26 Hours on Santorini

The Santorini Caldera at Sunset. Click to enlarge.



Santorini was once a very large volcano, but when it exploded, the core of the volcano sank to the bottom of the sea. What you see is the outer edge/rim of the volcano. Our hotel room was 100 meters from the edge of the former volcano. In Santorini, there is really no flatland, and all the towns and villages are built right into the side of the mountain (no troglodyte caves, 'though!).

We arrived here yesterday afternoon, and will depart for Naxos late this afternoon. Santorini is gorgeous, heavily touristed, and extremely congested due to the serpentatine paths and streets that thread their way through town (town, here meaning the town of Fira, or Thira, the Greek name for Santorini). Mostly we had wanted to come here to see the geological formations and the famous Caldera. Keelin has long weanted to come here to see the famous ruins--one of the finest in Greece--that has been closed for years now, and which we didn't figure out until the day we departed America.




Houses, resataurants, and streets on the stair-step hillside of Santorini. Click to enlarge.

We had an excellent dinner last night at Lithos, a taverna perched on the edge of the Caldera, with fantastic views, and a window on one of the best sunsets I've ever seen in my life. For dessert, they brought us a concoction of Ouzo and cherry juice. After that, we wandered through the narrow streets, did a little window shopping and went home. The youth attempted to go clubbing but were stopped at the door for an ID check Del could not pass (for the first time on the entire trip). I mentioned yesterday how many tourists come through here, both on ferries and cruise ships. And there is a lot of merch. for them to buy. There are probably more jewelry shops here than in all of Seattle. And ditto for fur stores. Fur stores? I don't know who buys furs when it is 100 degrees outside! But I do have a clue, since virtually every fur store we've seen in Rhodes and Santorini have bilingual signs in the window--not the usual English/Greek, but Russian Greek. Obviously the new upper and upper middle class Russians come through here too.

I am definitely starting to feel road burn on this trip, and long for some of the comforts back home. But not that much. I am not looking forward to out return in five days. Road burn aside, I could keep travelling another two months...

I was able to send two pics to the blog via my camera, but this internet cafe has no USB connection, so more photographs later...perhaps from Naxos. Also, there are four Germans sitting here tapping their feet, waiting to get on this fine Belnea computer, so it is time for me to sign off. But first I turn to them and say "Ich verstehe das nicht." Heh heh.
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