A sun-baked island loomed on the horizon of the Aegean Sea. At first it was just a brown smudge floating between two shades of blue-the calm water and the cloudless sky.
The Apollo Express, a car ferry the size of a cruise ship, steamed toward Paros.
Soon the big white vessel reached port, easing by modest fishing boats and sleek yachts as it turned 180 degrees and backed up to the dock. Passengers watched from the deck as thick ropes were thrown from the ship and lashed securely to the dock. Then the rear cargo door groaned as it was slowly lowered so cars could be driven off.
A crowd waited on the dock in the midday heat. Some were travelers waiting to come aboard; others were innkeepers seeking guests for their empty rooms.
After disembarking, I waded into the dockside crowd. Some of the men were jumping up and down and shouting, ”Rooms, rooms!” in accented English;
others held up notebooks filled with color photos of their hotel or rooming house.
I chose one that had a picture of an open-air patio beautifully landscaped with flowers and vines. The price was right-1,600 drachmas (about $11.50) a night for a single room with a private bath. I`d made a good choice. Called the Stergia, the 15-room pension was on a quiet side street, less than a five-minute walk from the beach and waterfront restaurants.
This and other experiences during a two-week vacation in the Aegean proved that it is possible to ”do” the Greek Islands without advance reservations. This might not be recommended for timid travelers, but the rewards are many.
Traveling without reservations allows maximum freedom to enjoy the fabled isles with their stark beauty, quaint villages, top-rated beaches, ancient ruins and modern discos.
Most Americans-with the exception of young backpackers-see the Greek Islands on a cruise, which can be extremely pleasant but also limiting.
Charting your own odyssey can offer a much deeper experience, plus the adventures of serendipity. Unlike Ulysses in Homer`s ”Odyssey,” you won`t have to contend with the one-eyed Cyclops, the sorceress Circe or the deadly Sirens. Rather, you will have to contend with such weighty decisions as which beach to go to, which restaurant to try or when to move on to the next island. And the inter-island ferry system is always there-though not always on schedule-to serve you.
Island-hopping is easy because travel agencies in every port prominently display the week`s ferry schedule. If you need to cash a traveler`s check to buy your ticket, the travel agency will do it.
The Greek Islands also are comfortable for the American traveler because English is the language of tourism. Many signs and most menus are in Greek and English.
When I was planning to make this trip, my original mode of transportation was to have been upscale-a yacht, one of the more than 1,000 ships that can be chartered in Greek waters. But my dreams of an Onassis-style vacation ran aground when two friends, experienced sailors, decided against cruising the islands with me because of last July`s terrorist attack on a Greek excursion boat. (As it turned out, the islands couldn`t have been safer or more tranquil-certainly much less threatening than parts of some big American cities.)
My adventure began in Santorini, southernmost in the Cyclades group of islands.
In the last 5,000 years, the Cyclades have been invaded by Phoenicians, Minoans, Mycenaeans, Persians, Athenians, Macedonians, Egyptians, Romans, Venetians, Turks-and now by hordes of vacationers from many lands.
The tourism season extends from May to October. By the time I arrived in Santorini in mid-September, the tidal wave of midsummer tourists had ebbed. Still, I was able to book just one night at a Greek guesthouse, one of the highlights of staying at Oia (pronounced E-ah), a picturesque village on the northern tip of Santorini. That was the only advance reservation of my trip.
Perivolas, a guest house in traditional style, offers lodging in 12
”caves.” Typical of Oia, these unique lodging units have been carved out of the side of a cliff. With rounded, relatively low ceilings, they are caverns in name only, being equipped with a kitchenette, bath, handicrafts for decoration.
When I checked in at night, Nadia, the owner/manager, explained the origin of the architectural style: Caves offer protection in the event of an earthquake.
Santorini is actually the tip of a submerged but still-active volcano. The last major eruption in 1956 shook down many structures in Oia, and some of the damage can still be seen.
The next morning, the view from the terrace was awesome. Hundreds of feet below was a huge bay, rimmed by the precipitous sides of the crescent-shaped island and two other islands across the water.
