The shuttle arrives at Hotel Atlantis... Off to the new port of Santorini ... Approach the edge of the caldera... Descend... Descend... Descend... Stop...let the climbing bus have right of way... Descend... descend... The port.... Some form of organisation lurks below the chaos... The shuttle driver warns... These are Greek ferries... Not always on time... His experience is proven.... The ferry arrives an hour late... The café a good place to fill in the time.... We pick up our tickets... Two people at the counter... Two different jobs... One is to service the customers... One to tell people to join the other queue...
The crowds mass at the gates... The ferry attendants raise their voices... The high speed ferry arrives... It looks small... It looks very small beside the waiting crowd ... It shows signs of age... It starts to disgorge it's passengers... They stream out... They continue to stream out... They stream out some more... The confidence of the penguins rises... There will be space for them after all... The crowds push... The penguins the last to board... The passenger compartment awash with passengers and baggage... The penguins become depressed... This will be a trip from hell... Our tickets have an assigned seat number... I bet someone has already occupied them ... Better look anyway... Row 33... cannot be found... We are puzzled... Confidence low... An attendant rushes by... His progress is halted... He looks at the ticket... Points to the stairs... Club class... Unlike the cattle jostling for seats on the lower deck... Spare seat after spare seat... Cafe... Windows... The prior expenditure of few extra euros puts a smile on the faces of the travellers...
The ferry is fast... The seas smooth... Penguin number two drifts off to sleep... He awakes with a start... The Greek Police escort off Santorini to Naxos just a dream... He looks around... Everyone has their selfie stick stored away... Just for a second he wonders again.... No police in sight... Just a dream... Relax... Back to sleep...
Naxos before we know it... Quieter... Less chaos... The taxi drivers just as enthusiastic about the acquisition of passengers... Four people... Five large bags... Small Mercedes... The passengers doubt that they will fit... The driver supremely confident... He has done it before... Two bags pile into the boot cavity... Two more rest upon them... The passengers convinced they were right... The driver pushes on...the fifth bag teeters on top of the others... The boot lid catches it... A chord restrains the lid... The passengers nervously contemplate the potentialities that the bag transportation arrangements present for them...
The hotel Alkyoni.... Yet another example of where location trumps the absolute standards of the accommodations... Right on the beach... A short walk to town... The hotel itself... Tired.. So tired it is nearly asleep... The low priced room consistent with the low price... The staff pleasant... Greek... The patrons... Germans in the majority... Everyone pleasant... morgen... Morgen.... Morgen... Kalimera... Kalimera.... Morning... Morning... Hello... Hello..
The hotel's feline population greet us... The smart one amongst them has managed to establish herself as the official hotel cat.. Her feral peers display their jealousy of her but lack the wit to displace her... Even the bright blue eyes of her primary feral opponent could not dislodge her from her status as the preferred hotel feline patron.
Observe the hotel... Clearly a place for Germans to chill out... The deck chairs around the pool are occupied by a spattering of patrons... Tops off... Absorption of vitamin D a priority for Europeans emerging from winter.. ask for wine at the swim up bar... What is that she has in her hand as she dashes inside... I was right... A large plastic water bottle.. She emerges with the bottle.. It now contains a liquid possessing a strong yellow tinge.... The wine is dispensed straight from the bottle.. Vine to winery to tanker to Chateau cardboard to Chateau plastic to nice wine glass... The consumer's experience consistent with the life and times of the wine....
Wander to the beach... 50 metres... Sandy... Sandy... Sun lounges and umbrellas layed out in neat rows... They are sparcely occupied... This is just the start of the season... Just the most sun deprived of the Europeans tourists in attendance.. Those that are in attendance occasionally rise from their lounges to replenish their glasses and to dine at the beach front café that has so kindly provided their lounges and umbrellas... This is the ultimate chill out location... We take station in the café to observe... To dine... To compare the characteristics of their various cocktail concoctions... We come down in favour of the Hugo... We remain unsure of its ingredients but did become aware that it's alcohol content was not insignificant.
Observe some more.. Look out over the sea... Watch the ferries come and go... Watch the flags start to blow in the wind from the south... Watch the clouds gather... Head for cover... Siesta time.... The winds continue... We will sample the in-house dining this night...
The in house staff are not used to a crowd for dinner.. The food tolerable providing the patron was of generous disposition... The wine... Intolerable no matter the disposition of the patron... The staff do a sterling job... No one complains.... The patrons briefly pause in their balconies to observe the light show in the southern sky....
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