Panagía

Another slow morning.
Breakfast at 9.00 so Athena can sleep in.

I take a while to get moving as need to complete x8 footprints of my blog.
Athena goes to the rooftop and bakes in the sun.

At 12.00 I am over blogging and want to see the pool.
I run upstairs, grab the girl and off we head.
The pool is located at a different hotel. It is stunning. A spa hotel.

We happily sit in one of the white cabanas and order our first cocktail.
Athena orders a gin base, for me it's rum.
The sun is directly above our heads and the heat is melting our thoughts away.

We both slip into the pool and it is wonderful. A waterfall down one end a bar down the other.
Swim for ages. I realise this is Athena's first time in the water on this trip.

Another cocktail 🍹and we sink into oblivion. We are so relaxed can hardly talk.

To make things worse, I decide to get a massage. A massage at a spa!!

I go into the expensive looking hotel wearing wet bathers. They treat you like royalty. The smells, the music, the darkness. Pure luxury.

I floated back to Athena all dreamy like. She was on her 3rd drink. I asked can you stand? She said sure love. And she could.

At 3.30 we headed back to our hotel, in bathers and towels, through the tourist throng, to get ready for Oia.

We could so easily spend a day basking in the sun here. It takes all our will to move and do something.

We catch the local bus to Oia. It costs 1.80euro and takes 25mins. The road to Oia from Fira is cut along the top of the crater. It is windy and on a cliff edge. I think these drivers are amazing, but I have a fear element going on here too!

We hop out and follow the 'throng' up through the x2 people wide paths.

I had previously read how to get to the best positions for the famous blue church domes. So on seeing the jewellery store on the corner, I veered left.

Here they are! Wow, they look amazing. We squish in and take our many shots as quick as possible.

Will try to get closer, so I urge Athena to just follow close behind me and I am off again.

We find a spot directly over the top of them and snap away. The blue colour is in perfect contrast to all the white.

OK time to eat.
We choose a close restaurant and sit and have moussaka. A small kitten pops over the seats and says hello. I immediately am distracted by him. There are many small cats around here, but they all look healthy and clean.

The moussaka is yummo, bechamel sauce, cheese, bolognese, eggplant and potato. We scoff it down. Athena is so full.

Now, it's time to watch the sunset.
Hundreds of people are lined along the paths and nooks and crannies of the Incline.
We take up a position on some steps and wait for an hour with everyone else. A drone buzzes above our heads and I wave at it.
The sun slowly sets and we await that magnificent red golden glow when it meets the water.

But no, we have a thick cloud today. The orange sun disappears before we are all ready and the sunset is over.
I say how disappointing for everyone. But it's not really. We have seen this sun set the past 3 days so haven't missed a thing.

The crowd moves out and it is slow going one behind the other toward the buses.

On the bus ride back, Athena turns to me and says 'I'm free' she claps her hands.
I ask what do you mean?
She tells me she is free of my itinerary.
I say not quite yet, we still have little venice and the windmills.
She continues with 'I'm free'
So I tell her to pass me her mobile so I can delete all her photos she has taken whilst following 'my itinerary'
She sheepishly declines me and succumbs to agreeing she wouldn't have missed anything.

Back at our hotel, Athena jumps straight into bed. I go out and grab a coke and a Gelati. Lemon and raspberry.

I read my novel out loud again until I hear snoring, then I know it is time for sleep.Read more