Santorini
We sailed this morning to Santorini, the “fairest of them, Kallisti”, the island that sunset and sunrise puts poets out of work! We gazed up to the famous caldera…green, putty, grey, scarlet, cobalt, every shade of heat from that pure molten rock. Off the crest, like the manes of horses, stand white houses, like spurts of white ash…
We boarded a tender boat that took us to the small harbor of Athinios. From there, we ascended up a windy road with breathtaking views across the caldera and over to the island of Therasia and Aspronisi, once the original parts of Strongili, the “round island.” We drove to the quaint village of Oia. Greeting us there were churches with blue domes against the blue of the sea, narrow picturesque streets and vaulted houses built into the rock of the caldera. Unique architecture…made by no architects. Oia, a postcard Greek village.
A road along the coast of Santorini gave us a taste of the black sand beaches of the island and beautiful views of its endless fields cultivated with vineyards trained to form a basket for the protection of the grapes. During lunch, in the hospitable tavern of Aiolos we tasted local wine and specialties of the island like Fava, a version of split peas.
A short drive brought us to the capital of the island Thera, where we visited the prehistoric museum with frescoes found on the site of Akrotiri, proof of the once prosperous civilization that had developed on the island. We took the cable car down to the small dock of Skala and, for the more adventurous, a donkey ride!
Santorini…many descriptions about it have been written, but its beauty is so astonishing that prose and poetry is forced to limp behind!
We sailed this morning to Santorini, the “fairest of them, Kallisti”, the island that sunset and sunrise puts poets out of work! We gazed up to the famous caldera…green, putty, grey, scarlet, cobalt, every shade of heat from that pure molten rock. Off the crest, like the manes of horses, stand white houses, like spurts of white ash…
We boarded a tender boat that took us to the small harbor of Athinios. From there, we ascended up a windy road with breathtaking views across the caldera and over to the island of Therasia and Aspronisi, once the original parts of Strongili, the “round island.” We drove to the quaint village of Oia. Greeting us there were churches with blue domes against the blue of the sea, narrow picturesque streets and vaulted houses built into the rock of the caldera. Unique architecture…made by no architects. Oia, a postcard Greek village.
A road along the coast of Santorini gave us a taste of the black sand beaches of the island and beautiful views of its endless fields cultivated with vineyards trained to form a basket for the protection of the grapes. During lunch, in the hospitable tavern of Aiolos we tasted local wine and specialties of the island like Fava, a version of split peas.
A short drive brought us to the capital of the island Thera, where we visited the prehistoric museum with frescoes found on the site of Akrotiri, proof of the once prosperous civilization that had developed on the island. We took the cable car down to the small dock of Skala and, for the more adventurous, a donkey ride!
Santorini…many descriptions about it have been written, but its beauty is so astonishing that prose and poetry is forced to limp behind!
