eGlobal Education

 

Thirasia and Oia from our terrace

After breakfast on our terrace overlooking Thirasia, the island that forms the outer rim of Santorini’s caldera, we walked to Oia, another brilliant white and blue town on the far northwest tip of Santorini.  The hike is only about 4 miles along a well-traveled path, but has a couple of good climbs and 2 charming Greek Orthodox churches along the way. 

Greek Orthodox church along path to Oia

Oia is a very busy tourist town, full of shops where you can buy everything from flowing dresses to bling and souvenirs you’ll wonder why you bought once you get them home.   Most of the restaurants serve basically the same menu, Greek appetizers, generally fried, pasta and fresh fish.  We chose one with a shaded terrace and a gorgeous view of Oia as we looked back towards the curve of Santorini.

Later, we drove to the farthest southwest end of the island.  Roads are in poor condition, with lots of traffic, so, though Santorini is very small, it can take quite a while to move from place to place.  We’d planned to stop at the hilltop town of Pyrgos, but traffic deterred us since its streets are old and narrow.  Even our little car takes up more room than the smaller alleyways provide.

small shrine on path to Oia

The area around Pyrgos is full of vineyards, very different from what we’re used to.  Instead of having vines trained along wires in rows, these vines are low and more like bushes, perhaps to protect them from the powerful winds and salt air.  The vineyards are very small, only an acre or two, so the grapes are picked by hand.  There are some wineries here that produce good wine.

Greece’s economic shambles have not passed Santorini by.  There are many buildings that have been started and abandoned or completed and closed.  The area on the north end of Santorini seems much more prosperous than the southern half, with lots of high end hotels overlooking the caldera.  Tourist shops and restaurants are also more posh and expensive.  The farther south you drive, the less luxurious the homes and accommodations become.  It looks like the “spending” tourists stay north in Imerovigli and Oia because the towns and shops farther south are more careworn, as if Greece’s economic collapse of the past 15 years continues to plague them.  We saw a few new hotels under construction in the south, but some clearly are awaiting more investment. 

view of Oia 

We’ve talked to some of the people who work here about the economy.  It’s still very bad.  Santorini has its tourists back, but this is an 8 month economy, so all the hospitality workers have to find other jobs during the off season.  That drives many of them out of the country for 4 to 6 months a year because jobs are scarce in Greece.

Almost all of the tourists we’ve encountered on our walks are Americans.  Since Greece is a euro-zone country, and the dollar is so strong right now, it’s a good time for Americans to travel here.  I wonder if that will continue into next year as the US economy weakens.  If not, Santorini and countries like Greece will be suffering.