Another Long Hike - Santorini, Part 3

We started our day a bit later than we originally planned, but after sleeping in a bit, finding breakfast, and preparing for a 3 hour hike, we got going around 11:30am.

The hike started with us at Fira (which is where we went to get breakfast), and took us around to Oia, which is at the most North-Western point of the Island, about 11kms.  We followed this "walking path", which really isn't much of a path, but more of trail.  It took us along the Caldera side of the Island, past many of the resorts and hotels with a Caldera View, and into Oia.

The trail was very hot.  We went in the hottest part of the day, and there was no shade.  Although there was a breeze, it wasn't a very cold breeze, as the hot volcanic rock we were hiking on heated it up before it ever touched our bodies.  At 2 points along the trail we came to small churches where we were able to find a bit of shade from the building, and took the time to relieve our backs of the packs we were carrying and air out our armpits.

Around 2:30 we arrived in Oia, and took the chance to eat some lunch, walk the streets, and explore some neat shops like Atlantis Books, which is famous for its decor, witty writings on the wall, and having a great selection of books.

We stayed only until about 5pm, as Oia doesn't have much in the way of "shady places" to cool down, and caught the bus back to Ferostephi, our hotel, and a chance to quickly cool down and shower before going to an outdoor movie in Kamari.

We caught the 8:15pm bus to Kamari, and as the bus was very full, we had to stand in different parts of it, separated.  Well, what happened was Mike got off the bus at the correct stop, and as Lindsay was a few people behind she didn't see him get off the bus, and stayed on.  She had assumed that he wouldn't get off the bus without her, and he (I) assumed she would have heard the guy yell out "Cinema", twice, notice that a dozen other people got off, and have seen him standing on the sidewalk looking into the bus motioning for her to get off.  In any case, the bus took off, Mike tried to follow it to the next stop, and as he forgot to start in his fast position, he wasn't able to catch the bus, so he went to a nearby hotel and asked where the return bus stop was, and waited there.

Lindsay, on the other hand, got to the end of the line and realized that Mike had already gotten off.  With no money and no phone, and not knowing Mike's Greece cell phone number, she had to charm her way back on to the bus.  The guy collecting fares let her come back on, and thankfully, for Mike, it stopped at the point he was waiting at...however...this was wasn't the stop Lindsay got out on; she stayed on the bus, and Mike didn't know if she was actually on the bus, or if she had gotten off at the end of the line and was now walking to the Theatre.

Anyways, to make a long story short, Mike was given the wrong directions to the theatre by a local, walked a few extra kms, asked another person, got the right directions, and met up with Lindsay at the theatre 45 minutes later.  Thankfully, Lindsay had been dropped out RIGHT outside the theatre and was waiting there for Mike.

The movie playing was Mamma Mia, which Lindsay loved.  It was a really neat theatre, with a big screen, a bar, and stadium seating in nice outdoor chairs.  We grabbed a couple drinks to help relax, Lindsay grabbed a hotdog, and we settled in.  After the movie we caught the bus - together - back to Fira, walked to our hotel, and were in bed by 12:30am.