It was another long night of snoring, sneezing, and coughing. I lied and told Tina I was feeling much better at breakfast so she didn’t feel like she had to take care of me. Petros recommended we visit a beach on the other side of the island called Perissa.
While we lay on cabanas for the price of two beers, we decided that we were going to watch the sunset at the Santos Wines Winery tonight. Petros made it clear this was the best sunset spot in Santorini. It was our last night, so this was our last sunset. Hopefully we had saved the best for last.
We hopped back on the moped, this time wearing our “nice outfits.” The drive to the winery was more sketch than the drive to Oia, but in a different way. The road that ascended to the plateau looked like a letter S that never ended. On one of the turns, the side of our moped actually touched the ground. It was a close call, but my superb driving skills prevailed and we made it to the Santos Wines Winery.
It is going to be hard for me to describe the beauty of the backdrop to the winery. We were clearly late to the party, and searched the balcony seating up and down for a place to sit. I was hardly looking for seats as I couldn’t stop gazing up at the golden coast of the cliff, spotting both Oia’s and Thira’s white-capped villages miles away.
We sat down at a table on the cliffside and remained transfixed on the sun calling it a night. We hadn’t planned on ordering anything other than a glass of wine, but when we glanced at the menu, there was a twelve-wine sampler for twenty-two euros—cheaper than two glasses of wine in most places. We ordered the sampler and waited for it to arrive.
When the waiter returned, he had twelve large cups of various wines. I became extremely jealous that Ash wouldn’t have to drive us home on the moped. She started rubbing her hands together like someone getting ready to take on a mega-burrito for a T-shirt. She read each wine description out loud, and we sipped them, trying to pinpoint the acidity, aroma, and dryness levels in the tastes. After we got through sipping the twelve wines, I resorted to eating all the olives and cheeses while Ash went back to finish the remaining wine.
I can say with complete sincerity that this experience in Santorini, Greece, was the best twenty-five dollars I had ever spent. The view alone was worth every dime. The olive and cheese tray alone was worth every dime. The wine alone was worth four times every dime.
When it was time to leave, we got on the moped and I put Ash’s arms around my chest as a seat belt. I was pretty certain she fell asleep on my back within minutes. I noticed that the headlights on our moped shone the brightest when I accelerated, clearly a malfunction of the bike. They barely lit up when I wasn’t accelerating. It was like the gas powered my vision.
This wasn’t overly difficult to work with until we got to the final descent. I jokingly said to Ash through the wind, “Please put your tray tables and seats in the upright position as we begin our descent into Kamari.” I turned back to see if she was laughing, but my suspicions had been confirmed: she was fast asleep.
The turns were actually much harder to manage than I’d thought they would be, and I had to accelerate for a quick second to get the lights on and then slam the brakes and use my feet to walk us around the corner slowly. There were no streetlights, and if I didn’t do this, I couldn’t see. The moon was hiding behind clouds and provided very little help. Soon we were finally home free and had made it to the bottom. I thought.
I accelerated in the direction of our home, but all of a sudden the road disappeared in front of me. The road banked 180 degrees to the right, and it was too late to stop. I tried to slam the brakes and put my food down to try and catch the road. The turn was full of gravel, and I am still unsure what exactly happened next, but I think I was running at some point. The moped slid out from under us on the gravel-covered turn, and the next thing I knew, I was on lying on the asphalt in the middle of the road.
I blacked out, and the only thought that fought its way through the adrenaline to my brain was: find Ashley. I scrambled to my feet and screamed, “Ashley! Are you okay?” At the precise moment I yelled this, I heard a cry come from across the road.
“Kyle! Are you okay?”
She told me she was fine and wasn’t hurt so I came back to life and started assessing our situation. We had to get off the road immediately. I grabbed the still-running moped and dragged it over to the side. The turn was so steep, I could barely get the moped off the road without picking up speed. On the side of the road, I did a quick check for injuries on both of us, and aside from a scratched knee each, we were fine. This was semi-remarkable to me. Nothing left to do but jump back on the horse.
I was shaking as we drove along the beach to the villas. I could feel my forearm and leg burn a little, and expected to find a bit of a road rash. Upon arrival to the hotel, we checked the moped for any damage and found nothing but a little scratch that might have even been there before we got it. I was just happy to be alive.