Irony

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Geo: 36.3477, 25.396

The downside to Oia's beautifully whitewashed houses - they reflect sun and heat like you wouldn't believe, making you feel like a chicken in a rotisserie as you stroll through its streets! Not only is the heat bad, but there is almost no air flow through certain narrow sections of the Old Town, compounding the problem. Though we had planned to take an early stroll through the Old Town for some pictures in the morning light, even by 11:00 AM the heat was becoming oppressive, cutting short our photo safari.

Of course, Santorini offers a multitude of beaches where you can escape the heat, which was our plan for the rest of the day. However, we've learned that being a volcanic island, Santorini's beaches aren't the most beautiful, with most being dark pebbly sand. People may come from all over the World to see the island's beautiful whitewashed houses, but they definitely don't travel here looking for picturesque beaches.

Still, even if the beaches here aren't the most beautiful, what better way is there to cool off, than a refreshing dip in the Aegean? We couldn't wait to get into the water after a hot morning of sightseeing in Oia, a long drive out to the Akrotiri Peninsula, and a short but hot hike over some rocks to Red Beach. There is nothing better than taking a dip in the ocean on a hot day ... until I reached down into my pocket and realized I forgot to take my phone out!

Perhaps the hot Santorini sun had fried my brain, or all the recent eating meant that all the blood had drained from my brain to my stomach ... it really didn't matter in the end, because the final result was the same - my phone was out of commission! So the final phase of our sightseeing today was the ultimate ironic activity for a Chinese guy - buying rice in Greece, not to eat it, but to use it to dry out and hopefully save the phone!

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Photos

High End ...
... this path led to some surely high-end and expensive accommodations overlooking the sea.

Red Beach ...
... cool in a way, but disappointing - it's more of a novelty, because volcanic sand beaches are generally rough, and the dark red sand makes the water less than sparkling.

Finally ...
... overall, the baklava in Greece so far has been disappointing, until today - this place had some unique varieties, which included the light-coloured tubular version that is specked with bits of chocolate.

Appy Platter at Bella Thira ...
... smartening up slightly and realizing that we can't be having an appy and an entree each for dinner every night when we're consuming multiple pieces of baklava daily, tonight we decided to share an appy, salad, and an entree. However ... the appy platter ended up being much bigger than expected, and included fried zucchini and eggplant with an incredibly light and crisp batter, roasted pepper, dolmades (yech), tzatziki, taramasalata (Greek fish roe salad, almost like a delicious savoury mayonnaise), fried cheese, and some type of cheese fritter.

Another Fine Greek Salad ...
... the capers on top of the feta were a neat addition, adding a bit of a local flair to the dish, as these islands are known for their capers.

Seafood Skewer ...
.. about the only thing not good here was the mushy shrimp, because the grilled calamari was pretty fine, and the swordfish spectacularly juicy and tender. The potato wedges were crispy on the outside, and moist and creamy on the inside, almost like mashed potatoes that had been encased in a crisp exterior.