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31 May 2009
I’m going to have to get more imaginative than just Wow. How about Holy Cow…
Santorini is one of those places that you see incredible pictures of in brochures and on postcards. Surprisingly enough, it’s all there for you to photograph too. It’s Greece’s answer to Positano in Italy. Whitewashed buildings all perched precariously on top of one another, only these ones are doing it perched 100+ metres above the water on the edge of a volcano crater.
The old port is located below the main town of Fira, and there are three ways to get up to the top: take a cablecar, walk 500+ steps, or let a donkey do the walking for you. Nowadays a new port has been built about 10 km away, and there is a fleet of buses and hotel vehicles waiting to pick you up from the ferry, who then all climb a switch-back road back up to the top and onto their destinations.
The pension I booked into was located about 1km south of Fira, and was run by a couple who went out of their way to be helpful and friendly. The room
was spotless, and there was a great little pool outside, although I never actually got around to using it.
I spent the first afternoon walking into Fira, and then onto Firostefani, located a few km north, all the way along the caldera and all uphill, taking in the view and taking lots of pictures. By about 4 o’clock I’d had enough, and sweated enough, so I waited for the bus which took me the 10kms to Oia, which is the village at the north end of the island. Everyone gathers there to watch the sunsets, and I was one of the thousand or so people scattered around who wasn’t disappointed with the show.
On the bus back to Fira, I met a group of people who were on the Busabout tour that I was going to book. I ended up going to a bar with them and having a few drinks, so that was a great way to end the night, or more correctly, begin the morning…
I spent half of Friday in bed, recovering from the early start in Athens the day before, and the late night at the bar. I was then
on a mission. I’d taken a photo of the blue domed churches that I’d liked, but I knew I could do better. Indeed, I’d seen a postcard of what I thought was the same scene, so I had to find the spot again so I could retake the picture. I ended up walking all the way to Firostefani again, only to realize that it wasn’t here, but all the way in Oia. It was still a stunning walk to do, and I was a little more relaxed about what I photographed along the way.
On Saturday I took a boat tour that cruised along the bottom of the Santorini caldera, and then out to the volcano islet in the middle. Once again, there was 1000 people all clambering up the hills and across to the two craters left from previous eruptions from the last 100 or so years. Apart from the great views in all directions, it wasn’t until you come across a steaming vent in the ground that stinks of sulphur dioxide that you actually stop and think about what exactly it is you’re standing on! We got back on the boat, and it took us around
to a small inlet. We were able to jump off the side here and go for a swim. Here we were in the middle of an ocean, but there were currents being heated to 28 degrees, courtesy of the volcano vents somewhere below. Quite bizarre.
Then we went across to a port on the island of Thirasia, which is a fairly sparsely populated fishing village. They have a few restaurants located down at the shoreline for the tourist boats, which was nice, but I elected to take a donkey ride up to the village (woohoo!) and see what I could photograph. As it turns out, I took some of my favourite pics up here in the short hour or so that I had, including the one of the man in the shop. All I wanted was a bottle of water, and this is what I got as a bonus.
The boat tour brought us back to Oia so that we could then see the sunset. I figured I’d walk up this hill this time. I now appreciate how hard the donkeys work! I was happy though, because I managed to find the blue-domed church that I
really wanted to photograph again, and I already know at least one of the pictures that will adorn my living room wall when I get home.
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liliram
liliram
Have yet to write my blog on Santorini!
Those photos are great. But you could have tried the octopus! Was in Santorini last March , but have yet to write down my blog. Thanks ..... i enjoyed your blog!