The beautiful island of Santorini sits at the southern end of the Cyclades, a group of islands just south of Greece. Once upon a time, it was almost perfectly circular, but then a volcano erupted and blew a large portion of it underwater, leaving in place a spectacular crescent-shaped island crowned by tall, rocky cliffs showing off streaks of sedimentary layers like mocha swirl.
Our home away from home, the Villa Iantha, sits almost in the middle of the crescent high on the cliff above the bay facing the caldera. Somehow, we were booked in this incredible place which costs a third of what it costs in the normal high season. It has 2 bedrooms, a small sitting room and kitchenette and... it's own pool facing the sea. Yes. Totally ridiculous.
Jack and I took a brisk walk in the morning to an amazing bakery down the street, lured by the piles of breads and pastries overflowing from their baskets, oozing with the aromas of butter and yeast. Somehow, neither one of us had thought to bring any euros, and in the end, returned empty handed, sans breakfast. Emily and Jason laughed good naturedly, albeit hungrily, and we all hopped in the car and drove down, this time able to walk away with several of the pillowy sugared donuts and puffy breads. Fueled for the day, we were on our way.
First stop, a winery that we drove by which we made Jason make an illegal turn for to visit. Here is the view from the outside patio... the wine was decent, but we had a good time chatting with the Russian winemaker.
Next stop, the amazing red rock beach and cliffs above Perissa. The woman that Emily is taking a picture of is actually a UC Berkeley grad who was traveling by herself through the island on an ATV. Go Bears!
The rocks were all shades of burnt caramels and sienas, the water, frigid.
Lunch was at Melina's, an awesome, beachside, open-air cafe that served what we all considered to be our best meal since coming to Greece. Fried sardines, anchovies, and small mackeral with a side of fried Santorini tomatoes and grilled aubergine with garlic.
After lunch, we headed to ancient Thira, a town high above the black sand beaches of Kamari, accesible only by a narrow, gravelly, switchback road, which Jason navigated in our rented stick shift. But when we got there, it was closed! We saw a German couple who had managed the crazy road on a scooter, and were thoroughly impressed by their "it was no big deal" attitude. We decided to return the following morning. On to Ia, reputed to be the most beautiful village in all of Greece, and we arrived just in time for a sunset. There was a fantastic, little bookstore on the main cobblestoned pathway, interestingly enough opened up by a young american guy who was, ironically, moving to Oakland to teach with the Oakland Teaching Fellowship. Small world!
So most pictures you see of the Greek islands are probably taken in Ia. The incredible views made us feel like talented photographers! But I'm sure everyone else has the exact same pictures.
Jack, Emily and Jason, sitting at Kastro, the cafe from where we viewed the famous Ia sunset.
A great dinner back in Fira, the main village in Santorini at a family owned tavern called Nikolaus, and then, Loukamadoupolis! We'd passed this little shop earlier in the day, enticed by the towering pile of the loukoumades in the featured picture in the window, little balls of fried, doughy joy, drizzled in honey. The anticipation of these yummy delights made me and Emily especially excited, as you can tell from this picture. The owner of the shop made them fresh for us and seemed amused by our enthusiasm and also by the number of pictures Jack took of him as he made them.
A perfect way to end a fun filled, good food day.
1 comment:
Hi Uncle Jason and Auntie Emily!
I miss you!
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