LOCALadk Magazine

Spring 2018 LOCALadk Magazine 47 LOCALadk SANTORINI That night, we flew to Santorini, and into a completely different atmosphere. Apparently, there was an unofficial dress code: white dress, spray tan, wayfarer sunglasses, and fedora. Around ever y turn we stumbled upon tourists posed for Instagram selfies. We enjoyed our time in the famous town of Oia, with its characteristic white-washed buildings and blue domes, but we were relieved to be staying in Akrotiri, the quiet settlement tucked in at the southern end of the island alongside an archaeological village. We walked to the Red Beach, and along the way passed cave-like restaurants which seemed to be car ved right out of the oceanfront cliffs. We arrived at the beach and were enjoying a brisk swim when we met two travelers from Manhattan who had departed their cruise ship with eight hours to "see" Santorini. They had rented a moped and were "beach-bagging" – taking a quick dip at Red Beach, White Beach, and Black Beach with only enough time in-between to dr y themselves in the sun before zooming away to check the next beach off their list. It reminded me that there are several speeds at which to travel and I was grateful that we were going a bit slower. CRETE We caught a ferr y to Crete and were looking for ward to a hike through the Samaria Gorge, the longest in Europe. The winding bus ride to the trailhead started at 6am and our guide repeated over and over that one should not underestimate the walk. Even though the gorge was flat, the descent was long and steep and should not be attempted by people with knee problems or health issues. He emphasized that if you decided to back out, you'd have to hike back up the mountain – no pack mule would carr y you unless you had a broken bone. We thought our guide was being a little over-the-top, but once we arrived at the trailhead we realized there was credence in his warn- ing. The trail was 16km long and started in the high peaks of the White Mountains before it descended into the gorge. It was rough going. Two hikers from our party turned around. I did not env y them the steep climb out. We moved through lush forest until, at approximately the half way point, we came across the abandoned village of Samaria. The only remaining inhabitants among the ruins were the Kri Kri, the wild mountain goats, who were quick to sidle up and befriend us, seem- ingly in hope that we'd drop our sandwiches. From that point on the soaring cliffs on both sides guided us through rocky terrain, river crossings, and, rather abruptly, to the paved roads of Agia Roumeli. We had started the day bundled up against the chill and sleet; we ended it with our toes in hot black sand and a swim in the turquoise waters of the Libyan Sea. We stayed in the pedestrianized zone of Chania's old town, which felt like a perfect place to end our island adventure. After spending a gorgeous morning on a snorkeling boat trip (best 10 Euro I ever spent) my friends and I shopped for souvenirs. Crete is bursting with locally-made, high- quality crafts such as hand-painted bowls and ce- ramics, handmade leather sandals, unique jewelr y, and metalwork. We still had one more stop on our trip, so we tried not to weigh our bags down too much, but it was hard to avoid.

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