I, along with three of my friends – Meghali, Malobika and Anuradha, had been on a one month tour of Europe in July and the last leg of our journey was in Athens and then the Greek island of Santorini. We flew from Rome to Athens on July 22. It was a late night flight, 11:20 p.m., but in Athens the time was 12 midnight. Greece is two and a half hours behind India, whereas the rest of the European countries that we had visited were three and a half hours behind India.

In the Athens airport itself, we bought a ticket each for just 3.5 Euros and took Bus 95 to Syntagma Square, and then we looked for a taxi. But all the drivers took advantage of the night time and charged 50 Euros. We bargained and did not give in to their demand even though it was midnight. We waited and finally got a taxi driver who took us to the hotel for 15 Euros. We had booked our hotel ‘Apollo’ from Guwahati; the Metro is very close by and the bus, too, stopped right near our hotel. The first thing we did on the morning of July 23, after breakfast in the hotel, was to go to a travel agency in Omonia Square and book tickets for a ship to take us to Santorini on July 24. The next day being Friday, all ships were almost full. The people took their weekend breaks and hence, Fridays should be avoided, or tickets bought much in advance, which we did not know. Nevertheless, we managed to get four tickets for 50 Euros each. It would depart at 4:00 p.m. and reach at 9:00 p.m. But we got the return tickets for just 29.50 Euros each. However, it would take 10 hours. It is better to buy tickets for night travel. But as we had our hotel in Santorini booked, we had to take the day ship.

We then went to the Metro and took the Green Line to Monasteriki, just one stop ahead of Omonia. From there we could view the Acropolis Hill. There were rows of little shops, but we decided to spend more time there later. Though the Acropolis was a walking distance of about 20 minutes, we decided to take the Metro, as we had already bought a day ticket for just 3 Euros with which we could travel whole day long on any underground train or bus. We went back to Omonia station and took the Red Line to the Acropolis. It was not difficult to check the different coloured lines and the stations as they were marked on the walls of the Metro stations with details. The hill on which the Acropolis stood looked magnificent. In the distant past, the slopes of the Acropolis were the transitional zone between the city and its most famous sanctuary. They were the meeting ground of myths and legends, Gods and heroes, official and popular cults, public edifices and private houses. Excavations carried out on the slopes of the Acropolis had bought to light thousands of objects left behind by the people who had lived there. The recovered objects were all kept in the museum below the hill. First, we decided to visit the Acropolis Museum that was opened recently in June 2009. The entrance fee was 1 Euro. Walking into the museum and viewing the displayed centuries-old statues, slabs, etc., steeped in mythology and a glorious history, was simply an amazing experience. Below glass floor panels, we could view sections of buildings, baths, wells, and a lot many areas of a seventh century city.

It was a very hot day. We got into a bus, made a round trip of the city with the bus driving into the lanes and bye-lanes of the city, which gave us a feel of the place. We then went back to our hotel to take an hour’s rest. At about 6:45 pm, we took the Metro to Monasteriki to explore the shops and then sat in the Square till 11 pm. In the Monasteriki Square, there were sites of the old ruined city below glass floors over which we could walk. I found it quite fascinating that the new city and the old city existed side by side. Here and there lay the scattered ruins of the old city.

On July 24, we left most of our luggage in the hotel and just took a light handbag each for our Santorini trip. The island of Santorini or Thira is located in the Cyclades islands, in the middle of the Greek Islands of the Aegean Sea. We took the Metro Line from Omonia to Piraeus Port, from where all ships depart and arrive from the different Greek islands. We boarded the Speed Runner 2 ship that set sail at 4:00pm. It was a huge ship. We could buy food in the ship itself. The seats were like those of an aircraft. After a stop at an island, we reached Santorini at 9:30 pm. As soon as we disembarked, we saw high hills next to the Aegean Sea. We looked for a vehicle to take us to our hotel and got one for 15 Euros. We enjoyed the ride up the stark volcanic hills that had the sea drop on one side and the austere rocks on the other.

