The ship's approach into the caldera was breathtaking. What materializes from the distance looks like just a small outcropping of islands and islets, but as you draw nearer you see the scale of the island and the architectural prowess of its inhabitants. Santorini consists of a crescent shaped main island called Thira, capped at several scattered areas by the white-washed villages of restaurants, curio shops, and cavehouses. A couple small satellite islands stand up from the water on Thira's opposite rim. Within these three outer islands is a vast expanse of sea, with the still-smoldering crater of Nea Kameni in its center. We approached from the northern end of Thira where our forthcoming lodging was located: the village of Oia, with the small harbor of Ammoudi Bay at its base.
After we disembarked, we found a taxi awaiting us, sent by our host Tony at The Sea Captain's House. Our first two nights will be spent in the Falling Stars house, a wonderfully antique and rustic looking suite with a private balcony view to die for. Seriously, the postcards you may have seen of Santorini may have been taken from this balcony:
Tony, a very kind host who is not Greek like we expected but British (we think), gave us a brief walking tour of the nearby sites of Oia before showing us our accommodations and how to order breakfast. Our bags were shortly brought up from the cab parking area by donkey taxi. You read that right.
After unpacking some necessities, Annie and I decided to go exploring. We found old Oia castle where the locals and tourists flock at sunset, then descended the "200" steps (more like 250, but who's counting?) to beautiful Ammoudi Bay. There are 4-6 restaurants and tavernas at the water's edge, with a walking path that leads around the bend to a small rocky swimming area, which we made plans to explore the following day.
We decided to dine at Sunset Restaurant along the wharf, and ate an olive plate as appetizer, with some delicious fresh calamari(only lightly fried, and tender) and a plate of grilled mussels for our main course. The mussels were each the size of my manly thumb. After a couple bottles of Greek beer, we were satisfied that our repast had rejuvenated our systems enough to brave the steep ascent back to Oia. A couple locals with a stable of donkeys offer rides to the top for a few Euro, but we declined for a few reasons:
A) We needed the exercise after two days of mostly sedentary travel.
B) Neither of us enjoyed the potential animal cruelty of forcing donkeys to cart our happy American asses up the slick stone steps.
C) A local legend that the donkeys contain the souls of departed locals tortured for their misdeeds.
But mostly...
D) We didn't want to look like these spoiled, drunk tourists:
ABOVE: "Hi mom, I'm embarrassing my country!"
So there's that. We made it back up after only a couple rest stops, avoiding the piles of donkey excrement--"animal waste" says the signs--liberally scattered across the path. After a brief walk on level ground to cool off our legs and see the tip of Oia, we returned "home" to crash for the night in our romantic Grecian getaway. Overall, a great first day on Santorini!
Santorini Day 1 (June 2) Album:
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| Santorini: June 2, 2011 |
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Location:Νικολάου Νομικού,Oia,Greece
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