A little "winey"

4/28 was a big travel day. We couldn't make reservations anywhere because the ferry website was down and we couldn't buy our tickets. After not making the 10am bus, we were able to find the only travel agent open on a Sunday morning in Nafplio. It was easy and painless and the same cost if we'd booked directly from the ferry website. After booking our "studio", we took the 2.5 hour bus to Athens, then 40 min commuter bus to the port and had dinner. The ferry was the closest thing to a cruise we'd ever been on. The ship was enormous and even had a pool (empty). It had several bars and restaurants and it seemed to be quite the event/party for most people. They appeared to have arrived several hours early to stake their claim (not knowing what to expect, Katie and I reserved specific, airline style seats). Simply buying a single drink seemed to give one the right to a couch and a table for the duration of the ride. It was six hours from Athens to Santorini. We arrived shortly before 1am. We chose a place that offered a free transfer from the ferry so it was nice not to have to worry about haggling with taxi drivers. After a day of recovery on the beach, we decided to tour some of the island's wineries. We took a public bus to the top of the caldera.. We started a winery that caters to the package crowd. It had an incredible view but was very impersonal and our tastings were brought out on a fast food tray. After snapping some photos and enjoying the sun, we decided to walk back and stop off where ever we felt along the way. We found another winery a couple blocks off the main road; small winery that boasted being the oldest in Greece. We were the only ones there and received a tour and heard about the individual wines. For one of the wines (vinsanto is only made in Santorini) the family still stomps the grapes. We continued down the road and found another that seemed to be on the cruise activity director's itinerary. We enjoyed a few more samplings and started for home. It was a bit farther than we anticipated and the island is not set up for pedestrians but the walk did us good. After a lie down and a clean up, we had some spectacular hummus at a restaurant we decided we didn't want to have our main at, but we had already ordered a half liter of house vino thinking we would stay, so after our final gulp we asked for a check. They saw our bet and raised us an enormous glass of wine each, on the house. We were the restaurant's only patrons and they knew no one like to stop at empty restaurants. We appreciated their tactic and sipped our glasses slowly (it was turning into a big day). The restaurant next door had the better menu. We decided to have A glass of wine with dinner but were informed that 2 glasses of wine was the same price as a half liter. "Just bring it". We had a delicious meal and with the check we were presented with a shot of raki each and directions to a popular nearby club that got going around midnight. We nodded enthusiastically and pretended to be full of energy and the sort of people enjoyed stuff like that. Luckily, our place was close by so our roll home didn't take long.
Jake