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Published: September 6th 2012
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Santorini Is a gorgeous island that was ranked
"World's Top Island for 2011" in
Travel & Leisure Magazine. It was also named
"The World's Best Island"by the BBC in 2011.
I am not sure what I was expecting when we arrived in Santorini, but it wasn't what I found. For some reason, I was expecting an island that was lush with vegetation, very busy with tourists, and not so isolated. I didn't find any of that upon arrival.
The island is 28 square miles in area. It is home to approximately 15,000 people.
Santorini was namedn in the thirteenth century, and is a reference to Saint Irene.
Laurie and I decided to book a half-day tour of
Panoramic Santorini... This would allow us to take in the sites of a couple of cities, Fira (the capial) and Oia (ee-uh), located in the north. This way we would see more than just the tourist shops in the market area of Fira.
We boarded the bus and started up the snake-like roads from the port to the top of the island. With no guard rails along the side of the road, people on the bus were getting
a little nervous. We thought it was pretty cool our driver, George, had obviously done the trip hundreds of times. He maneuvered the narrow roads and turns perfectly.
Our first stop was a monastery that was built centuries ago. There are monks still living there, but it is not open to the tourists. Apparently, they take their vow of silence seriously and we all know how quiet a couple of buses filled with tourists can be... Who can blame the monks for keeping their gates locked?
From our vantage point, we had a chance to see the south end of the island. I think what threw me was that of all the pictures I have seen of Santorini, there were whitewashed houses and buildings stacked upon one another with incredible views of the water. Here, we saw settlements spreads out from one another. The land seemed to be relatively barren and the fields far from what I was expecting.
Santorini was basically created by volcanic activity and as a result, it has no rivers, and water is scarce. Until the early 1990s locals filled water cisterns from the rain that fell, from small springs, and with imported
assistance from other areas of Greece. In recent years a desalination plant has provided running, yet non-potable, water to most houses. Since rain is rare on the island from mid-spring till mid-autumn, many plants depend on the early morning dew. We saw plenty of water trucks on the roads delivering to homes and businesses. We were told that they have the water shipped in.
Since there is very liitle rain and virtually no water, they crops they grow are minimal. They cultivate Santorini tomatoes (small sweet ones like cherry tomatoes), split peas, egg plants, cucumbers, figs, & grapes. Apparently, the grapes are quite sweet due to the amount of sun they get. The grapes also get enough water from the moisture of the sea. The figs grow there, but there is really no industry of fig farming. The trees are there and people just pick them and eat them.
From the monastery, we headed north to the city of Oia (Ee-uh). This was the Santorini that I had seen in pictures! Our guide told us that this city is where they take all the pictures for the post cards. The whitewashed, stacked homes, hugging the cliffs were all
here. Approximately 1,300 people live in in this gorgeous corner of the world.
Oia is where tourists and locals flock to everyday to take in the Santorini sunset at the old fort. Unfortunately, we weren't able to experience that, but it gives us a reason to go back... You don't need a very good reason to want to return to Oia... it is gorgeous.
We were also told that the locals are only allowed to paint their houses either white or other pastel colours that reflect the natural setting of the sea, cliffs, and skies. It is a law that is enforced.
Oia was featured in the 1982 movie
Summer Lovers. It also appeared in a few scenes of the movies,
Sisterhood Of The Traveling Pants (Parts I & II). Oia was also featured in the opening sequences of the film,
Laura Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life. The jet ski chase scenes were shot in and around Ammoudi, the old fishing port below Oia.
We has about 90 minutes to take in Oia before we had to head back to the bus. Laurie and I make quick work of the small footpaths and got
to the old fort. We also allowed ourselves to get lost in the maze of the paths. We shopped and took in the view before heading to the bus for our trip to Fira.
On the bus, we noticed many buildings that were half-finished with no one working on them. Our guide told us that Santorini relies so heavily on tourism that a law was passed, forbidding construction on the island from late May to September or October. They don't want the noise to bother the tourists. As a result, the locals work construction for 6 months and do something else for the other 6.
Pumice manufacturing used to be a major industry on Santorini. It was easy to produce, due to the volcanic rock. That is no longer the case. In 1986, they closed down the pumice quarries in order to preserve the caldera (the circular formation of the islands Santorini, Therasia, Aspronisi, and the Kameni Islands). It's nice to hear that someone has the foresight to preserve a sight like this instead of destroying it for the sake of a dollar.
We got to Fira and wandered the city streets that were filled with tourists.
She sat high on the cliffs in a greek restaurant and enjoyed chicken souvlaki for lunch before heading back to the ship.
When you look at the island of Santorini from the water, you will notice that the settlements are at the top of the volcanic formations. The reason is that the early residents built up high to avoid the pirates that patrolled the waters. Today, in order to get the tourists from sea level to the the top, they provide a cable car system as well as donkey rides up and down the 300 steps. We opted for the cable car.
Santorini is incredibly gorgeous... not completely what I was expecting, but unlike any place I have visited. I highly recommend it if you ever have the opportunity.
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