Island Driving
Last year, late in the season, my darling Kosta needed to replace his car, which is both his personal vehicle and the vehicle he uses in the evening for pizza delivery from his restaurant. His previous car had been a manual transmission, which, embarrassingly, I have never learned to drive. Rather than getting another stick shift, Kosta decided to get an automatic vehicle so that I would have some vehicular access during the day.
I gotta tell you: it's a game changer. I have tended to end up feeling stuck in Perissa in the past, really only able to head places either with someone with a vehicle, or by taking the bus, which is a bit of a pain. Since having vehicle access, I've been able to go on adventures with friends (like the wave jumping!), run my own errands, drive to medical appointments, and so forth. It gives me a sense of freedom and a degree of confidence as well, not being so reliant on others.
But island driving is sure interesting! And it's not even a busy year. The roads in Santorini, in pre Covid times,were PACKED. I have remarked in the past that if you can drive in Santorini in August, you can drive anywhere. (Okay maybe not Cairo. But anywhere else). So I'm enjoying the much less busy roads as I get used to island driving.
And what fun, interesting roads to drive they are! There are so few straight roads here. They twist and turn, and are for the most part pretty narrow. You have to stay really alert and drive pretty defensively. And avoid the intersection in Messaria at all costs, unless turning right (seriously, it's the worst, no lights, not a 4 way stop, and it's bloody chaos). I'm also slowly getting used to being honked at, since the Greeks pretty much operate at continual road rage level. Kosta's response to me being honked at was to tell me keep being my careful Canadian self, roll down the window, and simply give them the finger.
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