Santorini

Greece was advertising its culture on the flight from Athens to Santorini. I took a photo of the mask of Agamemnon that came up on the screen. Seeing it on screen reminded me of the Wizard of Oz. I could not resist to create the caption.

I will try not to ramble. I will try and let the images do the talking because in the case of Santorini the images are worth 1000 words and I will not want to take up too much of your time trying to describe it. But here is some commentary to Santorini, the sapphire diamond in the ocean.

Only in Santorini (Σαντορίνη) does a bad image still come out as a beautiful image and the white houses on the cliff-tops come out as snow-capped mountains. Even though it is summer, the light easily fools onlookers into thinking it is snow.

The median mode of transport are to be boats, ferries and donkeys. (The donkey’s transport the tourists from the harbour up to Fira, the main town). Tourists drive buggies and young local men beep around of battered scooters. I say battered because appearances and status symbols on Greek islands are important only to tourists who want show expensive hotels they can stay at. Locals, running around in the heat and stripping off and jumping in the sea know that their status comes from living in such a beautiful place.

At Acrotiri you can see ancient settlements. Though huge, only 3% of it is excavated. And a brief stop to admire the Churches at the nearby villages is certainly worth it.

Fira (Φηρά) is the main town in Santorini. The town of Imerovigli (Ημεροβίγλι) is right next to it and due to their growth feel like one large town. Because of its views Imerovigli is known as the Balcony to the Aegean. You can easily walk from Fira to Imerovigli without realizing you are in another town. Definitely visit Oia (Οία),pronounced Ia, a smart, chic town on the northern tip of the main island. My favourite place and perhaps my favourite bookshop in the world is Atlantis Books. I went in there every day and spent more than I should have on books. I met the founder of the bookshop there who also had a TED talk. See links below.

Link to Atlantis Books here: http://atlantisbooks.org

Link to the TED talk here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPtgzNMX7uo

Santorini was called Thera (Θήρα) by the ancient Greeks. When Santorini was part of the Latin Empire, the Italians called the island Santorini as the main Church in the village of Perissa is Santa Irene (St. Irene). However Santorini was also called Kallisti (the beautiful one) and Strongili (the circular one) as the island, before the volcano erupted was circular.

Top Secret Recommendation! Thirasia (Θηρασία), population 270, is the island opposite the main island of Santorini. Before the volcano erupted it was of course one large island and has become islands and islets because of the volcano that wiped out the Minoan civilization. If you can brace the heat then I recommend you can climb the steep and winding steps up to visit the village on the top, which is also called Thirasia; 150 people from the 270 live there. Not only will you be rewarded by eating authentic delicious Greek food by and old Greek couple that run the restaurant. It actually felt like the real Santorini before the tourists discovered it. Worth taking a bike and biking around the island. A day trip is all you need and you will feel like you visited Santorini before the tourists discovered it. See the Churches. Eat Baklava. Drink a frappe.

You can tell if a place is international by the varying nationalities that visit the place. In Europe, if a town in visited by just Europeans then it may be well-known as a regional destination. But in Santorini the Americans, Australians and Asian definitely outnumbered the Europeans. A tiny island like Santorini was acting as a temporary home to so many people from around the world. Not bad for a island that was a drop in the ocean.

Greece seemed to have created a trend: foot spas. These spas allowed the customer to place their feet in a pool where small fish nibbled at the feet that took off any excess skin. My friend VeryBusy (whose feet you see) tried it out. He said that having his feet nibbled on by the fish made all the difference and the soles of his feet felt much fresher and cleaner. I was sceptical but when I overheard a couple talking in spa saying they went three times I though that a) this really works and b) they must have really sore feet! 

I came across this in a bookshop in Fira where you can make Greek cardboard characters. There was a variety but I only took the sample above.