Our most recent travels in September 2014 took us to the Mediterranean to explore four distinct yet exquisite locales: Istanbul, Turkey; Mykonos, Santorini, & Athens, Greece
September 12, 2014:
Welcome to Fira, Santorini, Greece!
Words cannot describe the grandeur of this place, but I will do my best to give you a tiny glimpse into the beauty of this ancient island town.
I found this little map on a sign along our trek to Oia (pronounced Ee-uh) one day.
Santorini or Thira is now the large crescent shaped island with a few small islands forming a ring around an active volcano. Santorini used to be a very large flat island until an eruption several thousand years ago created these idyllic cliffs or caldera to the east and a calm harbor in the center. It is a widely held sentiment on the island that the City of Atlantis lay submerged in the harbor after the volcanic eruption and remains yet to be found.
After our ferry landed in Athinios Port, or the new port, we caught a cab northbound to Fira (note large red dot) where we stayed in a dive-y studio on the caldera. There’s a reason most cruise ships only stop for the day in Santorini – it’s quite expensive to spend the night. Aside from the sub-optimal quarters we enjoyed on this island, the radiant sunsets off our balcony each night and serene mornings over looking the harbor were well worth the pretty pennies.
At the recommendation of our hotel manager, we partook in a quintessential dinner on the caldera at sunset. We indulged in a beautiful greek salad and shared the lamb stew. During our travels, we tried out best to sample native wines and really enjoyed a red blend from Argyros Estate. The century-old family-run vineyard grows grape varietals native to Santorini which have adapted well to the arid volcanic soil.
September 13, 2014: Good morning, Santorini!
I wish words could describe and pictures could express our favorite part of the entire trip: a 4 hour trek from Fira to Oia! If you refer to the above map you will see Oia at the north point of the island. There is an ancient path that traverses the caldera along the north ridge to Oia. While some of the trail is a cobblestone path, the majority of the trail is natural rock and gravel. We embarked on this “epic” trek at 8:00am (yes, jet lag still made our bodies capable of waking up “early”) on possibly the most perfect day you could ask for: a crisp 60 degrees with the morning sun just barely cresting over the top of the island. I reveled in the romantic moments of watching the island come to life; I almost felt like I was intruding on an intimate encounter as the sun brought the royal blue and teal waters, green vegetation, and colorful flowers to life. Even the rocks and volcano appeared to be yawning as they woke up.
On our way to Oia we crossed paths with a few over-achiever-runners but rarely shared the way with but a few passers-by. We walked in silence with nature, simply soaking up the beauty of the world around us.
Once we finally reached Oia we stumbled through some small shops and art exhibits. We met an artist named Vassilis Kyrkos who paints in multiple mediums and styles and uniquely captures the idyllic and timeless nature of Santorini. We picked up a small silk screen which depicts an early morning scene of Fira along the caldera. I treasure looking at this painting on my wall today and reminiscing not only of the friend we made that day, but of finding a kindred spirit who was able to paint the emotion and soul-searching depth that my heart felt during my time on the island.
We learned a few interesting things while on our travels such as every culture has their own version of hippies and that certain species are found only in certain places. In Oia I found this delightful little book shop that was built in an abandoned cave style house by a couple of Athens hippies who “wanted to get away from it all.” They had curated quite the collection of classic and contemporary literature from around the world in multiple languages. They even had a “reading room” which was really a tiny hole in the cave wall that you had two climb a few stories of scaffolding to get to. Anthropologie could get some new ideas for their window displays from their creative decor. Secondly, and maybe most importantly, there is a species of cat that is specifically found on Santorini. The isolation from other breeds has created a unique cat which is known for its round face, tiger striped tail, and white, orange, and black coat. You can even rent a cat for €5 a day from the book store boys!
After spending a few hours lunching and resting in Oia, I wished we had known to stay there rather than in town. The peaceful, remote feel of the town made it difficult to head back to Fira at the end.
That night we set out on the only planned excursion of the trip: a romantic sunset cruise! Aboard a 17th century style pirate ship, we set off to tour the Volcano, submerge in luxurious hot springs, and sip wine and hors d’oeuvre while watching the sunset… except it wasn’t quite that awesome. We received a brochure and were allowed to walk through a few trails along the volcano by ourselves, the hot springs were merely a tepid bay near the volcano with rust-laden water, and the munchies consisted of a shot glass of cheap white wine (no food)… BUT THE SUNSET WAS AMAZING! So I guess it was still pretty worth it to enjoy a mediterranean sunset on a “pirate ship!”
September 14, 2014:
We spent our last day in Santorini doing the beach thing and venturing over to Akrotiri and the red beach. Because of the cliffs, many of the beaches on Santorini are only accessible via a rough trek over rocks and cliffs or via a boat. Because of both the original island rock and volcanic sand, Santorini has three distinct beaches, the Red Beach, the Black Beach, and the White Beach, all named specifically after the color of the sand. While it is perfectly normal to be nude on these beaches, the majority of loungers were sporting bright colored suits.
Before flying out of Santorini for our final destination, we took one more tour of Fira and got our fourth gyro and souvlaki (still the best we had on the whole trip) from some guys who owned this killer corner food shop off Martiou and Danezi M streets. If you see me in Austin one day opening my own food truck, I will probably be selling gyros copied unashamedly from them!
Hike & Mighty Adventures 