Week 12: Island Life
The week began with a ferry ride on Tuesday morning, on a high speed and high cost ferry from Crete to Santorini. It cost me 56 euros for a 2 hour journey and sadly since it was high speed you could not be outside so I spent the majority of the two hours sleeping which was fine by me.
Waking up still sleepy and down at port which is below some pretty significant cliffs I was lazy and decided to get a private transfer to my hotel. This turned out to be a great decision as it only cost 5 euro and the two buses I would have needed to take would have been 4.40 and taken a hell of a lot longer.
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| Nowhere near as black as my heart.. |
I was staying outside of the main cities of the island in Perissa, a sort of beach town, based around the biggest black sand beach on the island and also the first proper black sand beach I’ve ever seen. The beach itself was beautiful but for whatever reason I have imagined black sand beaches as much much blacker. The blackness of obsidian, or a storm filled midnight sky, or the blackness of my own soul . Just Kidding. Anyway this beach wasn’t like that, but it was still an awesome beach and it was nice to get some swimming in.
Perissa itself was pretty quiet and the small hotel hostel I stayed in, while quite lovely, was also almost abandoned. There was one chinese girl who spoke next to no English in my dorm and a couple from Denmark who weren’t in when I arrived.
Already into the afternoon, I decided I’d just head down to the beach, I had a great swim and was relaxing and reading in the sand when I look to my left and about 50 feet away from me notice a couple quite clearly having sex right in front of me. Both completely naked the boy with bright green shorts at his ankles. (This is not a like fully nude beach but they were certainly enjoying themselves and since it was so late in the season I was the closest one to them, although to me I seemed pretty damn close for them to think I wouldn’t notice.)
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| Sexy times! Actual advent calendars in the grocery store If only I had the space. |
I kind of waited and tried not to be weird or watch them, but they weren’t exactly quiet. Eventually I packed up and left, then when back at the hotel talking to the owner who lived in Michigan for most of his life before returning to his homeland, the couple from Denmark who I’ve yet to meet walks in, and the boy is wearing bright green shorts. They kind of smile and say hello awkwardly clearly aware of who I am, and duck upstairs. Fittingly enough I was graced with the joy of hearing them enjoy themselves in a more traditional location later that night. Quite a day.
Oh yeah I also broke me E-reader Tuesday night, entirely my fault as it was hidden under a sheet and I used it to push myself up out of bed. Oh well I had a nice little stabbing party, taking it apart to try to see how it works and things like that. It was well and truly wrecked so I figured I might as well explore it’s innards. (Fully aware of how creepy that may sound)
The next day I headed in Fira and at first I could not for the life of me understand what the big deal was, even in October this seemed like an over touristed, under lived, dirty crowded hectic place. Then I figured out I was on the wrong side of the city and had to get to the caldera views. You see, I was busy hunting for a new E reader, a search which ended in despair. Later that night I was told by the hotel owner that Greeks don’t read, greeks drink.
Giving up on the E-reader I headed up the hill full of small and somewhat charming tourist shops not really aware of what was waiting for me. Reaching the view of the Caldera in Santorini is a lot like finding an oasis in the desert (Okay the city is not that bad, and the view is not life saving but still.) I hiked up along the path for a few hours just enjoying the raw energy of the view on a cloudy day. The walk was busy even in October and I’m loath to think of what it would be like in july. Still, even considering the crowds, the views made it well worth it. The clouds alone were magnificent, billowing, almost alive and ever shifting, filled with splendour and ready to inspire any imagination willing to fall into their pillowy embrace. I returned to Perissa and got in a brief swim before it started to rain, forcing me to spend most of the evening in the room catching up on T.V. and all those endlessly important things on the internet that do absolutely nothing for me, yet I cannot force myself away from.
The next day followed mostly the same pattern except it was sunny, warmer and windier, so walking along the Caldera was more challenging but also more beautiful. To contrast, check out the photos below.
