The Traveling Martens

First day in Santorini (aka Atlantis)

First, words can't describe the beauty and uniqueness of this island. The islands here were created over thousands of years from a giant volcano. The main eruption was one of the largest eruptions in the past several thousand years. After the explosion, most of the volcano sunk into the middle, leaving a circle of islands around the perimeter and a still active volcanic island in the middle. Some believe this is the lost island of Atlantis and there are ongoing excavations of ancient civilizations in sites around the island. Santorini is the largest of the islands, forming a crescent-shaped half moon around the center volcano. The edge of Santorini facing toward the center is a sheer face of cliffs hundreds of feet high. There are no high-rises on the island, just the bright white stucco homes with blue roofs hanging on the edge of the cliff. There are a maze of stone and marble walkways between the homes and shops and you walk through the buildings and suddenly come out to one of many cafes with a terrace overlooking the water far below. You can wander up and down, as the buildings are stacked on top of each other, everyone with incredible views.

Our first afternoon, we walked through the little stores selling jewelry, paintings, and books. We ate gyros for lunch on a rooftop terrace with views of the sea on both sides of the island. We then walked along the edge of the cliffs further away from the main city. Many of the buildings here are actual Greek residences with a few cafes and small apartments mixed in. Some of the bed and breakfast places have tiny swimming pools hanging on the edge. We found a rooftop lounge painted a bright red on the outside and playing lounge music. Walking up the steps, the terrace had slats of wood above keeping off some of the bright sun and was completely open on three sides. There was room for just half a dozen big square tables built in front of concrete benches covered in fluffy, brightly colored pillows. We had the whole place to ourself, kicked off our shoes, and lounged across the pillows, amazed at the view in front and to our sides. We got a bottle of Greek wine and pistachios and found heaven. We made fast friends with our waiter, Margelis, who brought shots of ouzo to our table and insisted we join him, teaching us the Greek toast "yamas". After the toast, we tap the drink on the table, doing a second toast to friends not with us. We like that Greek tradition and think we'll always continue it.

Late afternoon, we walked around the island more and took a quick shower at our hotel, before heading back to the same rooftop lounge for dinner and more Greek wine. We had a great Greek dish (we forget the name), but it was like a stew with pork, multi-colored peppers, and onions in a wine and feta sauce. We also had baked feta for appetizer, just a chuck of feta with olive oil, garlic and peppers thrown into some tin foil and baked on the grill- yum, we are definitely re-creating these dishes at home! During dinner we got to watch the sunset from the lounge and saw the lights of Fira town slowly start to glow below us.

posted by Mel and Stacy Marten @ 6:39 AM