As soon as we alighted from our vehicle, we were given a very warm welcome by the couple who owned the hotel – ‘Villa Valvis’. The sweet blue and white hotel with an azure swimming pool right in front of our rooms was tantalising. Shady palms were dotted around the pool and there was a little bar at one end. Dropping the luggage in our rooms, we walked up the road to the mini supermarket to buy food and water. We all bought different types of food for our breakfast, as that was the only hotel in our tour where we got no breakfast. It suited us, as we could wake up at our own time without worrying about missing breakfast. The mini supermarket stayed open till 2 in the morning. We came back to our hotel and reclining on chairs by the pool, nibbled some food at 11:45 pm Marina, the owner had said, “Now, it’s warm and windy.” When I said, “Windy? Ah! It’s good.” She at once replied, “No, it’s not good. Wind here is very strong. It sweeps away everything. It’s bad.” We realised it in the next few days, when we could not open an umbrella without it being broken! It was so windy that at times we would be swaying along the road.

Our four days of stay at Santorini was a holiday in the true sense. We simply relaxed by the pool or took the two minutes walk to the beach. Ours was the Perissa beach. The pebbles are all black and the beach is called ‘Black Pearl’. We enjoyed the walk along the waters of the Aegean Sea, or simply lazed on the beach chairs (as we went in the evening, we did not have to pay). The tourists went to the beach in the morning, but we could not bear the sun. It was really glaring. However, by 5:30 in the evening, the day was nice and pleasant and we enjoyed the sights and sounds of the sea and also the street’s restaurants with some inviting Greek cuisine.

Santorini offers the rare chance to travel around the whole island on the back of a donkey, hence, most of the souvenirs had the picture of a donkey. We found these donkeys in the capital, Fira. But we did not even dare think of riding one! We took the bus to Fira from Perissa one morning and walked along the caldera to watch the volcano. The shops were sweet and pretty. And interestingly, all the houses in Santorini are white in colour with a blue border. The doors and windows were all arch shaped.

We also went to Oia, the most beautiful of all villages of Santorini. We took the 6:30 evening bus to Fira that cost us 2 Euro and 20 minutes time, changed buses immediately in the Fira bus station and took the bus to Oia, another 20 minutes drive at 1.40 Euro. Oia is too beautiful for words. The houses, all white, outlined with powdery blue, stood on this highest hill top of Santorini overlooking the sea. There was this much famed Cathedral that looked beautiful. We passed by a wonderfully ornate clock tower that contained bells, too. Everyone rushed to see the sunset, for which Oia is so famed. The entire ridge of Oia was full of people. Most of them had taken the conducted tour for about 35 Euros, but as we took the bus and came to Oia on our own, it cost us so much less. It was the most beautiful sunset that I had ever seen. The sun slipped between the craggy hills slowly, as if in a dream. Cameras clicked and at the final dip, the place resounded with clapping – a tribute to Nature. We walked through narrow lanes that seemed like a fairyland, with little shops on both sides. We had a choice of restaurants and found one named – ‘Tabepna Blue Sky’. We had ‘Lamb in the Oven’, ‘Chicken Risotto’ and ‘Spaghetti Carbonara’ – delightful dishes for dinner. There was this waiter who told us that it was his first day at work. He looked like a student. We had found quite a lot of students who were newly appointed, perhaps because of the summer break in Europe. We took the ten o’clock bus back, enjoying the lights spread below us on the lower slopes.

Visiting the different towns in Santorini was quite an experience, but we enjoyed staying in quiet Perissa, with the sea and the porous hills within our reach. There was practically no greenery on the island.

On July 29, we took the Rodanthi, a huge ship from Thira port at 11 a.m. and reached Piraeus at 9:00 p.m. The sunset on the sea was another sight to store in memory.

One more day in Athens and then we took the flight back to India.

s.duara@yahoo.co.in

Srutimala Duara