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| cloudy |
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| Sunny |
Despite Santorini’s beauty and the beach sex (sadly not a participant) this week so far had not been as enjoyable for me as the past few and it took a bit of thinking to figure out why. I realized I hadn’t really had a good day of writing or even a good session in quite a few days. I hate the phrase writer’s block because you can always write in my opinion, I look at it more like this. Most days for me when I’m travelling writing is like a nice easy stroll down a country lane, mostly flat, often even and well trod. In other words it still takes energy, but it’s a smooth process. The last few days had been more like climbing a mountain with no gear. Still possible, but very frustrating, and sort of dangerous, as you can write some really shitty stuff if you force it too hard. Luckily, I managed to find a path over the mountain to an easier trail on the windswept, sun soaked cliffs of Santorini and got a good chunk of writing done for The First Queen of The Pigeons and that ease of writing seems to have returned as I continue on with that project and have started an unexpected new one. More on that later. I still do have to force myself to sit down and give Disappearing eyes the proper edit it deserves, but that will come with time I’m sure.
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| Me in Santorini |
That third night in Santorini I caught a midnight ferry on to Kos. The drive down from the hotel to the port was harrowing, especially knowing that my driver, the hotel owner was quite drunk, if still fully capable of doing it. He’d previously gone on a big rant of how drunk driving was bullshit and sit should only be a crime for those who couldn’t handle it. Still at that hour he was my only option to get down there. We arrived in one piece and I managed to get out a few new rap songs and watch a couple of movies on the overnight ferry while sadly not sleeping at all. Still, there was a strange satisfaction that I could still stay up all night and function in the morning. (The term function is used loosely).
I arrived in Kos with the sunrise, maybe 45 minutes later than scheduled and disembarked the massive and very comfortable Blue Star ferry (the last one of the year). I walked along the charming Kos harbor and looked back to see the sun blazing as it rose behind the Kos castle, a mosaic of colour and cloud all intertwined and ever changing in the sky. It was breath taking, but Kos still had more planned for my sleepless self.
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| Sunrise over Kos Castle |
I sat and watched the sunrise from the harbour for a solid twenty minutes before continuing on to my budget hotel. (downside of the greek islands at this time of year is hostels are rare) As I walked it started to drizzle and I looked up and saw the beginnings of a rainbow. Since my hotel didn’t open for another twenty minutes I kept right on walking past the hotel towards the rainbow which seemed only to grow and grow, until in mere moment it had changed from the bar beginnings of the a small section of the seven colours it had become the whole perfect and massive archway, glowing radiantly in the early morning billowed sky. Maybe two minutes later this perfect and magical arch way of shining colours was joined by a slightly less defined rainbow above it. A double rainbow and one of them more impressive than any rainbow I’ve ever seen, except maybe for one shared with my mother in Terence bay a few years back.
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| So much brighter in person. Magical life. |
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| See the Double? |
Trust me when I say that the pictures don’t do it justice and since I’d not slept at all I found this strange euphoric magical rush in the bars of light sprouting out of the sky above me. It was yet another one of those golden travel moments where you can’t keep the smile from spreading across your face. I even kind of laughed in disbelief and definitely had some greek school age kids thinking I was crazy as I stood in the rain watching this rainbow from it’s beginning until there was nothing left of it. It was amazing to watch it fade away into nothingness, this thing of such incredible beauty suddenly gone from the world. Maybe it just bloomed somewhere else and that’s how rainbows actually work, there’s just a few of them and they travel the world appearing randomly and bringing smile’s to peoples faces. Too corny?
Conveniently the entire rainbow experience took about 20 minutes and I got to my hotel, got let in by the kind owner who had just woken up, and was allowed to check in and sleep, which was very nice. The idea of puttering around Kos until 2 in the afternoon on zero sleep did not seem like much fun. I’m getting older, as at 18 or even 20 that would not have been as much of a problem.
I woke up around around 3 and ventured out to explore Kos a little and check on E-reader chances. They were not to be found as it turns out Greeks really don’t read much, but Kos itself was laid back and very beautiful. I had a late lunch at a restaurant recommended by my hotel owner and ended up having a delicious version of beef burgers that tasted more of the herbs spices and lime than any meat, though that was a good thing.
After exploring and doing a little writing I headed back to the hotel and slept some more. I think apart from the weight loss and more exercise, the reason I feel so much better when travelling is I usually get plenty of sleep, since there is no school waiting for me in the early morning, no marking to keep me up late, and nothing but time for me to do with whatever I wish. I sometimes wonder how much I’ll struggle to go back to a normal life when all this is done, but I’m sure I’ll cope, and probably even love elements of it. I do miss teaching. Not enough to stop travelling, but enough to smile at recollections of Bradford Academy.
