Santorini
Although I don’t like waking up early in the morning, today is definitely the exception to the rule because we are sailing into the caldera! And when we say “caldera” in Greece we mean the island of Santorini or Ancient Thera. I woke up early to have the chance to be thrilled one more time by the most breathtaking view in Greece. Every time a visitor asks me where should he/she go in Greece I always answer, “Santorini”. It’s just an incredible place. We have sailed in and I try to take in the colors, the calmness of the sea (we are always protected in the caldera from strong winds) and most of all the line of tiny white houses and churches perched on the rim of the huge crater of the volcano. We board a little tender boat to shore to get on our buses and start our tour. We drive around the whole island, and I’m so happy to see grapes hanging from the “basket-stems.” Usually I visit Santorini and never see them, but today I got lucky. They look so delicious that I almost stop the bus to pick them. They are dark red, almost black or bitter cherry color (as we say in Greek) but also yellow-green branches are visible.
We drive first to the most picturesque village called Oia, where all the artists live and work and after admiring the unique architecture of the Captain’s houses we are even more intrigued by the “dug up” houses of the sailors! One of the treats this time for me are the madona-lilies blooming by the sea on the eastern side of the island. You have to be here at a certain time to see them blooming. They almost make me think of the “springtime” frescos that the archaeologists have found in the prehistoric town of Akrotiri, here in Santorini.
After our tour and our shopping spree, we drive to lunch in a family restaurant on the southern tip of the island. The view, the food and Mrs. Litsa (the owner and cook) are amazing! Back on the bus to Phira, the capital, for the visit of the small museum filled with treasures. My favorite is the golden ibex, the only golden artifact excavated in the site. He is so smooth and skinny and it’s hard to imagine it lost for centuries. I am deeply moved when I think that a person touched it and admired it (the way we do now) thousands of years before us! The last exciting thing in Santorini is the cable car ride down to our ship, almost a thousand feet down, as if flying into the caldera. The other option to get down are the donkeys, but I don’t like them since they smell bad and speed down the cobbled way! Some of our guests really enjoyed the ride though! A perfect epilogue of our day for the smelly, dirty, sweaty and exhausted traveler is a dive into the crystal clear waters of the caldera! After dinner, exhausted but completely satisfied we watch the starts and the sailing boats exactly the way sailors, pilgrims and captains have done it for thousands of years.
