Santorini

Our four days on Santorini went by quickly.  We landed in Thira, (the main town), after a 45-minute flight from Athens.  Warren found a large hire van to take us to Oia and our hotel, Maria’s Place.  We received a warm welcome from our hostess, Anna.  She gave us a condensed talk regarding “things to do” on the island.  Maria’s Place offers about 20 rooms surrounding a pool area with every room having a few of the Aegean Sea.

Marie's Place - Oia

Excellent Service

The rooms were all air-conditioned and necessary by day when the temperatures reached the upper 20’s but in the evening you needed a sweater or jacket to prevent being cold.  You are never far from the sea.

Day One involved a walk into town in the morning and pool time in the sun in the afternoon.  Oia is located on a narrow point of land and has become a destination for locals, tourists like us, and huge numbers of tourists that disembark from the many cruise ships anchored in the surrounding waters.  Needless to say, it is busy.  Rather too busy for our usual taste but understandable due to the highly picturesque nature of the small town.  The buildings hug the steep slopes and appear to be patches of snow on ridge tops in the distance.

Yes - The White In The Distance Are Buildings

Unfortunately the quality of the roads has not kept pace with the increase in popularity of the town.   The walk into town became known as an exercise in surviving death ally. Huge tour buses fight for space with local cars, motorcycles and pedestrians on the one lane road.  Our ten-minute walk to town meant taking your life into your own hands.  One had to frequently jump into doorways and hide behind bollards to prevent being hit.  The Cruisers come for the shopping and the sunsets off the point.

Lots of Donkeys In Working Harness

Good Thing Their Mirrrors Suck In

Day Two centered on a local bus trip to the other side of the island to visit Akrotiri and its archeological site. Santorini is a volcanic island.  Santorini and the surrounding islands represent the outside crest of the crater, created by the sea bottom volcano. 

The village of Akrotiri was first inhabited around 7500 years ago.  There is evidence that it disappeared due to a volcanic event in the 17^th century.  In 1967 archaeologists started a dig on the site of the ruins.  Today it is a 3 acre domed site where you can walk through the ruins of the village that have been uncovered thus far.  It was well worth the visit. 

The Dig Is Far From Done

This Visit Was a Must For Linda

Post Lunch - Pre Winery - Waiting For the Bus

It must have been an orderly evacuation because, unlike Pompeii, no human remains were found.  The household items discovered demonstrate that the original inhabitants didn’t take many belongings with them.  The only skeleton found was that of a pig, likely left hanging in the kitchen ready for butchering.

Our trip home from Akrotiri included a stop at the Santos Winery. We were seated around a table for eight with a view of the surrounding waters and islands. Wine tasting in Greece is a little different.  Our server suggested we buy four bottles of different reds from the islands. 

We had seen many fields of something growing that looked like wine vines around the island but nothing growing in rows or with infrastructure for them to hang.  Our host explained that grapes on the island grow on the ground.  The winds are too strong for them to hang.  Farmers create a “basket” by hilling earth around the base of the plants.

We were provided a fleet of wine glasses and started to taste.  We cannot say the wine in Greece has been outstanding.  Much of it was not to our liking but after sampling the first three bottles we were unanimous that our last bottle, Kamenh 2014, was outstanding.  After a visit to the wine shop we made our purchases and staggered back to the bus stop for our ride home.

Greeks Keep Their Reds on Ice

Linda & Phil

Day Three was the only day for designated exercise.  We climbed the nearby ridge and followed the top of the crater’s gravel pathway back to Thira.  The walk was about 11 kilometres and took about 2.5 hours, with some serious climbs along the way.  The views were some of the most spectacular we have seen anywhere and of course there was a conveniently located restaurant for cappuccinos along the way.

Start of the Hike

From the Hotel to the Crest of the Crater

Churches Everywhere - Didn't See Anyone in Them

Of Course Capaccino's at Mid Hike

Thank God There Were Some Downs

But of Course - More Ups

Our Goal

Super Climber  Deborah

We arrived in Thira and detoured to the Mushroom Top Rock just off- shore and connected by a rock land bridge.  Some folks climb to the top of the mushroom but the climb down could be treacherous.  We chose to follow our gut and not climb up.  Instead we took a lot of pictures and then found a nearby restaurant to replenish ourselves with yet more Greek dinner delights and beer.  After catching a local bus back to the hotel, we spent the afternoon relaxing and snoozing around the pool.

Relaxed Nola & Glen

Mellow Warren & Diane

Bank Shot Off Mirror

I am writing this bit while sitting on the Speed Runner being ferried from Thira to Naxos, our final stop for the next three days.  Looking forward to it.

