John and I had a very busy day today. We woke up around 9:30, which was much better than the 2:00 p.m. we had woken up the day before. We had a light breakfast in the hotel, which turned out not to be so light on our wallet. After hanging around the hotel for a couple of minutes we decided that we were ready to hike. There is a path that runs from one end of the island to the other. It sits right on the edge of the cliff and provides the most amazing view. The path isn't exactly ideal. It alters between gravel to dirt, to large rocks that at times break loose when you walk over them. Like I said, not exactly ideal. The view could not be better, though. Hill after hill reveals amazing glimpses into the cities up ahead. Little packed buildings with white walls and blue and cream ceilings. From that distance, they seem miles away, but one after the other we walked through them. Hill after hill after hill. We had walked part of the way the night before. Reaching the top of a point where we could see the majority of the island we thought, we could just walk to Fira (the city capital) and not worry about getting a cab. So we set out to do just that today.
We spent most of our day hiking until we finally reached the city of Fira. Here is where you can do all of your shopping. It is truly an amazing sight to see. Tiny, cramped streets bend up and down the cliff side. Its truly a maze which you find yourself getting lost in. The streets are filled with shops that sale fine jewelry or nick knacks. There are also roof top cafes that allow you to drink coffee and eat crepes as you watch the island from an open balcony. One very nice thing is that the hiking trail and the streets are too small for cars, so we did not have to worry about of crazy Greek driving. The walk was very nice. We went through most of these shops where we impressed the locals with John's vast knowledge of Byzantine history. They kept asking him his name as if he may show up on T.V. one day, famous for his esteemed knowledge of history. I thought that this must have been so nice for him. After seeing shop after shop we finally decided to head back, but not before we had some ice cream. Let me just say, you have never experienced ice cream until you have had it in Greece. I'm not talking about gelleto (the ice cream like desert that you typically hear about) I am referring to the real thing. Gelleto is very sticky. It does not melt in your mouth like ice cream does. It tends to linger in your throat for a while. Ice cream here is perfect. Its fresh, sweet, and home made. Delicious. If you come to Greece, go for the home made ice cream over the gelleto.
After finishing our snacks we decided we should make our way back. Doing so is not as easy as it may sound. When wondering the streets of Fira, you tend to become lost. they curve in and out, up and down, and you cannot even remember the direction you came from let alone the way out. We, thus, came to the conclusion that it would be best to walk up. Any street that went towards the top of the hill, we went. It was not so easy on the body, but we did find our way out.
We were exhausted by the time we walked out of the city of Fira. I thought that we were never going to make it back, but step after step, we kept going. We stopped at a little cafe in firostefoni, a city between fira and improvigli. John, once again, had cheese and bread (although it was goat cheese instead of feta) and I had a small bowl of vegetable soup. It was very good. By the way, if you are a diet coke drinker, try to find Coca-cola light. I am not sure if they sale it in the states, but it is very good and is better than the boring diet we drink in America. We eventually made it back with minor sunburns. I got most of it, of course. John tried his hardest to stay out of the sun. I am not sure what we will do tonight. Whatever it is, we will definitely be resting.
The First picture is a view of Fira. It is the type of view you would have when reaching a hill before the city.The second picture at the top is one of the shopping streets in Fira. The third shows the hiking trail along the cliff side.
