottom of the salad were the crunchiest crostini the size of a baguette slice drenched in olive oil – but still crisp and also soaking up the lemon, mint, parsley vinaigrette mingled with vegetable juices. The crostini are a barley rusk. The tomatoes and cucumbers in Greece are really sweet firm and flavourful. The red onions they serve as a vegetable themselves in a large portion are also very mild and sweet.

The sausages were grilled to smokey juicy perfection and popped like a well cooked prawn as you bit into them. They are slightly course and pure meat, spicy but not hot and very more- ish. The relish was house made and tomato olive based rather than a pickle style. The courgettes were a bit bland, but still nice and were an unusual round shape like a mini squash. Overall it was excellent.

We tried looking at a couple of shops but everything was very expensive so it looks like taking home something from Greece other than some extra kilos will not be happening. There are a lot of beautiful clothes, shoes and art and craft pieces, home deco and wares. We were also a bit weary too to a point where it is just too difficult to negotiate the hustle, bustle, haggling and sharks and just enjoyed the experience of the narrow white washed lanes full of night lit colour and people.

We are still a bit tired as the pace and the heat catch up on us. It is also noteworthy that being in an inhospitable foreign country takes extra processing and negotiation, together with all the steps and uneven ground which we are being very careful on as it would be so very easy to injure yourself here. It is seriously dangerous all the ancient and even modern walkways and lanes. Part of you wants to look around but as soon as you take your eyes off your feet you nearly slip or hit a hole etc, it’s kind of like driving, you have to keep your eyes and wits on the road.

We walked the now familiar hike back home to Firostefani to another sleep without an alarm wake up, and a commitment to another relaxed day enjoying the island tomorrow.