October 10: Pireaus–SeaJets–Megalochori
We spent October 10 kicking around Piraeus, killing time until our SeaJets ferry departure at 4 pm. The ferry was late, and there are no waiting areas at the Piraeus docks. We sat on the concrete ledge next to a ticket building, grabbing the shade before the full crowd arrived. I amused myself by spying on a couple of families who looked like they were out of White Lotus, all Gucci sunglasses and Rolex and spreading out Hermes scarves on the concrete so they wouldn’t have to sit directly on it.
They were going to Mykonos.
The ferry, when it came, was small and fast. The seats are set up kind of like in an airplane, but with wider rows. The area up front where we were assigned seats was crowded, and there was no real space in the seating area for backpacks. I quickly moved to the back, where fewer people were sitting. There’s a first-class area upstairs; if we were to sail in the high season, we’d definitely consider paying for that. I can’t imagine this ferry with a full load of passengers. (Or rather, I can imagine it all too well.)
Because it is a “fast ferry”, you can’t go on deck when it is cruising along, only when it slows to dock somewhere. Smokers have a hard time on the fast ferries.
The ride to Santorini took nearly six hours. This is partly because the ferry stops at numerous islands along the way: Syros, Tinos, Myknonos, Paros, Naxos, and finally Santorini. Since we were stuck island hopping through the Cyclades, I went on deck at every stop to see what I could see.
Every time the ferry started back up, we got to watch the safety video twice—first Greek, then English. Twelve times total!
Apparently not that many people sail all the way to Santorini on this ferry, because the time we docked in Santorini after 11:00, it was nearly empty. The seas were rough, and the ferry crew helped every passenger off the boat onto the heaving ramp. Our driver was waiting for us.
Before we left the U.S., somewhat overwhelmed by AirBnB’s number of available listings in Santorini, I had chosen a “Cycladic rooftop cottage with jacuzzi” in the town of Megalochori.
I was somewhat bemused when our host offered to send a driver to pick us up for €25, which seemed awfully high for a place that appeared to be right next to the port. But, I thought, we were arriving so late, it would be nice to have someone who knew the area take us straight to the house.
I imagined that in the daytime, we’d have no trouble walking down to the water.
Hahahaha! Foolish woman!
Remember, Greece is steep. Santorini is basically a circular cliff hundreds of feet high, with most housing up on the top. Megalochori is indeed right next to the ferry port–and about 1000 feet straight above it.
Tip: You really need to do trip-planning in Greece with a topographical map! Chris swears by GaiaGPS, both online and as an iPhone app while hiking. The iPhone app works great when there is no signal, up in the mountains!
The road to Megalochori took 15 minutes to DRIVE, and was entirely a serpentine up a cliff face.
The town itself is nearly unnavigable by motor vehicles. The main road is lined by plaster-walled buildings leaving exactly the width of a sedan. Fortunately there was no traffic at midnight, because our driver just parked the car at the alley leading up to our apartment, completely blocking the road. He carried our suitcases up the steep steps, opened the door, and we were in!
Our apartment was at the top of a collection of houses, many of which are operated by the same company that rented our AirBnB.
Megalochori is densely built, with most buildings sharing walls. Rooftops lead to stairs that lead to sidewalks and plazas; it seems that it’s fine to walk across roofs to reach the stairs.
We could look right into the terraces below us, most of which sported hot tubs just like the one on our deck.
Far below, a little cat saw us and began making her way up to our place, running along plaster walls and leaping up levels until she arrived on our terrace. She was in quest of food. All we had to offer were some scraps of cheese left over from the previous night’s ferry, but she didn’t object to a bit of cheddar.