If I were to post a picture of a herd of saddled donkeys lining a huge flight of winding steep steps chances are I wouldn’t even need to put in a quotation. It pretty much has to be Santorini.
It’s true that you can get up to the town that rests on top of the mountain in other ways, including your own two feet (not recommended given the average temperature in Greece and the lack of shade on the trail) or the cable car (if you can brave the line), but where’s the adventure in that?? Plus the Mediterranean sun is pretty punishing this time of year, so for me – despite the fact that I always feel terribly sorry for the donkeys – it’s always worth the 5EU to let one of the sure footed little beasts carry me up the mountainside.
Of course the term ‘little’ is a relative one. My co-worker, who mounted up before me, was given a lady-like white donkey that wouldn’t look out of place at a five-year-old’s birthday party. Me? My donkey was more the size of a small pony and I find myself definitely glad I have the assistance of a mounting block! Though I think the smoothness that I mounted up with surprised the guide, I guess I don’t look like the kind of person at ease on a horse of any kind. I’m far from an expert rider I can at least hold my own on an animal without doing much damage to either myself or the horse I’m riding.
The trip up reminded me all over again just how much I love this place. The view from the top of the mountain is unlike anything you’ll see anywhere else; the town is exceptionally high up, and its narrow, twisting streets are constantly giving way to breathtaking ocean vistas that you wouldn’t believe if you weren’t actually standing there in front of them.
Once you get away from the farmyard scent of the donkey station, the sounds and smells of Greece assault you from all sides. There’s the usual myriad variety of shops lining the narrow streets, and merchants are eager to offer you anything and everything you could think of. Everything except the carving of Artemis I look for in every Greek port and never find. Zeus? Apollo capturing Daphne? Hermes? Hera? Yeah they’ve got all those, but I can never seem to find Artemis and this is proving to be very frustrating! But really there is everything else, including a sign that I had to snap a picture of to prove it existed that read:
Save Water! Drink Wine!
One of the many reasons in existence to love Greece!
My only purchase of the day (other than the donkey rides up and down) was a bottle of scented shower gel that I found myself unable to resist. This is why I go ashore these days with only a limited amount of money and a general idea of what I’m looking for. I don’t even carry my credit card ashore these days (though with its current state of balance it would do me little good even if I did have it).
Since I had forgotten my clock onboard and had already managed to nearly get lost (something surprisingly easily to do in this port) I decided not to press my luck and I headed back to the ship early. Let me say this: the donkey ride up? Piece of cake. The donkey ride back down? Slight exercise in terror. Those stairs are steep, and they’ve been worn smooth by thousands of years with thousands of feet and hooves tramping up them. Donkeys are indeed sure-footed creatures, but that doesn’t mean they find their footing right away, they often slip a bit first before righting themselves and you find yourself suddenly remembering that there have been tales of people falling. Eventually though you just relax and try and remind yourself that the animals know what they’re doing.
Never the less I was glad when I got to the bottom! J