Santorini
And with that, we’re off to Greece! When we were planning
this trip, we kept saying “I hope we have time for Greece.” At some point in
our travels, we realized that if we hoped so much, we better just make sure we
get here. Traveling to the Grecian Islands was highly recommended by Aunt Lorelle
when Nolan asked her where we should go.
Since then, we’ve heard several more people talk about how wonderful it
is on the islands. And here we are!
It’s still very sunny here in October, but there are fewer
tourists on the island since it’s past the summer season. This is a good thing, since Santorini is one
of the most popular islands. A taxi
driver told us that in August there are planes constantly flying in, and the
roads are filled with traffic at all times of day. Now is much more reasonable, still lots of
tourists, but no traffic, and only the occasional sound of a plane arriving or
departing.
Santorini is spectacular.
This is the most beautiful place we’ve been (in terms of natural beauty)
since Norway and Iceland. On our first day
here, we walked over to Fira (the main touristy town) and immediately understood
all the fuss about Santorini.
Look at that view.
There are hundreds of hotels built into the cliff walls with swimming pools
and outdoor lounges all taking advantage of that view.
We decided to hike from our hotel in Karterados to Oia. The walk is about 13km and included constant spectacular
views of Santorini’s cliffs, and the ocean far below.
We made a detour out to Skaros Rock, a small peninsula that
gave us 270°
views of the brilliantly blue ocean. It
was a lot of steps down, but surprisingly felt like a lot fewer on the way back
up.
A lot of the hike was right next to different hotels and places
for tourists to stay. Pretty much every building on Santorini is whitewashed. Even though it’s not pure natural beauty, the
hotels built into the cliffs have their own charm. The perfectly painted white buildings and
very blue swimming pools matching the sea complement and enhance the island’s
natural beauty.
In Oia, sunsets are a BIG deal. We timed our hike to get there with plenty of
time to watch. First, we found a table
and enjoyed a milkshake in a café with a gorgeous view.
As the sun was about to set we joined the
crowds on the hillside. That’s right, crowds. In Oia, every night everyone
comes out to watch the sunset. Luckily
we’re traveling after the end of the usual tourist season, so it was pretty easy
for us to find a nice spot. Once the sun
dips below the horizon, everyone starts clapping and cheering. According to tradition, the clapping shows
appreciation and the hope for an encore :).
It was fun to clap and cheer along. Oh yeah, and meanwhile, about every five
minutes, five or so donkeys climbing the stairs pass by!
Our hotel on Santorini wasn’t in one of the main tourist
towns with views of the cliffs, but it turned out to be in a great location for
another reason. It was just a short walk away from Erotokritos bakery, the best
bakery on the island.
Every day we went there to get some coffee and breakfast.
Pretty much everything we bought from there was great. On the first day, we got
an eggplant, tomato, cheese sandwich that was absolutely fantastic. The next
day, I [N] just wanted to get two of them since it was so good. Instead we got
a different cucumber sandwich that was also good, but didn’t come close to the “eggplant
sammy” (so named by Nolan). On our last
day here, Monisha caved and we feasted on a delicious breakfast of two entire
eggplant sammies.
On one day we took a bus over to Perissa, one of the beach towns on the island. Beaches here are almost all black sand. We bought some rose at a cafe and lay down on beach chairs they provided to relax and read.
More food!
One day, we went to a restaurant with a gorgeous view of the
non caldera side of the island. It was pretty far away from most of the hubbub
of the island, but the restaurant is considered the best on the island. They
started us off with raki (Greek hard alcohol), olives, cheese, and little toasts.
We ordered a baked cheese with a fried outer covering and some sort of jam…Not
actually sure exactly what any part of that (the kind of cheese, fried outside,
kind of jam) was :) Then we had steak and a pork dish which was special because
of the sauce. I [M] am pretty confident it’s the same sauce as the one in the
Greek Lemon Chicken and Pasta dish Adrienne’s parents Lori and Dave make…i.e. totally
amazing. They brought us a house dessert, which was a Greek cheesecake with jam
on top. Very different from American cheesecake – lighter.
Souvlaki and gyro pitas. Damn good.
Moussaka. I [M] have called moussaka one of my favorite dishes for
awhile. But the only one I’ve eaten is the moussaka my dad makes. His is what made me fall in love with it. I’ve been looking forward to
having it in Greece someday for years. But honestly…the one my dad makes is better
than this one! I think I should give it another chance at another place in
Greece. But I don’t know…I didn't realize that traditionally it has potatoes, which my dad doesn’t use when
he makes it. Both of us think the potatoes detract. Anyway, yummy, but dad’s definitely wins so far!
Pork and bell
peppers. The peppers were really the highlight. This was one of the first things we ate in Greece, and had a very "yep, I'm going to like it here" effect.
Baked cheese in phyllo with honey and sesame on top, tatskiki,
eggplant with balsamic and topped with red onions. Eggplant dish added to the
Make For Box list.
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