The bay is actually the volcano`s collapsed crater. In 1500 B.C., a titanic eruption blew out the center of Santorini, and the land sank into the sea, providing the inspiration (some experts believe) for Plato`s legend of lost Atlantis.
Since Perivolas has no swimming pool (though one is planned for next season), I headed for the beach to cool off. One narrow stone street winds through the tourist part of village. It is lined with souvenir shops, boutiques, art galleries, bars and restaurants, including Zorba`s taverna, a reminder of ”Zorba the Greek,” the novel and film.
A steep, zig-zagging path leads down to Amoudi Beach, which offers a bed of pebbles for sunbathers. As I looked around, I determined that there are two absolutely essential things you need when you go to the beach in Greece-a straw mat to lie on (150 drachmas, about $1) and a plastic bottle of water (75 cents).
The European insouciance about beach nudity is startling at first. Topless is almost universal for sunbathing women, and both sexes think nothing about changing into swimsuits at the beach, some doing it more modestly than others.
There are two ways to return from the beach to the village, hundreds of feet above: Climb 238 heart-pounding steps, or pay $2 and ride up on a mule.
Sunset always draws a crowd in Oia. Vacationers sit on the steps at the edge of town watching the golden orb sink into the Aegean as cats scurry over high walls.
Later, I was entertained by cats and dogs wandering among the tables at the Spilius restaurant, which is partly in a cave and partly outdoors. A meal there totals about $10 a person.
Most restaurant food prices in Greece are roughly equivalent to those in Chicago. But the real bargains are in accommodations.
After one night at the Perivolas ($85), I moved to the Finikia, a small hotel up the road. It lacked the spectacular view of Perivolas, but it was clean, comfortable and inexpensive ($15 a night). In addition, the Finikia had a good outdoor/indoor restaurant on the premises.
The next day I set out to explore the rest of Santorini-on a 50 cc. Honda motor scooter. This popular mode of transportation (about $10.50 a day) is not without risk.
The mountain road from Oia to Fira (the island`s capital) is narrow, pot- holed, steep, twisting and without a shoulder. Plus, motor scooters get no respect from buses and trucks that swing wide on curves. Other hazards are posed by old men on slow mules and young men on fast motorcycles.
From Fira, the highway south to Akrotiri is better paved and less of an obstacle course. The massive archeological excavation at Akrotiri has been likened to the one at Pompeii in Italy, because both ancient cities were buried under deep layers of volcanic ash.
After paying a museum fee, visitors can walk the streets of Akrotiri, a casualty of the massive earthquake in 1500 B.C. Now under a roof, the excavated buildings, two and three stories high, somewhat resemble Indian ruins in the American Southwest.
A more recent era of Santorini`s past can be seen at Ancient Thera, a hilltop jumble of ruins, including temples, a theater, a gymnasium and a Roman bath.
Present-day civilization also has its highlights, which include people-watching at Red Beach near Akrotiri, or at Perissa Beach, across the island at the base of a gigantic rock.
The black volcanic sand beach at Perissa is the best on the island, and the popular area seems to be undergoing a boom in resort construction.
The dress code at the beach can best be described as ”clothing optional.” A proper Englishman, walking along the shore with his wife, was shocked to see a totally naked young woman strolling nonchalantly into the water. ”Don`t they have any rules here?” he sniffed.
My trip back to Oia was stressful for two reasons: The scooter was close to running out of gas (fuel was unavailable because a tanker was late arriving at Santorini) and I was riding into the teeth of the meltemi, a strong north wind that blows in the Aegean.
The next afternoon I decided it was time to leave Santorini. I wasn`t bored, just curious about the other islands in the Cyclades. So I took the bus to Fira (about 50 cents) and bought a ticket at a travel agency for the 1 1/2- hour ferry to the island of Ios ($3.50).
While in Fira, I discovered that passengers on Greek Island cruises get a very limited look of Santorini, which is too bad because the island has so much to offer. They ride a mule or take the funicular up to the ramparts of Fira, where they shop at tourist stores for a few hours and then depart.
Ferries, however, don`t leave from Fira, but rather from the port of Athinios.
