Our next stop was to the most popular island, Santorini. Our journey there was a little choppy, let’s
just say I was very thankful for my IPod!
Stacy did not fare as well and even though she popped two Dramamine she
was a little worse for the ware upon our arrival. I, on the other hand, was energized from my nap
and ready to go. We stayed in the city
of Perissa, which was at the opposite end of the Island about 20 minutes from Fira,
along the famous Black Beach. Our room
was small, but lovely, with a balcony that looked out onto the sea. I spent the rest of the afternoon catching up
on reading and e-mailing, while Stacy lay in bed waiting for the Dramamine to
wear off. That evening we headed to the grocery
store that was just across the street to stock up on breakfast and dinner
items. We ended up having most our meals
on our balcony, which was a nice break from constantly eating out.
On our first full day we were up early and made our way to Oia. Oia sits at the Northern most edge of the crescent shaped Santorini. This is probably the next most famous city, after Athens, when people think of Greece. With numerous churches and breath-taking views any which way you look, we were able to spend the whole day in Oia and never got bored. Most of the buildings are white, which gives a beautiful contrast to the deep blue sea and scattered blue domes of most of the churches. There are actually close to 300 hundred churches on Santorini; this is because, way back when, it was common for each family to have its own church. Most of the churches remain closed and are only opened for special occasions. As we winded our way over the cobble stone streets of Oia, both Stacy and I couldn’t stop taking pictures. Each turn brought about a new and more beautiful view than the last. To avoid the cruise ship sheep we stopped off at one of the cliff side tavernas for lunch/dinner. We wanted to stay until sunset, so we had plenty of time. We then made our way back through the village stopping in many of the shops along the way. We ended up with a few purchases, but probably the most memorable was Stacy’s donkey Malaka (asshole)! She had been eying the donkeys most of the day, after a few glasses of wine, she realized he was a necessity! As we sat waiting for the sun to go down near the famous windmills, we both decided that we will have to come back to Greece just for another visit to Oia.
The next morning we woke up to the fact that it was almost twelve and we had slept a good bit of the day away. Obviously it was needed so we meandered around, eating breakfast and then made our way to Perissa Beach, which is one of the Black Sand Beaches. Formed from when the volcano struck the island it is one of a kind. It is extremely painful to walk on so there were wooden pathways leading from the beach to the water. We shelled out 2.5 euro apiece for our thick cushioned lounges and set up camp under a straw umbrella. When I decided to venture out for a dip it was shocking how deep the water levels got so soon after entering the water. I could not have been more than 10 to 12 feet out and already couldn’t touch. This was a little disconcerting as the last time I was in the ocean I was stung by a jellyfish. After taking in the sun for a few hours we headed back to our room for dinner and Retsina. Retsina, a Greek wine, is very cheap and not too bad, especially while watching the sunset overlooking the ocean. We decided on a pool day for our next afternoon and made sure to set an alarm this time. We had a lovely day just soaking up the sun and lounging by the pool. We were the only ones there so it was nice to have the area to ourselves. We also had a repeat of the evening before on our balcony.
For our last full day we chose to go on a tour. A few of the highlights were the Profit Illia
Monastery, Mt. Profitis Illias, Santo Wines, and the excavation site of Ancient
Village of Akrotiri. One of our favorite
stops was the Akrotiri excavations. Unfortunately
the excavations are at a standstill at the moment due to lack of funding from
the government. It is too bad
that excavations cannot continue because Akrotiri is one of the most well
preserved ancient cities. Due to its collapse when the city was covered with volcanic
ash and pumice sediments, the structure of the city was preserved. The excavation team was even able to recover
a life size painting in pristine condition. Another of our favorite stops was
the winery where we toured the winery and sampled some local wines. Santorini is actually home
to many wineries and produces most of the island’s wine. My favorite stop was Mt. Profitis Illias, due to the beautiful
panoramic view of the entire island.
Santorini was our favorite stop by far and our next jaunt is to the island
of Paros.~ Randi
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