We arrived to the port at 2:30 am both feeling a bit tired and dragged out. Of course we had not had any sleep on the ferry (imagine trying to sleep on the seats on a ship with BC Ferries) and we were a bit concerned about where to find a place to sleep at this time of day. We did not need to worry at all. As we got off the ship and started to walk to the entrance we were met with a row of hotel owners all vying for hotel customers. It was like a receiving line. We had been told this was to be the case but we never would have believed it if we had not seen it.
Now to decide which of the 30 plus options interested us. The first one we talked to offered us a room for 40 Euro a night plus 7 Euro each for breakfast. I said I would think about it and started off to speak to another one when he changed his offer to 45 Euro for both of us and breakfast for both too. We looked at the pictures of his hotel and since it was right in town of Fira plus he offered to drive us to the hotel and back to the port when we left, we agreed. The hotel is beautiful. It is about 3 minutes from the main square and is on a quiet street. We have a second floor room with a sitting balcony overlooking the courtyard. Although there is a pool, it is not the season for a pool or swimming since the weather here is warm during the day but chilly at night. We are told this is winter season.
Santorini, officially Thera is a volcanic island located in the southern Aegean Sea, about 200 km (120 mi) southeast from Greece's mainland. It is the largest island of a small, circular archipelago which bears the same name. It forms the southernmost member of the Cyclades group of islands, with an area of approximately (28 sq mi) and a 2001 census population of 13,670. It is composed of the Municipality of Thira and the Community of Oía. Santorini is essentially what remains of an enormous volcanic explosion, destroying the earliest settlements on what was formerly a single island, and leading to the creation of the current geological caldera.
A giant central lagoon, more or less rectangular, is surrounded by 300 m high steep cliffs on three sides. The island slopes downward from the cliffs to the surrounding Aegean Sea. On the fourth side, the lagoon is separated from the sea by another much smaller island called Therasia; the lagoon merges with the sea in two places, in the northwest and southwest. The water in the centre of the lagoon is nearly 400 m deep, thus making it a safe harbour for all kinds of shipping. The island's harbours all lie in the lagoon and there are no ports on the outer perimeter of the island; the capital, Fira, clings to the top of the cliff looking down on the lagoon. The volcanic rocks present from the prior eruptions feature olivine and have a notably small presence of hornblende.
It is the most active volcanic centre in the South Aegean Volcanic Arc, though what remains today is chiefly a water-filled caldera. The volcanic arc is approximately 500 km long and 20–40 km wide.
We both felt that we would be very tired but still got up at 8:30 for breakfast thinking that we would return to bed afterwards. Five hours sleep is not much but we were surprised to feel not too bad so decided to explore a bit by walking up the hill to the town square. We wanted to find out about some of the tours available to explore the island and surroundings. The town square seemed deserted and it was a bit early (10:00) so we walked over to the cliff overlooking the caldera.
Before I talk about the views over the caldera I want to mention the incredible beauty of the town with the clean and bright houses. Houses seem to be built on small lots and often are two plus stories high. Most have flat roofs and the roofs also are patios. The houses tend to all be white stucco with bright blue trim and adobe looking. There are some with courtyards but no lawns or gardens that we could see.
The streets are all paved or cobblestoned. They are very narrow – often the width of a car only. There are narrow streets for cars and bikes to travel on, but once you reach the town square all the streets off of it are way to narrow for cars (maybe 20 feet at most) and these narrow lanes have buildings on both sides giving a feeling that you are walking through tunnels. There does not seem to be any level places since the walks have steps up or down every 3 or 4 feet.
I have to say that the views of the city, streets and caldera are exactly as I would have seen in pictures and we know that pictures often only show a few excellent views, but so far we have seen almost everywhere showing these types of clean, fresh and beautiful views.
We got to the cliff so we could oversee the caldera which is about 300 m above the water to simply gasp at the beauty. Unfortunately there is a haze over the ocean in the distance so it is not crystal clear but we could not stop commenting on the beauty. In the distance on the Thirasia Island we can see the other community but will not likely have time to get to the island to explore there on this trip. We are only here until Sunday.
We decided to walk down to the old port which involves walking down the switchback pathway (remember about 300 m) with 588 steps. We had the option of taking the cable car down, riding on the donkeys standing at the top or using our own feet. The cheapest mode was our feet and we are not concerned about a mere 300 m switch backed downhill path with 588 step built into it, so that was our choice. The official port was moved to a new location further along since that part of the cliff could have a road built down – even though it is a steady slope with multiple sharp switchbacks. At any rate the old port is still used for the tourist and tour boats to and from the other islands.
After we walked around down at the port we decided to wander slowly back up the cliff face to the town square. We knew that we wanted to take a day tour tomorrow to see Volcano Island and the Hot springs area. We were shocked to see the town square literally packed with people, where did they all come from? At any rate we located the tourist office to buy tickets for tomorrow and learned that today is a Greek national holiday. March 25 is actually a dual holiday: 1. Anniversary of the declaration of the start of Greek War of Independence from the Ottoman Empire, in 1821. 2. Celebration of the Annunciation - when the birth of Christ was announced to the Virgin Mary. Included in this is a parade which was to start in about 20 minutes (actually was about one hour but this is Greece). The parade would involve the school kids, a marching band and Greek dancers. The following pictures are from the parade and we did note that kids are kids everywhere in the world. It was a delight to luck out and be here at this time for the parade.
After the parade we headed over to a really nice place for lunch and ate on an open air patio. I was comfortable but Wes did feel a bit chilled. It was just at that temperature where you feel comfortable unless the sun ducks behind a cloud and then you feel the chill in the air. No matter lunch was great and we enjoyed the hospitality. As we were getting up to leave our waiter insisted we wait for a minute and he brought us both a shot of Sambuka complimentary which of course means we will likely eat there again.
We both were ready for a nap by this time so we headed back to the room for a laydown. We woke around 5:30 and knew that we needed to get moving if we were going to sleep tonight. After wandering around town and finding dinner we decided it would be fun to take a walk and explore more of the old part of the city. We were trying to find the stars and finally found a few but may need some time with the computer to sort out what we were seeing.
Today has been a great day of exploration, beauty and celebrations. Tomorrow will be a new day as we look forward to a half day tour to Volcano Island and the hot springs.
Some videos of Greek dances at the parade.
No comments:
Post a Comment