Santorini has quite a reputation. Everyone I knew who'd been had gushed about how friggin gorgeous it was, so I expected to find it a little overrated. But the island is all it's cracked up to be- it's friggin gorgeous, and undoubtedly my favourite place I've been in Greece thus far.
What sets Santorini apart is its unusual setting atop cliffs, which makes for spectacular views of the Aegean. The buildings are exactly those you see in postcards and calendars of Greece - white houses, blue, domed roofs, etc. Funnily enough, I haven't come across this architectural style anywhere else in the country. So if that's the Greece you're lookin for, go to Santorini.
A little history:
Originally and still officially, the island is called Thira, (Θήρα). It got its later name, Santorini, from the Latin Empire in the thirteenth century, as a reference to Saint Irene.
In the Bronze Age, roughly between 3000 to 1580 BC, a Minoan settlement thrived on the Southern part of the island. At the time, Thira was a single island, whose inhabitants lived in sophisticated, 3 story houses with advanced drainage systems. They had a dual pipe system, which suggests the use of hot and cold water (the hot water probably heated by the nearby volcano), and toilets. Their elaborate fine art (mostly wall paintings) indicates that they were probably quite wealthy. The settlement's architecture, piping system and the city's layout match up nicely with Plato's description of Atlantis, the mythical lost city. As does the fast, furious destruction of the city by the eruption of the island's volcano:
Plato says in his dialogues Timaeus and Critias (360 BC), that after a failed attempt to invade Athens, Atlantis sank into the ocean "in a single day and night of misfortune."
The eruption occured at some point during the second millenium BCE, although scientists and archeologists are unsure of the exact date. It completely whiped out the settlement there, although the ruins of the ancient town (known today as Akrotiri) were well preserved by the lava, and are often compared to the ruins at Pompeii. Until 2005 (when the canopy over the ruins collapsed and killed a tourist), you could go see the remains of the city. Apparently the canopy is being fixed and the site will reopen soon.
Anyways. The volcano erupted. I'm a little unclear on exactly how the geology goes after this, but from what I can glean online, here's what happened post-eruption: the peak point of the volcano could not sustain the weight from the explosion, so it sank down. Over time, water moved into this deep crater portion of the volcano, forming a lagoon, and the parts of the island that were not submerged became the "caldera", or cauldron.
Today, Santorini looks from above like a backwards C, whose massive cliffs surround the lagoon on 3 sides. On the fourth side, the much smaller island Therasia separates the 12 by 7 km lagoon from the sea. In the center of the lagoon is the volcano, which we visited by boat. The lagoon (400 m deep) also merges with the sea in at two points, so ferries can easily come in and out of the lagoon to drop off the thousands of tourists who journey to this far-away gem of an island. From cafes atop the cliffs, you can see the boats come in and out, leaving white trails in the blue behind them. All the harbors are situated in the lagoon, not on the outer perimeter of the island, where the land slopes gradually away from the interior cliffs.
I went with Robyn and Whitney. Two of Robyn's friends from DC also joined us, and it was great to have some new blood around. We stayed near Fira, the capital, which perches on top of a cliff at the center of the inverted C. On Thursday night, we went out in Fira, where there are three or four bars that everyone in the town seems to gather at. There were a surprising number of tourists in Santorini, considerin it was only mid-May. I'm really glad we went sooner rather than later, as I imagine it's crawling with tourists by now.
We began our first full day (Friday), with a hearty American breakfast of Ommelettes and toast at "Jerry's" breakfast joint. (We returned to Jerry's on Saturday and Sunday, as well). After breakfast, we rented ATVs and drove around the island. About a mile into the trip, we realized that Whitney's helmet wouldn't stay on her head, Robyn was missing a left mirror (she probably should've noticed that earlier), Sandra's brakes were kinda broken, and my ATV only went 28 k/hour. And the ATV's didn't reverse, so we had to get off and pull them to turn around. Clearly the man at the rental service was awfully concerned about our safety.
We stopped for a midday "snack" at a shoddy looking beachside taverna, which ended up having someof the best Middle-Eastern/Lebanese food I've ever tasted.
