The rain in Riga

Falls mostly on your summer shoes soaking you straight to the bone. It is nothing like its Spanish cousin. But it is a little bit romantic--particularly when the man-boy behind the counter at Kuuka Kafe in Old Town Riga quips, in broken but still good English, 'without the rain we would have never met'. Indeed.

Now I'm one hot chocolate into my day surrounded by cushions sitting on a bay window seat in an admittedly beautiful city. A quirky one that prides itself on indie art, its Freedom Monument and pastries of every shape, size, colour and taste.

This isn't my first time in Riga. But last time, it took Rosa and myself three days to thaw upon our return to London. Rain beats -25 degree temperatures. And now Rosa's moved here to work at The International School of Riga, with all its perks like free housing and like minded colleagues. I'll definitely be exploring my international teaching options in the next few years.

That aside, we've discovered quite a bit more of Riga than last time--mostly food and shopping related. We also took a little trip on the train to Jurmala, the Latvian seaside with its very calm waters, white sand and myriad wooden houses, wool sock vendors and beach bars (selling lots of hot drinks).

Extensive pictures are, of course, forthcoming. As are the rest of my musings on the rest of Ghana and a little ten-day stint on the Island of Santorini. It seems this has been a summer of visiting my favourite places.

Until then...

A Series of Stunning Sunsets

No words necessary, really.  

 Fira Sunset 

Oia Sunset 

'Dio Mio!' 

at the poolside bar on the farthest point west on the island

All clappable, of course.  

Bookshop Beauty

In a town as beautiful as Oia, it's easy to overlook little indoor gems.  Such was the case with Atlantis Books, a seemingly nondescript shop built into the side of the caldera.  In fact, four years ago Jen and I passed it without so much as a second glance and twice, Paul and I languidly strolled past.  

But one night after the sunset, with 3000 people cramming into a staircase made for 50,  we finally stopped to look at the balcony adorned with a small crate of used books.  Upon closer inspection, a spiral staircase extended down to a world of wondrous wonderfuls.  Its aesthetics rivaled that of Shakespeare and Company in Paris though its size was only a quarter of that.  But with high ceilings, a large foreign language section and a bed for workers/volunteers to sleep, I fell in love.  

 

And although everything looked a little disheveled, there were categories and sections and nooks with books and books and books.    

Plus people with intelligence: 

 

 

Total geek heaven.  

Island Boat Tour

On day six of the great Greek adventure we hopped on a boat that resembled a pirate ship carrying translators speaking French, Romanian, German and English.  

At something like £26 for the day, we were whisked around to various points of leisure--Nea Kameni and its active volcano, the hot spring, the island of Thirasia and then over to Oia to view one of its spectacular sunsets.  

Stop One: Nea Kameni 

Just off the main island of Santorini, we encountered the active volcano that is Nea Kameni.  More excitingly, we discovered a group of eastern european travelers who used the stunning caldera backdrop as their own amateur glamour shot studio.  We may have taken this to our advantage and took a series of mick-taking pictures ourselves: 

Volcanic rocks 

the yogi 

the thinker 

the penguin 

windswept

the model

Stop Two: Hot Springs 

For our second stop the boat steered us in the direction of the hot springs, located to the northwest of nea kameni.  The boat chugged to a stop and we walked the plank--six feet into the murky sulfur-filled water.  After a laborious swim, the water began to warm and we made it to the mouth of the springs--an even murkier bottomed lagoon filled with at-times scalding hot water and yellowy-orange mud.  It was pure delight.  

Stop Three: Thirasia 

We then motored over to the island of Thirasia that once belonged to mainland-island Sanotrini and now stands as a remote fishing village.  We had the option to climb the 400 stairs to the top but after the previous day's debacle, we opted to hang out on the main strip and catch some sun.  

Church built into the rocks 

delight 

restaurant on stilts 

Man v. Crawfish

Stop Four: Oia 

Nothing overwhelming happened until the end when we tried to dock in Oia but were met with tempestuous seas that violently rocked the boat from port to starboard.  This didn't disturb the Romanian woman merrily eating her ice cream cone--until she finished it, of course.  Paul turned the colour of his shirt however, and after several attempts, our boat made the decision to turn back to Fira and dock there.

