Santorini is volcanic, sun drenched. It’s dramatic, beautiful, and full of art. This week, it’s also hot as hell. There are fires in Rhodes – another island in the greek Aegean. But here, it’s business as usual, except for the heat.
We’re staying at a wonderful place – the Christos Apartments, Oia. It’s family run, two brothers, a father originator, the family. They are hospitable, help with our arrangements, and there is a beautiful terrace overlooking the sunset – the photo above is mine from last night from that terrace.
Oia is said to be the most beautiful place on the island. After touring a few spots I agree.
The catamaran cruises are wonderful. The archaeological tours are amazing and educational. There are talented, educated, kind people from all around Greece summering here for extra income – driving, sailing, waiting tables. They are horticulturalists, builders – coming from other professions to spend a few months here with the tourists on this beautiful island. They work long hours, though.
The way to see the island properly is to take a catamaran.
Aside from relaxing over the water and catching many rays, the views are mind blowing – and cannot be done the remotest justice with my camera – and one can truly get a sense of the place. The others on the tour were mostly Americans, the “transfer” – a taxi lift – somewhat chaotic with cliffside views – ended with a drop off on the pier and a welcoming crew ready to take us out. After enjoying views of the islands we stopped to swim and the chef made us a lovely spread of all sorts of delicious food. The crew was Anatalie, Cosmos, and two other unnamed smiling crewmates – one identified as “the chef!” and one that steered the catamaran. Anatalie navigated the shifting deck with true sea-legs, taking pictures on request and answering questions. Cosmos, an agriculturalist that grows olive trees in a place I can’t remember on the mainland, was friendly, talkative, down to earth, and tied us up at all stops.
The archaeological tour felt like more than I paid for. We expected to tour Akrotiri – a greek Pompeii that dates back about 2000 years earlier than Pompeii. We were treated to a tour of mount Elias first thing – a beautiful monastery atop a mountain.
Our tour guide Tanya of Kamari tours spoke to everyone in their native tongue – Greek, English, German, and French. At least. There may have been other languages. We saw Pyrgos, which was beautiful – full of architectural interest, toured a cave that was once the home of native santorinians, learned many things of interest, including about how donkeys stable in caves to stay cool, capers plants that grow everywhere, and wine vines that are not trellised but instead wrap in circles.
We learned about private churches and why there are stones in roofs (to give builders and workers a foothold).
And she walked us to a terrace overlooking red beach, which was very dramatic.
There were winds this week – they were heavenly. Not as many today, though. I’m told it’s the hottest day so far at 45 celsius. And of course the trend is… warming, warming. Our AC is out; we have a fan, now, and as I write we come to just after 6pm – two hours before our magical sunset here in Oia (pronounced EE-a) and the temps starting to ease, there is a breeze starting to appear.
Tomorrow we have a wine tour – we learned one of the oldest (perhaps the oldest?) export Santorini has. I’ll write more about volcanic beaches, ancient cities, and nights on the caldera in the next post. For now, I go to find some souvlaki and watch the sunset….
Backyard Botanics 