Speaking of school I recently started watching Channel 4’s Educating Yorkshire and have fallen in love with it. It captures what it was like to teach in Bradford, though it is certainly a tamer version and the amount of time spent on one student issue by the senior staff is clearly exaggerated for the tv show. Still it’s been wonderful to watch and is making me actually miss Bradford and my job there. It was a good year there and I might not have believed you if you told me that half way through it, but it was a definite growing up process for me and I learned an immense amount and hopefully helped some kids get one step closer to chasing their dreams with success.
At any rate the next day in Kos, Saturday I believe, I woke up fairly late and headed to the castle and explored, choosing a perch atop one of the towers overlooking the port and getting some more writing done before heading back into town and checking out some of the ancient greek ruins around town and grabbing a quick gyro pita (the food of the budget traveller in Greece: 2 euros for pita stuffed with meat, veggies, and tzitziki hitting a lot of the food groups and being extremely filling and delicious) and heading back to my hotel to watch Man UTD with yet another disappointing result. Last year was definitely the right year to be a season ticket holder, the last year of Fergie, the last year of Scholes, and another title won.
I was cheered up later that night talking to a few different friends on facebook and resolving to start developing a TV show with my friend Ben (Of Authentics fame). It started as an idle joke (much like the Authentics) of a suggestion the night before but here we actually got into some ideas which I’m excited to explore. It’s nice to write with someone again, even if they are across the globe, bouncing ideas back and forth can be very inspiring, it also makes you realize how far technology has come even since I was in high school writing Poliops with my friend Phil. Google Docs is a wondrous tool for those seeking to collaborate across the world.
I spent most of the day Sunday creating a planning document and probably went a bit overboard with it, but it’s left me very excited to work on something other than fiction narratives in writing, and to try and do something comedic again. It should be a fun thing to play with and develop over the next few months.
I meant to write this blog entry yesterday but got too into the TV show so instead your left with a Monday update. Very sorry. Today though has been a fantastic day, I woke up early to take a day trip to Patmos, the island where John the apostle supposedly wrote large chunks of holy text in a cave.
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| Patmos viewed from the Monastary |
I’d initially planned to stay here a few days but lack of affordable accommodation and inconvenient ferry times made that a no go, so I’ve spent the day writing up at the monastery then hiking back down to the port and stopping at the cave of the Apocalypse, where John supposedly lived while he wrote the book of revelations. It’s a beautiful small island and a pretty awesome place to be, though I’m now boarding my high speed boat back to Kos.
Patmos highlights included the view from the monastery, some of the ancient books in the monastery, an awesome cat I met on the way down to port who was very friendly and looked an awful lot like my cat Scooby Doo (R.I.P) , The cave itself, a pleasant walk around the port town and buying some postcards. Now I just have to get it together to send them. We’ll see if that ever happens. Wouldn’t count on it.
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| Awesome Kitty |
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| View of St John’s Monastery |
The Boat ride home was exhilarating and beautiful. The thing really got moving at high speeds and I stepped out to the back and watched the sunset as we sped away. Quite an ending to a perfect day of wonders.
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| The sun about to duck below the horizon. |
Tonight I’ll be waking up at 3 in the morning to watch my beloved Vikings play on Monday night football. I’ll almost surely regret it but what can you do. I’ve also booked some of my stay in Turkey and I am definitely looking forward to exploring the last of my European countries on this adventure. (I’ll fly to Nepal from Istanbul in a few weeks)
Life could not be much better these days, and the fact that I’ll likely be able to swim in the sea tomorrow makes any missing of Canada fade away, except of course missing friends and family, who I look forward to seeing this summer while I’m home to renew my passport and get some South American visa’s sorted. Much Love and I hope all my Canadian readers had a wonderful thanksgiving last weekend.
Luke
Song of the Week: Flicker Fade by Taking Back Sunday
The first new music they’ve released for a few years now, and it has got me very excited for their new album even if it is just a live video. A lot of people will hate this as Taking Back Sunday are one of the more Emo groups I listen to, and apparently the singer can’t actually sing (I love how it sounds). Still it’s the song I’ve listened to most this whole week, and everyone should like exactly the same things I do.
Reading Log: Nothing, still stuck on Eye of the World with no E-reader. Likely wont be able to get anew one until I get to Istanbul next weekend. Oh well- more time for writing.
1 Comment
That pot looks like something out of an oveerizsd Pooh Bear story and on a more technical note, I love the contrast of the vivid sea with the white-washed houses