                                     

We eventually made it to Oia to catch another stunning sunset.  And the boat trip was definitely worth the money.  

Fira and Oia

By day three, we were sufficiently relaxed and took it upon ourselves to commence exploration.  In Fira, I committed a sin of omission and didn't tell Paul that descending the 500 stairs to the port would be hot, painful and exhausting.  We commenced the journey in 35 degree heat only to be stopped dead at stair 224 by a donkey traffic jam:
                                   
                                             
Paul fancied himself as a bit of a donkey whisperer and managed to pass, narrowly avoiding a hoof to the leg. I waited until a group of tourists on donkey came barreling up the steps nearly ten minutes later, which forced the donkeys to log jam themselves towards me, pushing me back into the stone wall.  It was actually terrifying.

But we eventually made it to the port where I consumed the most deliciously arctic fanta i've ever had.  And after our excellent calf workout we opted for the cable car back up the hill and continued wandering through the narrow cobbles of Fira before setting off, via bus, to Oia.

                                     

                                              

                                     

Oia, Oia

The geologic wonder that is the Island of Santorini is best seen from the West, particularly the towns of Fira and Oia.  To make a long story short, the Greek Islands find themselves on the centre of a tectonic plate, a particularly volcanic zone where the African plate is subducting under the Aegean subplate.  The geology nerd in me loves this!  Anyway, in 1630 BC, a massive eruption occurred and created the caldera (and stunning scenery) you see today.

The entire west of the island is a picture of sheer cliff faces, volcanic soil and whitewashed buildings.  It's hard not to be impressed and a little bit awe inspired.

                                         

                                         

                                         

                                

                                          

Towards late afternoon, Paul and I found a bar-cum-swimming pool at the north westernmost part of the island and guarded chairs for the onset of sunset.  And when the sun dipped under the horizon and people clapped, we felt the full force of Oia's beauty.  

Night hit...

                                              

And wandering back,  it became clear that, night or day, Oia had the wow factor. 

Kamari Beach

Our trip to Santorini was made beautiful by a series of foodstuffs, beachy views and relative peace and relaxation.  We checked into our accommodation, located a sightly 50 meters from a strip of black, volcanic sand.  It came with the free beach chairs, a swimming pool and the world's tiniest shower.  And our little beach home-away-from-home provided us with the opportunity to do something I struggle with: relax.  

                                       

We camped out on the beach with cocktails and quality literature (Brett Easton Ellis's 'American Psycho' for me and some quality Agatha Christie for Paul):

                                       
                                                                   our strip of sand.

At night, we wandered the loved-up strip of bars and restaurants looking for (and finding) good grilled fish and greek salads.  In terms of reunion tours, it did not disappoint.
                                       

We also found Cinema Kamari, an amazing open air cinema clad in white canvas directors' chairs and playing slightly-past-new-release films.  We spent two hours, with a 10-minute intermission in between, giggling at 'The Dictator' played in English with Greek subtitles.  Lizards skittered past, a cat jumped in front of the screen and the snack bar churned out a bizarre combination of cocktails, nachos and chocolate desserts.  

                                      

Photo courtesy of trip advisor. 

It wasn't exactly my normal kind of running from point-to-point trip and I was slightly nervous about this.  But a suntan, back massage and foot rub later, I managed to find my way back to calm and rested. We did take it upon ourselves to tour the rest of the island on subsequent days but we always made a little space of time for our chairs on the beach at our little hotel paradise.  

Santorini!

I stepped off a plane into London on the morning of August 11th into a city transformed.  I was greeted by official London greeters getting off the plane. People smiled at me.  The tube staff were friendly. And helpful.  It was creepy but nice.  I guess the Olympics do hold transformational powers.

Alas, I didn't get to appreciate this kindness fully as Paul and I hopped on a plane early the next morning for the next leg of summer travels. Santorini, a place made magical by its clappable sunsets, delectable food and Hollywood portrayals of heaven on earth.  Thankfully Hollywood got this one right.  More of that to come.  In the meantime, I leave you with pictures of me and the monkey who accompanied me this time around...

As you might imagine, it was a slightly ridiculous trip...