Greek island hopping

We started with Santorini.



Beautiful, charming, and (unfortunately) full of tourists. What an ironic thing to say, huh? Yeah, we were all over the place. We had decided that we would get engaged here, so we started ring-hunting. Greece is absolutely packed with jewelry shops and we eventually found something that we both liked :) of course, they needed some time to make them our size. We actually picked them up towards the end of our trip, when we returned to Santorini after visiting Paros and Naxos (two nights on each island)

In Paros we stayed at a very charming little hotel, San Antonio.



The managers, a Greek couple, were extremely welcoming and it felt like home. Piso Livadi, the town where the hotel was located in, was a quiet place, and since September is not really peak season, it was very relaxing, with only a few people on the beaches
This is where we decided to give scuba diving a try. We love water. so the idea really appealed to us. on the greek island of paros it was only a question which diving company to chose. after we made our choice, we walked for nearly an hour till we got to the golden beach. we first got some theoretical training. it started sounding slightly dangerous. there were some papers that we had to sign that stated we release the instructors of any responsibility in case of an accident and that we are aware one can die. anyway, we went ahead with it. we put on our wetsuits and oxygen tanks and we walked down to the beach. we started the practical training in shallow water where you can stand with your head above the surface. at this point i have learnt something more about my body/brain. for 31 years if i put my head under water, i knew i was not supposed to breath. this knowledge is more of a reflex, i guess. now, all of a sudden, i had to teach my brain that is actually ok to breath under water after all. it was not easy. there is something unnatural about it. i now understood why in the form we had to fill in one of the questions was about the possible history of panic attacks. under water i realized that indeed, it is very easy to get a panic attack. luckily for me, we had a brilliant diving instructor, Misi and i were the only clients, and for Misi this was actually the second time he was diving, so while he was doing brilliantly, our italian instructor lady was able to give me her undivided attention. she was great. she took my hand and looked me in the eye. we were under water, so we cold not speak. but there was so much peace in her eyes, it just made me relax. I couldn't see her mouth, it was behind the breathing thingy, but I could see the smile in her eyes. They were like angel's eyes, especially that I was scared. Anyway, soon i started to get the hang of it. however, one thing i couldn't really master properly was to refrain from breathing out through my nose. this makes water go into your mask. luckily there is a technique how to get it out. anyway, what i did most of the time was to pinch my nose with my fingers, so problem was solved. after all this practice we started swimming in deeper. and the underwater wonder began. one of the first things i noticed was the shape of a star in the sand. so i pointed it to the instructor. she gently shook her hand above it thus making the water move the sand and reveal the sea star :) we stayed and watched how the star slowly dug itself under the sand again. later on the instructor showed us a bunch of dead shells. she gently moved a couple of them. it took me some time, but i finally noticed that there was an octopus hiding in this whole covering up with the shells. we also saw sponges. while in the sea they are actually covered in a black hard cover. we didn't touch them, we were told not to touch anything in order not to harm any creatures. we also saw sea hedgehogs. a cuttle fish, funny looking little creature. a flat fish amazingly hiding in the sand and quickly swimming off.

It was a fantastic experience.



Greek people are generally friendly, but I did come across a couple of not so nice people. We went to an internet cafe, I wanted to check my bank account. There were many guys playing games, but there were also many free computers. The guy in charge assigned me to a computer between to gamers. I asked him: "Could you please give me another computer, I want to check my bank account." His answer: "So what?" "I would like some privacy, it's my bank account.". "So what??" he asked again. I wasn't in the mood for any more explanation, so I firmly asked: "OK, can you give me another computer or not?" He didn't argue any more. He gave me another computer...

One day I went to a photo shop. My digital camera's memory card was full, so I wanted to put all my pictures on a cd. I thought it was polite if I didn't assume everyone speaks English, so I asked: "Do you speak English?" The guy answered something in Greek. I stood for a couple of seconds trying to figure out what to do with an answer that wasn't neither YES nor NO . Then he finally said in English with an arrogant look on his face: "Sometimes." I guess he must had been fed up with all the tourists. I explained what I needed, he told me to go back in 15 minutes. I didn't. I thought I'd better give him a break from another tourist. And our ship was leaving anyway... We were on our way to Naxos.

The hotel in Naxos was not too nice. After we arrived, we had a little lie down. When I woke up, got off my bad and discovered the hard way, that there were two nails sticking out the side of the bed... Got a nasty scratch on the back of my leg. Not a serious injury, but I was bleeding nonetheless. I went down to the reception. This hotel was a family run business. There was this teenager guy playing a computer game with his friend. Explained I wanted another bed. We got another room. In the evening, after we had been to the beach, obviously, I wanted to have a shower before we went out to have dinner in town. Misi had a shower with cold water. I was a bit angry: it's a seaside hotel, hot water is the least I expect from a hotel, irrespective of the number of stars. I won't bore you with details, but it took about half an hour to finally have hot water. Hm...
On Naxos we rented this thing, it's called a buggy.

They are quite popular in Greece, along with other kinds of motorbikes. It is cool and convenient, however, at times I was a bit afraid being exposed. I am not a motorbike type, I prefer the safety of our Volvo ;) The buggies can go with 60 km/h. At one point it broke down and we were stuck for about an hour or so, until the company where we rented it from, found us and we got another one to continue our journey with. But at least we were able to check a few beaches and we finished the day buy snorkeling in a very nice place.
Back in Santorini we picked up our rings and sat down on a nice terrace overlooking the town with all the lights on. This is where we got engaged. We wanted to have a cocktail, so the waiter convinced us into a... cactus cocktail :) Funny choice for an engagement drink, but we didn't tell the waiter our plans. Misi called my father to ask for his permission. Just when he was on the phone with him there were fireworks somewhere on the island. We took it as a blessing, not just from my father, but from fate as well :)

One of the best things about coming back to Finland from Greece? We can finally throw the toilet paper into the toilet again!!! Yep, in Greece you are not supposed to do that. There is a bin provided for that purpose. Apparently the pipes are so small, that whenever a few tourists forget to use the bin, all hell brakes loose. We were told: "You don't want to know what it is like when that happens..." :-/ I wouldn't want to be a cleaning lady in Greece... Yuk. In one place we saw a sign: "Don't you dare throw anything into the toilet unless you have eaten it first."