6/10: Santorini High & Low

On this day, we recovered! We let our dear Road Warrior do all the work for us, because I was jonesing for another historical fix and wanted to visit Ancient Thira. Anyone familiar with Santorini history or archaeology is probably more familiar with the ruins at Akrotiri on the southernmost end of the island, but for reasons unknown to me the site(still undergoing excavation, going on 25+ years) has been closed to the public for a while.

We aimed our trusty steed that afternoon towards Kamari, a popular community on the southeast coast of the island near the airport. Ancient Thira lay at the top of the island's largest peak. The drive from our place in Oia took roughly 45 minutes to the foot of the mountain, and the cobblestone road up was a dizzying series of switchbacks--we counted 22, I think, on our way down.

ABOVE: More twisted than a congressman's morals.

The travel guide I read recommended making an early start for Ancient Thira, and I assumed it was because of the distance needed to travel up there and the good suggestion to avoid the heat of the day. We planned for a mid/late afternoon arrival to skip the tail end of the heat. Imagine our surprise when we got all the way to the top before encountering this sign:

"Welcome! Now kindly go away."

Now, you may not think it too unusual for an archeological exhibit on top of a mountain on top of an island to close that early(14:30 = 2:30pm), but you have to realize this is Greece. Locals don't eat dinner until 10pm here at the earliest, and stores stay open at least that long as well. Still, that was an upsetting rejection. Or, to use some local vernacular: "Éenee skatá!"

Pictured: What we couldn't see 200 yards away from us.

We had to content ourselves with views and photos of the ruins through the gate slats, which is why you can't make much more out from my photos except for piled rocks.

Ancient Thira: pre-dating Lincoln Logs by millennia

The summit of this mountain was extremely windy, enough to make Annie cold on a 90-degree day. However, we took time to marvel at the panoramic views of most of the island, especially the parts we hadn't seen. We could see the coastal towns of Perissa and Vlichada to the south, and we had a bird's-eye view of Kamari well below us.

As we were mounting up to leave, some other unlucky tourists reached the summit, moments away from disappointment. The man offered to take our photo on the Road Warrior, so I consented--but didn't tell him about the closed exhibit so he could have a few more minutes of anticipation.

"VRRRROOOooooom."

We descended the superfluous switchbacks into Kamari, and rewarded ourselves for a job well [not] done by visiting the famous Kamari Beach, most popular on the island for young crowds and tourists.

The place was definitely overrun with foreigners, predominantly American sorostitutes and creepy Frenchmen that were slyly filming the aforementioned American girls. "Whatever!" we exclaimed, "At least there's no nudity!" Then we immediately stumbled across some unsightly topless mothers. Yay.

Above: You do NOT want this image zoomed.

Our eyes were quickly and mercifully drawn to the rock cliffs at the farthest end of the beach, where it appeared cliff jumping was to be had. We made our way over and found a spot to our liking...right next to a foreign couple with the woman wearing a swimsuit made for the 14 year old girl she must have swallowed. I apologize for sounding cruel, but it's human indecency to share that much of your body with me unsolicited. If you find that insulting, then tell me to jump off a cliff.

Your wish is my command.

Plop.

As the afternoon waned, we decided to head back home so we could navigate the unfamiliar roads while we had daylight. I only drove the wrong way on a one-way road once! No accidents to report, I'm proud to say.

We tried a new restaurant on the caldera side called Skala, and also had our first wonderful experience with feta fournou, a chunk of feta cheese baked with olive oil, tomato & peppers, and spices. Amazing! For our main course Annie ordered tagliatelle pasta and I tried Soutsoukakia, a meatballs over ourzo dish that was delicious.

This makes our penultimate night in Santorini; we are trying not to think about how sad it will be to leave this wonderful island, but we are also hoping to pack as much fun into our remaining time here as possible. We are truly blessed for having this place, and each other.

Santorini Day 9 (June 10):

Santorini: June 10, 2011

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Location:Kamari, Santorini Greece