Night had fallen by the time the ferry, the Apollo Express, steamed across the crater of the volcano, passed the lights of Oia on the hillside, and headed north for Ios.
As I disembarked there, a middle-aged woman approached me and asked in broken English if I wanted a room. I said, Yes, I`d like to look at it. She led me past a line of restaurants at the port to a small guesthouse on a quiet side street.
The small room was clean, but the bathroom was across a courtyard. Despite this deficiency, I decided to try it when I heard the rate-$10 a night.
Ios is a super island that`s wasted on the young. It has a picturesque port, a hilltop village loaded with good bars and restaurants, and perhaps the best sandy beach in the Cyclades.
Yet 90 percent of the vacationers on Ios must be under 25. Obviously, older people just stay away and let the kids have the island to themselves for nonstop partying. It`s like spring break at Ft. Lauderdale for the whole summer.
The No. 1 drink on Ios is the Tequila Slammer, a potent mixture of tequila and lemon juice. The No. 1 beach is Milopatos, which is served by frequent buses from the port and village. The golden sand curves around a bay where yachts anchor during the day. Facilities include lively open-air tavernas, hotels, camping grounds and windsurfer rentals. Minimal beach attire also is popular at Milopatos.
The next island on my odyssey north through the Cyclades was Paros, 2 1/2 hours away by ferry (about $3). Paros, in contrast with Ios, is delightfully normal and homogeneous, catering to all age groups of tourists.
But for me, the lure of Mykonos, one of the best-known Greek islands, was too much. I left Paros after just one day and night.
The Ios Express ferry arrived at Mykonos after a four-hour cruise (about $3.50). The mob scene on the dock was so large that it looked like some kind of demonstration, but it turned out to be just the usual hotel-room hustlers. And I was one who got hustled.
A young Greek woman showed me color photos of what she said was her father`s rooming house, which was only ”just out of town.” The pictures looked terrific, and what a bargain-less than $8 a night. But I should have known you get what you pay for.
The room turned out to be worse than a prison cell. The bed almost filled the tiny cubicle and the ceiling was so low I couldn`t stand up straight. The sheets looked clean, but were a gray color. I immediately vowed to get other accommodations, but it was too late in the day to find anything.
In the middle of the night I awoke with a sharp pain. The room was buzzing with squadrons of mosquitos. I flicked on the light and noticed bloody blotches on the white wall-the remains of mosquitos that other guests had crushed. Luckily, the next morning I found the delightful Hotel Jason just down the road, and was happy to pay $12 a night to be out of ”jail.”
But don`t get me wrong, Mykonos does have a fun side-and I reveled in it for the next four days. The island attracts a wide spectrum of cosmopolitan vacationers-from straight to gay, from artists to yachters, and from jet-set
(Athens is a 50-minute flight away) to backpackers (Piraeus, the port of Athens, is 12 hours by ferry).
The town-a labyrinth of narrow stone streets lined by whitewashed buildings-is by day a shopping bazaar for cruise-ship passengers and by night a hotbed of action at discos and bars. Restaurant prices in Mykonos are the highest in the Cyclades, but fast food-hamburgers, pizza and souvlaki pitta
(gyros)-is an inexpensive option.
Four windmills, the island`s trademark, overlook the sea and town, while at the port another symbol of Mykonos, a cocky pelican, struts along and poses for pictures with tourists.
Nearby is the dock where boats depart every morning for Delos, the sacred island of antiquity (see sidebar).
Buses take beachgoers over a hill to Platy Yialos, a long arc of sand backed by tavernas. This is the jumping off place for boat rides to other beaches, including Paradise (nude and straight) and Super Paradise (nude and gay). Scuba-diving trips also can be arranged at Platy Yialos.
Mykonos was the last stop on my Greek Island odyssey, and I was reluctant to go home.
The acid test of a good vacation is whether you would go back again. My answer for Greece is a resounding yes. But next time maybe I`ll fulfill my dream of cruising through the islands-on a yacht
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For more information on the Greek Islands, contact the Greek National Tourist Office, 168 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, Ill. 60601; telephone 312-782-1084.
