It’s been many decades since I first visited the gorgeous Greek islands, so I’m happy to start this visit to Greece with the stunning island of Santorini, a major tourist destination, despite its tiny size, because of its extraordinary beauty. We're on the first stop of a driving trip to the Greek islands of Santorini and Rhodes and around Albania, ending with a couple of days in Istanbul.
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| Greek Orthodox church on mountaintop |
Our hotel, along with dozens of others, clings to the rocky spine of Santorini, high above the caldera that demonstrates the origins of these islands. We’re staying at the Anastasias Apartments, charming, brilliantly white suites, overlooking the deep blue water that fills the volcanic crater forming the west side of Santorini. Tonight, tired out from our long trip yesterday, we enjoyed wine on the terrace as the sun set over the islands and an excellent dinner of fresh fish and grilled vegetables.
Yesterday, we flew non-stop from Denver to London,
connecting to Athens for a late evening arrival. The Sofitel at the Athens airport is right
across the street from the terminal, so a perfect place to stay when you arrive
late and leave early the next morning, as we did for Santorini.
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| islands in Santorini's caldera |
The villages on the island are picture book white with bright blue domes on the churches and blue trim on some of the buildings. You land at the island’s airport, built on a shelf of land on the east side of the island. Jutting above the plain is a rugged ridge of mountains, low by Colorado standards, but steep, rocky and jagged. Tomorrow, we’ll hike from our village, Imerovigli, to Oia at the northwest tip of Santorini. Because the island is so small, we’ll be able to see all the rest of the island in a driving trip tomorrow afternoon.
Santorini has a couple of fishing villages on its rocky coast and hosts numerous cruise ships during its tourism season. But, it doesn’t have broad beaches or a big port. Vineyards and wineries fill out the economy though tourism is clearly the big economic driver here. We rented a car at the airport, which was jammed with tourists despite being late in the season. It took over an hour waiting in line to get our car, particularly since the agent and his clients were having an annoyingly chatty day.
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| view of sunset from Santorini |
Santorini is known for its sunsets, though tonight’s was muted because of low clouds. We’ll be here 2 days before moving on to the much larger island of Rhodes, with its old city of Rodos and its Greek ruins at Lindos.
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| nice ending to the day |
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