Photogenic

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Geo: 36.47, 25.37

There's no denying the beauty of Santorini - it's painfully obvious to anybody walking through the streets of Oia, the island's iconic town that is featured in countless postcards sold at shops throughout the island. It's one of the most photogenic places in the World, making the most amateur of photographers feel like a pro, as it's difficult not to take a postcard-quality picture.

Santorini is the Greece that tourists come to see, because all those beautiful images they have seen on TV or in brochures are of this island, and it's those images that they associate with this country. Breathtaking, spectacular, stunning ... you can quickly run out of words to describe this country, with its vistas leaving you speechless. It's clear why scores of tourists dream of visiting a place like this - visually, there aren't that many locations in the World that can compare with Santorini.

However, something is strangely lacking here - for all its beauty, Santorini simply doesn't feel authentic, but manufactured and a bit Disney, and at times, the crush of tourists makes you want to scream. It's a shame to say this, but Santorini is a bit soulless; it's like a beautiful box that is enjoyable to look at, but is found to be completely empty once you open it up and look inside. It's that place that you travel great distances to simply look at, but not to experience.

In a way, it seems that you can enjoy Santorini as much by logging on to your laptop at home and Googling a bunch of images. The Greece we have traveled great distances to see doesn't seem to exist here in Santorini; despite also being very touristy, we already found that in Delphi and Meteora. But rather than contemplate this trivial matter, we did what all the other tourists in town do - giddily snap pictures of the beautiful whitewashed houses, and have another delicious meal and yet another drink, at yet another beautiful little cafe overlooking Santorini's beautiful caldera ... with big smiles on our faces ...

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Photos

Beautiful Oia ...
... it's the town where all those postcards of Santorini are taken.

Sunset at Ammoudi ...
... the little port far below Oia, approximately 300 steps down through piles of shit left behind by donkeys that carry tourists up and down to the port.

Funny ...
... Oia's population swells by thousands who flock here for sunset, and walking through the best viewpoints was madness, absolutely packed with people. The funny thing is that the sunset over the sea isn't any more beautiful than one you'd see anywhere else in the World. The unique and beautiful part of sunset in Santorini is the warm, rich hues that are lent to the whitewashed houses at this time - of course, nobody there viewing the sunset really realizes that they should be gazing back at themselves, as they are too busy gazing out at the water.

Fava Bean Puree ...
... a bit like a creamier hummus, Greeks seem to love the stuff as it's commonly found on menus here. This fancy version was delicious, especially with the tender little pearl onions. The only complaint? They don't usually serve it with crackers, beyond the single one sticking straight out of the puree.

Smoked Eel Salad ...
... the menu at Floga was far from traditional, though for the most part it did take advantage of the great local food products. The eel was good, though a few more pieces of it would have been nice.

Prosciutto and Cheese Balls ...
... another delicious and interesting salad. Perhaps there were too many cheese balls which, though good, were a bit too rich after a while. The sun-dried tomatoes and pine nuts were nice touches.

Taverna Katina ...
... good calamari, but tougher and not as crisp as what we had a few days earlier in Agios Konstantinos.

Grilled Seabass ...
... for an extremely touristy town, there definitely are some good restaurants here. Though pricey, this fish was perfectly cooked.

Lolita's ...
... for some pretty good gelato - the pistachio was awesome, and the baklava tasted just like its namesake pastry, though it wasn't as sweet, nor did it have the crunch of phyllo pastry.