Santorini and the surrounding islands are what remains of a larger island after a volcano erupted a long, loooooong time ago (3600 years, to be precise. What would I do without you, Wikipedia?)
View of Santorini and the nearby islands (How I wish my camera has a panorama function! In the meantime, this will have to suffice.) Santorini is to the right and Nea Kameni is in the middle. Not sure if it's visible from the images but Nea Kameni is easily distinguishable with its red, rocky surface and lack of green vegetation. A lot of people visit Nea Kameni to see its volcanic crater and the sulfuric vents.
A better view from space. Santorini to the right. Nea Kameni in the centre.
(Doesn't Santorini kind of look like a dinosaur?) From this view, it's much easier to see how the islands were once a larger, single island before the volcanic-induced caldera was formed. (If interested in a quick geology lesson, the wiki-entry on volcanic caldera is here.)
Volcanic rock (pumice) on Santorini.
Santorini Winery
Our first stop. A quick tour of the winery itself (lots of metal vats and tubes running every which way) and then on to the important part, tasting. They gave out samples of red, white, and dessert wines. I, being the weakling that I am, had one sip and then spent the rest of the time snacking on the h'orderves (the cheese plate was excellent!)Santorini grapes are unique in the way they are grown. Because of the strong island winds, the farmers have to grow the fruit low to the ground, forming loops with the vine. Examples of the vine loops can be seen hanging beside the winery entrance to the right. A close-up can be seen below.
Look, wine in plastic bottles for the everyday drinkers!Even though I tasted the wine samples, I honestly couldn't tell you if they were any good.
Umm... the white wine was sweeter? I'm not certain what exactly makes Santorini wine so great. However, I do know that the volcanic soil does play a significant part and that the island has a long history of winemaking, dating all the way back to ancient Greece.The view from the winery is quite something.
More of that fantastic view from the winery. And of course, I couldn't resist taking a photo of this thriving succulent plant at the winery.
City of Oia
Someone once said, "you haven't seen true blue until you have visited the Aegean." They may very well be right.
Gorgeous. The white buildings, the blue domes, the pink flowers... all set against the rich blue background of the Aegean Sea.
It's almost hard to imagine such a place exists in real life.
"The most photographed washroom in the world." - according to a random tour guide passing by.
These beautiful flowers, called bougainvillea, appear a lot in my photos. They seem to be quite popular in this region, especially for a non-native plant (they originated from Sourth Africa.)
The streets of Oia are unbelievably photogenic.
I found myself constantly surprised by the building architecture - there doesn't seem to be any rules or patterns, yet they all fit together. Unique but complementary. And look, someone has potted a small olive tree in front of their house! So cool. Maybe I should try my hand at growing an olive tree too.
"Great things are done when men and mountains meet. This is not done by jostling in the street."
- William Blake.
The bookshop owner must be a William Blake fan, to have painted the store with the verse. A book from this shop would have been a great souvenir but alas, I couldn't find any that I wanted or understood. But I did see a copy of what I thought was The Hunger Games, in Greek.
A Chinese restaurant on Santorini?!?! I had to take a photo as proof. Hahaha. Maybe this is China's plan. First comes the Chinese restaurants, then comes world domination. Brilliant!
Our ship with the island of Nea Kameni in the background.
Whereas Oia is tranquil and idyllic, Fira is robust and full of life. Its streets are crammed with people and shops - including the ever-prevalent souvenir and jewellery shops. I even saw a massage parlor offering fish pedicures! Needless to say, my travel companions had shopping on their minds and I was just along for the ride.
There are two ways of travel between Fira and the port: the cable car or the zigzag-shaped footpath. We took the cable car since an one-way ticket was already included as part of our excursion tour. I would have loved to climb the footpath if it wasn't for the awful smell from the donkeys.
The Cable Car
The Footpath
Not many people braved the footpath and it's not hard to understand why. The smell aside, the donkeys also leaves little "surprises" along the path, or so I have been told.
A mystery door in the cliffside. Oooooh......
Could it be a portal to the enchanted land of Narnia?
Could it be a portal to the enchanted land of Narnia?
Just look at that water. So clear and inviting. Almost makes you want to just jump right in. Almost.
Bye for now, Santorini!
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