We returned to our hotel around 6:30, showered and "napped," but then suddenly it was 9:30 pm and we called it a night.
On Saturday, we did the volcano boat excursion. It's a little silly. You go to the volcano and hike a kilometre up to see a tiny hole in the ground, from which thermal, sulphuric air emerges. Everyone goes crazy to get their hands up next to it. And you gotta be careful, because you never know when the volcano's gonna blow - it erupted in 1950!
After the volcano, the boat takes you to the "hot springs" - you jump in the freezing cold water and swim to a rust-coloured, muddy, lukewarm area near the interior. Your bathing suit gets stained brown. It's kindof a strange tourist attraction. I liked seeing goats amble down the hill to observe the humans splashing in the mud, and hearing everyone yell "Fuck its cold!!" in English, French, German, Greek, and Chinese as we swam back out into the cold to be hoisted onto back up to the boat.
After the "hot" springs, we spent some time on the beach of the detached part of Santorini, known as Therasia, before the boat brought us to Oia (top of the Caldera) for the famous sunset. Oia is 300 m up, and you can either walk or take a donkey. We walked, but almost got knocked off the hill by the donkey stampede a few times.
Before sunset, we went to grab a drink at this rooftop bar. Pretty incredible view:
The sunset is hilarious. Tourists pack onto the Northern slope at Oia like its a movie theatre. As soon as the sun goes down, they file out - show's over. It is a lovely view of the sunset, but if anything on Santorini is overrated, I'd say this is it. But certainly still worth seeing.
That night, we ventured back to Fira for another night on the town. At "Murphys" we met some rather entertaining Australians who had just quit their catering jobs and were travelling in Greece for the next three months. They planned to move to Ios the following Monday, and find some kind of work there. Is it just me, or do most Australians just surf, drink, travel, and find work where they end up?
At lunch on our last day, our kinda-creepy waiter told us he was going to charge us double for our meal because all of us had refused to dance with him the night before. (He had been trying to grope Whitney all night). Although I'm going to miss Greece, I can't say I'll miss the lecherous old men.
On the flight back to Athens, I got to watch the sun set, twice - once while we were down South by Santorini, and then as the plane went North and caught up with the sun, again over the mountains surrounding Athens. Not a bad way to wrap up the trip. :)
What sets Santorini apart is its unusual setting atop cliffs, which makes for spectacular views of the Aegean. The buildings are exactly those you see in postcards and calendars of Greece - white houses, blue, domed roofs, etc. Funnily enough, I haven't come across this architectural style anywhere else in the country. So if that's the Greece you're lookin for, go to Santorini.
A little history:
Originally and still officially, the island is called Thira, (Θήρα). It got its later name, Santorini, from the Latin Empire in the thirteenth century, as a reference to Saint Irene.
In the Bronze Age, roughly between 3000 to 1580 BC, a Minoan settlement thrived on the Southern part of the island. At the time, Thira was a single island, whose inhabitants lived in sophisticated, 3 story houses with advanced drainage systems. They had a dual pipe system, which suggests the use of hot and cold water (the hot water probably heated by the nearby volcano), and toilets. Their elaborate fine art (mostly wall paintings) indicates that they were probably quite wealthy. The settlement's architecture, piping system and the city's layout match up nicely with Plato's description of Atlantis, the mythical lost city. As does the fast, furious destruction of the city by the eruption of the island's volcano:
Plato says in his dialogues Timaeus and Critias (360 BC), that after a failed attempt to invade Athens, Atlantis sank into the ocean "in a single day and night of misfortune."
The eruption occured at some point during the second millenium BCE, although scientists and archeologists are unsure of the exact date. It completely whiped out the settlement there, although the ruins of the ancient town (known today as Akrotiri) were well preserved by the lava, and are often compared to the ruins at Pompeii. Until 2005 (when the canopy over the ruins collapsed and killed a tourist), you could go see the remains of the city. Apparently the canopy is being fixed and the site will reopen soon.
