Paulette

We are hoping to take a tour today so we walk into Fira to buy tickets.  Again we walk about 1 hour before we see the tourist shop that sells the tickets.  The man is very friendly and helpful.  We buy tickets for a boat tour that starts at the old port.  We continue walking until we see signs pointing to where we need to go.

We are it seems miles above the water.  There is a cable car to take you down (looks like a ski lift) but Carla and I want to take the stairs down.  It’s a lot farther than it looks.  We keep walking and walking down the steps and we start seeing more and more poop.  Soon we realize that donkey rides are a different way of making it back up to the top.

We see groups of people going up on donkeys.  At this point we have no time to change our minds nor the energy to climb back up in full sun so we continue.  As we get closer to the bottom the stench is horendous.  At the bottom there are so many donkeys that you have to push your way through.  Disgusting!  We are definitely taking the cable car back up.

We board a nice boat and after about 30 minutes we get off at the volcanic islands.  It is actually 2 volcanoes that merged into 1 island at some point.  Part of the island is huge black boulders while the other half is smaller coloured stones.  The guide tells us the large black boulders came into contact with water while the other side cooled slowly and therefore has more minerals showing.  We spend 1 hour walking up the volcanoes stopping at different spots along the way.

We walk up to the top and see steam coming out at one spot.  It is sulphur and you can surely smell it.  It feel eary walking on the island.  To me it was like walking on the moon.

We get back on the boat and within 20 minutes are at the 2nd stop.  Here you jump into water about 20 metres deep and swim to the hot springs.  It’s not what we expected but we jump in and swim over.  The water is very muddy and gets warmer as we get closer.  Carla has googles and looks underwater and sees a lot of fish.

The swim back to the boat is a little harder.  Not only is the water getting cooler but the waves are against you.  One person needs the life ring to bring them back in.  We do fine.

That’s the end of the tour and they take us back to the port.   We walk immediately to the cable cars and get on.  We are up in the hill in about 20 seconds.  There was no way we were going on the donkey path again.

The path to the port is  long and narrow with many side streets.  Every square inch is a store or restaurant so we shop.  We see a few restaurants that serve fresh fish so we return to one to eat.  We both had the sea bass.  We are asked if we want bread.  I remember to ask if that is extra.  It is he says so we decline.  We don’t really need bread.

I should have taken a picture of the sea bass.  They brought us our plates with the whole fish.  Carla took one look at hers and announced she could not have it looking at her.  We quickly cut off the heads and put them on a side plate and covered them.   It was delicious, light and fresh tasting.

We have a leisurely lunch and then set out to walk back to the hotel.  We want to take the Caldera route which is a path away from the main street.  It takes you through some beautiful hotels and villas.  Some of them look very fancy and expensive.  We stop to take a lot of pictures.  It’s amazing what they can build on the side of a mountain.

The walk is long and the sun is hot.  Carla says it’s like a mirage.  We keep thinking we should be there soon but it is always just over there.  It’s been another day of lots of walking.  I think we are making up for all the food we ate previously.

By 6:00 PM we are back.  Carla jumps in the pool.  I opt for a shower.  We are going to have a Greek salad later and drink some wine we bought in town.  I’m pooped!

Carla and I tie in Scrabble.  We’ve combined the Spanish & Greek Scrabble letters to make an English one but the scoring is a little off.

Tomorrow we’ve booked a snorkeling tour with 2 stops.  I hope the fins they bring me fit!