Breathtaking views

distracting orchids




Climbing the rocky path up to ancient Thira, it’s hard to focus on your footing, there are so many distractions for your senses: tiny green and terracotta-speckled lizards dart out of your way as you approach, watching cautiously from the safety of a rocky crevice, and huge black bees, fat flying beetles and butterflies – mostly blues – dart around as you disturb their spring feast; the air is full of the heady scent of wild thyme, sage, fenugreek and chamomile from the massed wildflowers somehow finding enough sustenance in the dry, thin soil, 45 degree slope and full sun, and the view past their colourful blooms is even more hypnotising as more is revealed with every step you climb up the hand-hewn marble track.

Lizard - NB minus half his tail



Beetle on fenugreek

Up here, close to the gods and hundreds of steep metres above the nearest flat land or source of water, it’s hard to imagine why such a spot would suggest itself as the site for a city. But it’s also hard to imagine any pirates or marauding tribes bothering to invade such a citadel, and that, I guess, is the whole point. Ancient Thira is one of the first re-settlements on Santorini, founded in about 7 BC after the island was deserted for about a thousand years following the huge volcanic explosion that buried the coastal city of Akrotiri in several metres of ash and rocks and rendered the whole island uninhabitable. Serving the homes were several temples, a gymnasium, agora, theatre and other buildings. All perched on a tiny flat space on the second-highest point of the island. A monastery now stands on the highest point, but nowadays it is served by a road.

And the ancient city was amazingly advanced for its era, with painted frescos, gold ornaments, complex two-storey buildings and a sewer system and quality pots and grinding stones. Not bad for the bronze age.

See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akrotiri_(Santorini)



Houses crammed on the cliffs

 Still the tradition of building on steep rocky spaces continues today with shops, cafes, apartments and hotels appearing to be competing to find the steepest, most precipitous spot to build on the gravity-defying cliff of the caldera – the steep inside cliff of the still-active volcano rim that is Santorini. The laneways and steep, winding staircases that serve these buildings are too narrow for traffic and offer the most spectacular of views of the brightly painted blue, white and pastel-rendered and dome-roofed churches and properties clinging to the black cliff above the azure-blue Aegean below, and beyond that a sea filled with endless islands punctuating the water to the horizon and disappearing into the mist. Predictably, property prices for these view-blessed buildings have sky rocketed since tourists, photographers and artists discovered and popularized the place in the past few decades, and visitors now pay a premium for enjoying a beer, meal or even a glass of water anywhere that offers caldera views.

Ironically, the views across the ‘flat’ side of the island are nearly as enchanting – although not so dramatic – and prices there are far more reasonable. Guess where we stayed?



cute shops

As explained in my last entry, we’re currently at the mercy of our Turkish travel agents re: choice of accommodation, and arrived with two other Australian couples – one paying 2-star prices and one paying 5-star. All were delivered to the same hotel, so understandably, the mum and daughter Shirley and Dee, who are paying twice what we are per day, were not impressed. Being in the hospitality industry themselves (restaurant at Maroubra) they complained long and loud and finally got transferred to a rather fancy place a bit further out of town. They were with us at the Hotel from Hell at Bodrum, so not surprised they were mad!



Our balcony and view

We were happy enough with our blue-and-white room in a blue-and-white hotel with its blue-and-white pool next to our blue-and-white balcony. Still falls short compared to some more modest backpacker joints, but nice view, good location and ok staff.

However the driver, Vasili, who kindly stayed up til nearly 2am to collect us from the late ferry and who we have since spent many hours chatting with, believes the island is too full of people putting too much importance on money instead of providing good service. Still, with 2-3 cruise ships arriving each day while we were there (rising to 10-12 a day in high season), each disgorging several thousand tourists to the island, all with pockets full of cash looking for somewhere to spend, who can blame them? After all, the island completely closes down in winter (it was only just kicking into gear when we were there; an awful lot of empty pools and streets smelling of fresh paint) and islanders are left to battle the fierce winter winds and harsh, infertile soils on their own again, so why not make hay when the sun shines? Plus it’s hard to treat travelers as individuals when they arrive in such large numbers.

Having said that, we met some lovely locals who were very kind and delivered excellent service, so we were either lucky or came at the perfect time of year. Not too hot – we swam but the water was ‘fresh’ – and probably variable weather, but the sun shone for our two-day stay, so no complaints.

Red Beach

We hired a 125cc scooter for two days and explored the many nooks and crannies, such as the archaeological dig revealing the lost city of Akrotiri, and ancient Thira (which was, ironically, closed for the afternoon so we climbed the adjacent slope and looked down on it instead!), the various beaches (black, red and white, depending on what sort of volcanic rock makes up its hinterland) , an underground wine cellar and museum, regular farming villages and the touristy destination of Oia, which sells itself as offering the best sunsets. All very lovely, although the local wine is ‘interesting’ – due to the harsh climate the vines are pruned and shaped into low wreaths with the new shoots on the inside, to create some protection from sand-laden winds. Yields are very low but favour quite complex, sweet blends, especially the Vin Santo, for which grapes are semi dried before crushing.

Vines trained into wreaths

Found a wonderful local restaurant tho – so good we went back again. Tried liver with thyme and white wine, Santorini sausage (very herby and not too fatty), yummy haloumi, delicious grilled mushrooms, stuffed calamari, cheese croquettes and lots of other meze stuff. Got a complimentary drink each night too – raki with honey and cinnamon one night and vinsanto the next. Yum.  

Now we’re on the ferry to Paros, which sounds a quieter island, and after that we’re off to Athens, where we’re rather dreading the hotel that gets fairly poor reviews on Trip Adviser. Dee and Shirley are booked in at the same time so will blaze a trail for us!

on wall of an art studio



John on his 125cc





Roadside shrine. Lots of them.



Looking down over Fira from ancient Thira