New-Yorker-blog-karenrobbins

Our friend at the Budget rental counter when we arrived had emphasized over and over again that we dare not miss the Ancient Thera exhibit (spelled Thira on our map). Even though it was the afternoon and the sun was getting hot, knowing the whole thing was under cover, we decided to visit.

A large parking lot I'm sure filled with tour buses at certain times when the cruise ships were in cost us three Euros to park. Across the street and a short walk up a sidewalk and we stopped to buy tickets for 5 Euros each. There was an option to have a guide take you through the dig but we decided that was probably more information than we wanted to try to absorb.

Once inside the building, I was immediately reminded of Xian and the Terra Cotta Warriors. The enclosure is not nearly as large as the one in China but it is very nicely done and certainly makes the visit much more pleasant. Ramps and viewing platforms afford you opportunity to see everything that is there. At one spot you can even walk down into the town and along part of it's road between buildings.

The settlement predates the the volcano's eruption around 1600 B.C. that created the present shape of the island of Santorini. The inhabitants, Minoan, are thought to have come from Crete and settled here. The ash from the eruption buried the town but also preserved much of it. It is an amazing experience to walk through such ancient remains of an era we can only imagine.

There is thought that the stories surrounding the eruption of the volcano back then led to the legend of Atlantis. According to a National Geographic site I found, Plato told the story of Atlantis somewhere around 360 B.C. He told of a utopian civilization made up of people who were half god and half human. Of course it was embellished with tales of gold, silver, and exotic wildlife.

The volcano which wiped out a large section of Santorini and took out civilizations on Crete and other islands around the area with a huge tsunami fits with the idea of Atlantis sinking into the ocean. However ocean explorer, Robert Ballard, doesn't think this is the place of which Plato spoke because it doesn't coincide with the time Plato said Atlantis was destroyed.

James Romm, a professor at Bard College in New York state, believes that Plato created the story to support some of his philosophical theories.

Charles Orser, curator of history at the New York State Museum in Albany says the legend of Atlantis is a story about moral, spiritual people who lived in a highly advanced civilization but became greedy, petty and morally bankrupt. And of course, in the end, were destroyed by the gods they angered.

Atlantis or not, the archaeological  dig was most interesting and a not to be missed spot to visit if you have the time.

It was another beautiful sunset that evening. Another terrific meal, this time in Imerovigili, and a nice climb up the stairs back to Casa Bianca and our lovely room. I could really get used to this.

Santorini is all about the views. So when we awoke to a thick fog, we wondered what the day would hold. By the time we had finished our morning coffee, breakfast sandwich, and jam and bread, the fog had blown away and the sun began to warm the white buildings and stone walks of this magnificent island.

The quarter of the island we decided to explore this day was completely on the opposite end from the previous day's adventure. Our destination was the lighthouse on the southwestern end of the island. Driving was not bad except for some of the little towns where roads narrowed and people parked on streets. Of course meeting a full sized tour bus was a challenge but Bob was beginning to drive like a native. I, on the other hand, was still screaming like a tourist.

Along the road to the lighthouse, we stopped several times to enjoy the views. While the Caribbean is deep turquoise in color, the Mediterranean is a deep blue. The dramatic cliffs and coastal details of Santorini with its buildings like stair steps clinging to the sides of the sheer drops to the ocean make you stand in wonder as you take it all in. Refreshed with cool sea breezes and warm rays of sun, we continued on.

The lighthouse is a large structure sitting on the southwest point of the island. At first we thought that was all there was to see there but we noticed a trail, and never ones to turn down a chance to explore, we followed it around to the front side of the lighthouse facing out to the open sea.

As we passed another couple returning, they mentioned to us to be sure to go far enough to see the Indian in the rock. Sure, I thought, another one of those touristy things where you have to squint and use your imagination to see what someone had made up as a point of interest. But no, there it was! It was so distinctive I wondered if it had been handmade. (I have such a suspicious nature).

On our way back, we turned off onto the road that led to the Kokkini Beach, better known as the Red Beach. We found the parking area and followed the others who were making there way along a path we figured led to the beach. Well, it did, in a way. If you truly wanted to get down to the beach, there were lots of boulders to climb over. We could see some sort of a road opposite from our viewpoint but it looked like gravel and if there were cars there, you couldn't see where they parked.