Anyways. The volcano erupted. I'm a little unclear on exactly how the geology goes after this, but from what I can glean online, here's what happened post-eruption: the peak point of the volcano could not sustain the weight from the explosion, so it sank down. Over time, water moved into this deep crater portion of the volcano, forming a lagoon, and the parts of the island that were not submerged became the "caldera", or cauldron. Today, Santorini looks from above like a backwards C, whose massive cliffs surround the lagoon on 3 sides. On the fourth side, the much smaller island Therasia separates the 12 by 7 km lagoon from the sea. In the center of the lagoon is the volcano, which we visited by boat. The lagoon (400 m deep) also merges with the sea in at two points, so ferries can easily come in and out of the lagoon to drop off the thousands of tourists who journey to this far-away gem of an island. From cafes atop the cliffs, you can see the boats come in and out, leaving white trails in the blue behind them. All the harbors are situated in the lagoon, not on the outer perimeter of the island, where the land slopes gradually away from the interior cliffs.
I went with Robyn and Whitney. Two of Robyn's friends from DC also joined us, and it was great to have some new blood around. We stayed near Fira, the capital, which perches on top of a cliff at the center of the inverted C. On Thursday night, we went out in Fira, where there are three or four bars that everyone in the town seems to gather at. There were a surprising number of tourists in Santorini, considerin it was only mid-May. I'm really glad we went sooner rather than later, as I imagine it's crawling with tourists by now.
We began our first full day (Friday), with a hearty American breakfast of Ommelettes and toast at "Jerry's" breakfast joint. (We returned to Jerry's on Saturday and Sunday, as well). After breakfast, we rented ATVs and drove around the island. About a mile into the trip, we realized that Whitney's helmet wouldn't stay on her head, Robyn was missing a left mirror (she probably should've noticed that earlier), Sandra's brakes were kinda broken, and my ATV only went 28 k/hour. And the ATV's didn't reverse, so we had to get off and pull them to turn around. Clearly the man at the rental service was awfully concerned about our safety.
We stopped for a midday "snack" at a shoddy looking beachside taverna, which ended up having someof the best Middle-Eastern/Lebanese food I've ever tasted.
 |
| Lebanese Food |
We returned to our hotel around 6:30, showered and "napped," but then suddenly it was 9:30 pm and we called it a night.
On Saturday, we did the volcano boat excursion. It's a little silly. You go to the volcano and hike a kilometre up to see a tiny hole in the ground, from which thermal, sulphuric air emerges. Everyone goes crazy to get their hands up next to it. And you gotta be careful, because you never know when the volcano's gonna blow - it erupted in 1950!
After the volcano, the boat takes you to the "hot springs" - you jump in the freezing cold water and swim to a rust-coloured, muddy, lukewarm area near the interior. Your bathing suit gets stained brown. It's kindof a strange tourist attraction. I liked seeing goats amble down the hill to observe the humans splashing in the mud, and hearing everyone yell "Fuck its cold!!" in English, French, German, Greek, and Chinese as we swam back out into the cold to be hoisted onto back up to the boat.
After the "hot" springs, we spent some time on the beach of the detached part of Santorini, known as Therasia, before the boat brought us to Oia (top of the Caldera) for the famous sunset. Oia is 300 m up, and you can either walk or take a donkey. We walked, but almost got knocked off the hill by the donkey stampede a few times. Before sunset, we went to grab a drink at this rooftop bar. Pretty incredible view:
 |
| View from the Bar |
 |
| Ditzy, Delicious Drinks |
That night, we ventured back to Fira for another night on the town. At "Murphys" we met some rather entertaining Australians who had just quit their catering jobs and were travelling in Greece for the next three months. They planned to move to Ios the following Monday, and find some kind of work there. Is it just me, or do most Australians just surf, drink, travel, and find work where they end up?
At lunch on our last day, our kinda-creepy waiter told us he was going to charge us double for our meal because all of us had refused to dance with him the night before. (He had been trying to grope Whitney all night). Although I'm going to miss Greece, I can't say I'll miss the lecherous old men.
On the flight back to Athens, I got to watch the sun set, twice - once while we were down South by Santorini, and then as the plane went North and caught up with the sun, again over the mountains surrounding Athens. Not a bad way to wrap up the trip. :)
 |
| Oia |
 |
| Santorini Screaming Match |
No comments:
Post a Comment