It was a combination of my engineering degree and years of experience with bikes that alerted me to the fact that this BMW might not offer the smoothest ride in town. Yes, I'm sure some of my more mechanically minded readers will have noticed as I did that the left spark plug lead is completely missing. This will definitely make it run a bit rough.
Do you have anything a bit newer?
Before long I was astride the mighty Kymco Agility 150, and with Pauline comfortably ensconced on the back we set the GPS for Kamari on the south-eastern side of the island. It's a nice little beachside town, but the black sand beach and brisk breeze means we don't linger long. The real reason for our visit is Old Thira, on top of the nearby hill.
First settled by the Dorians in the 9th century BC, Old Thira consists of Greek, Roman and Byzantine ruins, and sadly ruins they mostly are. It's a classic old city, perhaps supporting 15,000 people in its day, with a civic square, temples, amphitheatre, garrison and residential houses. It was the latter that sparked the most interest, visualising the rooms from the foundations. A bedroom here, a family room there, all surrounding an inner open courtyard with solid walls facing the prevailing wind, which was certainly howling on the day we visited.
Looking down the hill to Kalmira you can get an idea of the elevation, and the little road we had to ride up.
Sad to say this is where the Kymco really struggled. As gutless as a wet fart compounded by next to no throttle control through the automatic transmission, we pretty much paddled our way to the top. Going down was no more fun, with the side stand dragging in a shower of sparks at novice lean angles, and yes the preload was jacked up (well, on one side anyway, as I discovered later). Perhaps the only thing going for the mighty Kymco is that it has a mighty good helmet storage box under the seat. The Raptor can't beat that!
On to the aptly named Red Beach at the southern tip of the island, and Pauline's hair will give you a bit of and idea of the wind. But things improved in the afternoon, with the wind dropping and the sun coming out, making the trip to Oia on the northern tip of the island a lot more pleasant.
It's a lovely little town and well worth a visit. Views as spectacular as Thira, but the cruise ship tourists don't get this far.
It's also a popular spot for spectacular sunsets, but we had to get the bike back, and wanted another dinner at Savas.
Excellent again the second time round, and just time to streak up the road for a Thira sunset.
Our last evening in Santorini, in fact our last evening in Greece, and a realisation our trip's more than half over already. Three countries down, Italy and Japan to go. it's been superb so far, can it be bettered?
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