 We weren't interested in swimming or sunning anyway so we returned to where we'd parked and decided to check out the restaurants. After all, we were still recovering from our cruise and we hadn't eaten since breakfast. The menu posted outside of one called Captain Antonis, Fresh Fish Tavern looked like we'd find something we wanted to eat so we descended the stairs.

At the bottom, we found ourselves at the door to what looked like the kitchen. An older gentleman with scruffy beard and typical Greek cap perched on his head waved us in. He gave Bob a vigorous hand shake as we passed and we found ourselves outside again under a canopy on a graveled pier of sorts where there were a couple dozen tables set up with chairs.

We chose a spot and a sweet lady who looked like she was probably the Captain's wife handed us menus. She apologized up front for "No English" and then with gestures and a word or two, indicated that the usual waitress was still sleeping. No problem. At least there was an English version of the menu. We chose an appetizer and a dish that said it was meatballs with tomato sauce.

"Is that good?" Bob asked.

The lady nodded and scurried off to put in the order, and I suspect cook it as well. There was no one else in the restaurant but the establishment next to us looked as though there was a small tour group eating there. Had we made a mistake?

When our "meatballs" arrived, they were actually hamburger patties with very crispy and good potatoes on the side with a little salad as well. It was all very delicious. Even without the "tomato sauce." While we were eating, Captain Antonis came out and fired up the grill. I guess he was expecting more customers. He had a little trouble getting the fire started. I hoped his wife had more "meatballs" in the kitchen.

Lunch was a perfect example of why we like to travel on our own rather than with a tour company. You don't have those kind of encounters with a tour guide along. They take care of all of that for you. Some people are more comfortable with that approach and in some areas of the world I am too. But our lunch experience was fun.

In the car once more, we passed signs that indicated we were near the archaeological dig that has recently been reopened with an all new building housing the dig itself. We had planned to visit it on another day but we like the word flexible and applied it. I'm so glad we did.

A bright beautiful morning greeted us as we sat enjoying the best coffee we'd had in a while on our little patio  area at the back of our room. The patio looked out into a courtyard of sorts where the pool to the hotel in front of us was off to our left a bit and a backyard to another B&B or a residence, I could never decide which it was. They hung out laundry almost daily but a lot seemed to be personal items. Between the two buildings though was a break with a spectacular view of the sea and a little bit of the caldera--the desired view of visitors to Santorini.

The main island of Santorini is curved around the two volcanic small islands in the middle of what is called the Caldera. A caldera is a large crater formed by volcanic explosion or the collapse of a volcanic cone. In this case, the ocean filled in the crater creating a picturesque area with spectacular views all the way around. The last eruption of the volcanoes was in the 1940s.

As we finished the last of our coffee, we studied the map our Greek rental car friend had marked for us and decided to divide the island up into four sections and do one a day. That would give us lots of time to linger where we wanted to stay longer and let us also have plenty of time to just kick back and relax at Casa Bianca.

Amoudi Bay

Camera bag on my back, water bottle in hand, we headed for where we had left the car, in front of the school and across from the church. The churches in Santorini are distinctly white (although we saw a handful of pastel colored ones) with a blue dome. On this small island, there are well over 200 churches. One doesn't have to walk far to find a place of worship which is good because walking is the only way to get around in many places and then it is up and down steps--lots of steps.

When we got to the car, I was amazed at what little space there was to maneuver. Had we really made it here without bumping into anything? We jiggled out of the parking spot and down the little hill praying all the way that we wouldn't meet another car coming the opposite direction.

After a turn onto the road we were to take, I looked down a huge hill. Had we really navigated that last night? I imagined what I felt was like a drunk who wakes up to discover he's somewhere and has no idea how he got there.

Thankfully the area we chose to explore the first day was not one that was extremely busy. To the north of Imerovigli the island curves around and there was a little town called Oia that we headed to. We drove through the narrow streets and followed the signs that led to Amoudi Bay, a place to see and find a good meal according to Maria our B&B host. Finding a good place to park was a little more of a challenge. We squeezed into a spot and continued on down the road to the steps and then down to the harbor.

The day could not have been more perfect. It was warm but a cool breeze blew off the water. The narrow walkway was bordered by water and shops and restaurants. I think one of the places may have been a small fish market as well. They were just beginning to serve lunch and all the grills along the way were getting fired up.

We decided to pass on the grilled octopus. There was a grilled fish that looked perfectly done and I would have loved to have sampled it but by the time I saw it, we had already ordered. Our appetizer was something called tomato balls which were more like crab cakes only with tomatoes rather than crab meat. They were okay. The next course, our seafood salad made up for them. Fresh garden greens and veggies and assorted grilled seafood. Heavenly.