Athens

We just completed three sightseeing filled days in Athens.  Day One was spent touring the Acropolis, day Two the National Museum of Archaeology, and day Three the nearby island of Hydra, a place Leonard Cohen called home for many years.  There is so much to see in Athens that you have to set your priorities because as much as all of it is worthwhile seeing, there are only so many great pieces of art and antiquities that one can absorb before becoming numb to it all. 

Night Time View From Our Hotel Balcony

Alpha Beer

Dolmades For Lunch

Mixed Sausage Meat Kabob

Of course in between it all we rode in trains, walked kilometres, and sailed on ferries, as well as discovered different beers, ate great food and spent time in the evenings sharing our impressions of what we had seen. 

I’ll let the pictures tell the story.

Walked the Narrow Marble Flagstone Streets

 Day One - We hiked up to the Acropolis from our hotel.  The Acropolis is located on one of the highest points of land in this city of nearly 4 million.  It was quite crowded but I suspect May is not quite the tourist months June, July and August are.  We didn’t take a guided tour but we did have Phil.  Phil is a professional architect so Greek architecture was part of his professional studies.  It was great to listen to explanations of how the buildings were planned and constructed.  The Greeks built the Acropolis and many of its surrounding buildings but the Romans completed others, later.  Many different groups held the hilltop grounds over the history of the 2500-year-old building.  It lost its roof a few hundred years ago when some aggressor attacked the Turks with cannonballs.  Unfortunately the Turks used the Acropolis to store their munitions.  The explosion destroyed the roof and much of the structure.  The grounds look like a wreckers yard with spare rocks & columns lying about.  In reality each piece is carefully catalogued and reconstruction is an ongoing enterprise.  Reconstruction is a balance between doing enough to preserve what is there without compromising the integrity of the site.

There Was Lots of Talk About Ionic, Doric, and Corinthian Columns

All These Sculpted Rocks Were Only Dry-Fit in Place

Catalogued Spare Parts

Phil Sharing His Knowledge

Ionic Column

Looking Down, Way Down, to our Hotel Metropolis

View From Acropolis

Greek Street Musician's

Tired Tourists

 Day Two – After figuring out the train system we took a short hop to the National Archaeological Museum.  For ten Euros you could wander the two floors of halls filled with sculptures, jewelry, and everyday artifacts of ancient Greece dating back to the 14^th century BC.  Cemetery headstones were the greatest exhibits in number.  Each stone conveyed the life and death of the aristocrat.  Clearly those who had the most money could build the greatest epitaphs but in turn supported the growth of the arts community.  Sculptures made up the bulk of the exhibits but there were also bronze castings of human figures.  As was the practice of the day, women are depicted in the dress of the day while men are posed nude. 

We took our time and arranged to meet after an hour and a half.  When we met we were all on sensory overload but were determined to see everything so we extended our stay for another half hour and toured the pottery collection on the top floor.  Each piece told a story of life in the days during ancient times.

The Museum Itself is an Antiquity - One Year Older Than Canada

Nudes Larger Than Life Men Filled the Halls

Sculpted Women in Clothes

Headstone

Field Hockey - 2500 Years Ago

Day Three – We purchased ferry tickets up the street from our hotel for a day excursion to Hydra.  Hydra holds an allure for many but for our group, Phil was specifically anxious to see the home and area that served as a muse for many of Canadian singer/song writer Leonard Cohen.  It is a two-hour fast ferry catamaran ride from Athens.  The Island does not have any land-based motorised vehicles.  Mules serve as the prime source of moving goods and people.  It is picturesque plus.  The white houses against a background of the arid lands and the deep blue of the sea made for many great shots.

Our Ferry - Flying Cat Five

Transport

Getting Around On the Island

It was a very warm day when we landed and after a short walk around the village we settled into a cliff side restaurant for lunch.  It was a perfect spot with views of the surrounding islands and we watched the boat traffic entering and leaving the harbour over our beer and lunch.  I had the local cod and Deborah sampled the beetroot risotto. 

Cod on Garlic Pureed Potato

Beetroot Risotto

Saganaki (Fried Cheese)

Sweet Olive Yogurt For Dessert

The plan was to stay from noon until 7:30 pm but Diane, Warren, and we decided that we had seen enough and changed our tickets to the 3:20 departure.  We could have stayed with Linda, Phil, Nola, and Glen but decided it was too long of a day.  As well, Deborah still had a few shopping ideas back in Athens in mind and I ended up with a new pair of shoes.

Thursday morning we were up early for our 9:20 departure to Santorini on Hahn Air.