Santorini - Touring the Island ... With Bessie

By about day 2 we were getting a little restless – time to explore!

Our first excursion was a package – go out in a boat and explore 3 of the more remote beaches. It was great – one of those boats where they drop anchor off the beach, you jump in and swim ashore – the horn sounds and you swim back in time to head off to the next beach. The two highlights were the Red Beach and the White Beach – both just stunning – though the Red was very busy – I'll take the more remote, little less spectacular any day. It also became clear quite quickly that I am not the world's most proficient swimmer to say the least … the head above water thing certainly doesn't help but the crazy fish kick that goes with my breast stroke is also more than a little weak. If the pacific ever warms up enough to get me in regularly, I might just need to invest in some swimming lessons – now that will make my family chuckle ...

The next day, we struck out on our own – the idea was to rent 3 scooters and tour the island ... however, once the guy realized that I had never driven one before, I got given the nanny mobile – an ATV ... seriously, I had a grandmother who in her 80's could have and would have driven it. I felt like a child and was more than a little frustrated – as I said to the guy repeatedly in a fairly petulant tone, so how do I learn? How do I learn? I didn't get an answer - the Dad, proud owner and mechanic of said fleet said no, and no it would be.

I worked hard to be positive but what finally did the trick was when I tried to drive one of my friend's scooters, and after an initial good go, I proceeded to almost drive off the road down a path and in my effort to regain control, slightly scratched the scooter (I was absolutely fine). My romanticized memories of riding a scooter when last in Greece (all be that as a passenger sitting behind a cute guy) that I was trying to recapture, succumbed to realizing I really don't have that good hand brake/accelerator control - though if asked, I blame short legs. Maybe my ATV wasn't so bad after all … we became friends and I named her Bessie. (Our karma was good as we didn't end up having to pay for the scratches on either scooter – after the way I behaved at the outset, I'm sure there's a lesson in there for me … one I just need to remember in the moment next time.)

We then spent the next two days exploring the beaches and towns of Santorini – it was great. One of my favorites was a little fishing spot with great rocks to swim off – followed by lunch of the most amazingly fresh calamari – life is good. We also explored the town of Ia – a cliff top town where the all white buildings are built into the side of the cliff and the narrow streets wind there way along the top. It was stunning – and very popular with the tourists – but we managed to get out of the crowd and found a lovely cafe overlooking the ocean – view prices but the best home made chocolate ice cream I've had in a very long time.

By the end of the second day, Bessie and I had become good friends – I fully appreciated her stability and steadfastness – especially when I took her up the hill beside our beach the following morning. Gravel and coblestones on a narrow switchback road that just climbed up, and up and up. At the top was the archeological site of 'Old Fira' (the capital town) as well as the most incredible view of Kamari and the beach. I think I stopped every 500 feet on the way down to take a picture. It was a fitting final adventure with Bessie.