During lunch, we had watched a steady stream of people walking a pathway to the cliffs next to us. There was even a bridal couple accompanied by a photographer who braved the rough trail. Curious, we decided to follow the trail to see where it led. Of course to do so, we had to ignore the sign. It was a bit treacherous in parts but it ended up near a place where you could climb down into the water. I think some may have been snorkeling there. And on the little island that jutted out nearby, there were boys diving off the cliffs. We watched for a bit and returned the way we came.

On our way back to the car, we noticed a pathway with steps that led straight up the cliff. There on the steps were several donkeys waiting to take passengers and/or cargo to the top. Donkeys are used in several places around Santorini where there is a harbor and people need to get up to the town above. If you cruise to Santorini that is your choice in the old port where many of the tenders dock. You can take a funicular to the top or ride a donkey.

One side of Santorini is very hilly and the other is very flat. That flat side has most of the beaches. We drove along the flat side to return to Casa Bianca and stopped to admire one of the black beaches. There was no easy way to get down to it so we admired from afar. The black sand and/or pebbles are from lava.

We spent what was left of our afternoon napping and reading. After all, we'd just finished a two week long cruise. Seriously, the heat and all the climbing can get to you and we wanted to enjoy one of the best things this island had to offer--a sunset over the caldera.

In Fira, there are lots of places along the walkway in front of the cathedral and beyond where you can stand, or sit in a cafe or restaurant and watch the sun set over the volcanic islands in the caldera. We found a cafe and sat at a table sipping fresh tropical drinks (mine was mango!) and watched the cruise ships weigh anchor and the sun dip down behind the volcano.

Dinner and then a drive through the crowded narrow streets of Fira navigating around people and cars and motorbikes. An exciting time and the end of our first full day in Santorini. What would tomorrow hold?

The Aegean Sea was getting darker as our plane flight, made later by a delay at Athens, passed over the dark silhouettes of Greek islands below us. It was a short flight, only a little over a half hour. Barely enough time for the flight attendants to serve a drink and clean up.

We collected our luggage quickly enough and walked through the exit doors to the area where the rental car companies were. Many had already closed up shop but our friendly Budget representative was there waiting for us and eager to tell us all about Santorini. By the time we were done, we had a map with all the sights circled and a hand drawn map of how to get to our B&B, precautions about drinking only bottled water and not parking on the street (which most everyone seems to do anyway), opinions on the best beaches. . .the list went on.

I thought by the time we left we were going to be adopted into his big Greek family. He was great but we were tired and anxious about our drive in the dark to our B&B. We'd been to Santorini before and knew that the roads could be very narrow and difficult to navigate in the towns. Squinting to read whatever signs we could find, we saw a few arrows that indicated Imerovigli and followed them Imerovigli is a little town just north of Fira, the capital or main city.

While we didn't exactly follow his route (we veered left when we should have veered right) we eventually recognized the white church he had told us to look for. "Pull over and call her (Maria, the manager). You will not find it on your own." We did and she led our car a short distance up a hill and showed us where to park in front of a school. We unloaded our luggage which was was too much since we'd been on a cruise, and pulled the bags up a narrow walkway between two white walls. At a break in the wall, the entrance to Casa Bianca was lit with candles in glass lanterns. We walked up a couple of steps and into the courtyard subtly lit with soft accent lighting around a small central pool.

Maria gave us a choice between rooms because we were staying four nights. She wanted us to be comfortable and she wasn't full that night. We chose the junior suite it was only about an eight step climb and I figured after all the step climbing we were going to do in the next few days, when we returned we didn't want to climb any more than necessary. She left us to settle in after explaining that breakfast would be served in our rooms with a call to the desk. Once I had seen the little table and chairs outside our back door, I knew that was going to be the spot for coffee and whatever other goodies came our way in the morning. I'd have to wait until morning to see the view but I was sure I'd like it.

Hunger gnawed a bit and even though we were exhausted, we needed to eat something. We went back down near the church where we'd stopped and found a grill there that served us a salad and sausage bites that we split between us. I wondered if I'd regret the spicy sausage later.

The room was comforable and the shower a relief after spending a hot day in the Athens sun seeing the sights. We collapsed into bed and slept like logs (if logs sleep) knowing that we had four days to enjoy the island and lots of time to relax. Perfect.