Santorini, Here I Come!

                                                               

A small but beautiful island lying in the southern Aegean sea, some 200 kms southeast of Greece mainland, is Santorini, a member of Cyclades group of islands. My friend and me after landing in Athens on the eventful day of 14th September 2017, went exploring the island. 

The cruise, Champion Jet 1, in which we traveled had many sections, including platinum class, club class and of course the economy class. There were restaurants inside the cruise, which served lovely food and snacks and drinks, that people of all classes enjoyed gorging themselves with these fare. The cruise left at 7 am on 15th September and after five hours of flawless journey reached Fira, capital of Santorini, and was docked at its principal port Athinios.

The Ship 'Champion Jet 1' in which we traveled, 

docked at Athinios port in Fera.

On the way it stopped at islands Mykonos and Naxos and gathered many more tourists into its belly. The cruise was so big it could accommodate 950 people and many cars and twowheelers.   

Interior seating of the cruise

Sunrise over the sea waters, captured from                                                   inside the cruise

A small vessel sailing by in the quiet Aegean                         waters

We booked ourselves into the hotel Astir Thira on arrival and immediately after lunch I got out to go and visit Akrotiri, situated at the south end of Santorini, where ruins of old Minoan civilization have been dug up by the archaeologists. Minoan civilization flourished some 3600 years ago, and was destroyed in a volcanic eruption that flattened the town around 1645-1600 BC. The tsunami waves raised during this quake were so huge that these reached the nearby island Crete and destroyed the Minoan civilization totally. Remains of this once great civilization have been unearthed, showing houses three storied high and walls painted with frescoes with their colors intact. 

                                                                                 

                                                                                  Hotel Astir Thira, Fira, where we stayed 

A Greek Orthodox church 

The island is full of Greek Orthodox churches and just one Catholic church. Typically these churches have a dome with a cross, the dome characteristically painted turquoise blue, which literally gleam in the sun. Some 352 such churches are found all over Santorini. The name itself seems to have derived from St. Irene, the patron saint of the island. 

View from the Hotel of the volcanic rocks and a ship 

                                                                                

  Taxi motorbike common on the streets of Fira

                                                                                        

Tourism is the main stay of the island, along with some agriculture and wine-making. The population of Santorini is only 15,550 as per 2011 census, but it looked as if the tourists outnumbered the locals! Many work in the island for seven months, when tourism is on and then go back to their homes in Athens or elsewhere during the off-season. 

On return from the Red beach of Acrotiri, we embarked a bus to the village Oia, pronounced amusingly as Eeyaa, which lies on the northern tip of the island. This is the oldest settlement on the island, full of beautiful houses, white washed and borders painted with turquoise blue and churches gleaming with turquoise blue domes. The narrow village streets are maneuvered with donkeys, which are used as transportation and also for carrying goods. 

 The red volcanic rocks and the Red beach of
 Acrotiri














Terrace restaurant at Oia

We went up the terrace of a house, which doubled up as a restaurant, had for our supper, the fabulous Greek food of five dips, sipping our drinks, soft drinks strictly, as the sun went down slowly bathing the whole sky, including the buildings and the church, a beautiful red. 

                                                                                          Church in Oia, bathed in the setting sun.

Pleasantly tired and satisfied in having seen this beautiful island Santorini, we returned to our room, thanking God for this great opportunity to see such serene places and slept off to start another adventure the next day.

If you liked this account, do wait for the next installment!