Greece Part 2 - Santorini and Akrotiri

Santorini at Dawn

We spent 3 nights in Santorini, 3 in Naxos and 3 in Athens.  If we hadn't have come in on such long flights 2 nights probably would have been enough for Santorini but I really wanted to ensure we saw Akrotiri and that involved a day trip which I didn't want to do on our first day on Santorini.  I was up at the ass-crack of dawn the first few mornings getting adjusted to the time change and the island was equally beautiful at that time.

Fish Vendors on Side of the Road

Even though Santorini is very touristy regular life still happens as we saw at this busy roadside vegetable and fish stand.  This was right in Fira right in the most touristy part!

Vegetables for Sale on Side of the Road

Santorini is all about the views although there are some areas of the island that are Agean sea level versus up on the cliff. The area we were staying was all views.  This photo below was taken on the upper floor of a restaurant.  That window was wide open and Santorini is known for it's wind which frankly makes it bearable year round.  That is why I had suck a funky hairdo, wind assisted.  Yes, we tried out the beers of Greece as well as wine.  Our definite favorite is FIX which is one of the oldest and national beers.

Windy but amazing view!

Part of the reason I loved where we stayed was the fabulous view of the rock formation below which is known as Skaros rock.  You can actually climb up to the top if you are so inclined and have the right footwear.

View out of the restaurant - Skaros Rock

Fira

Before our tour to Akrotiri we wanted to visit the Arcaheological museum where some of the pieces of pottery found are housed.  It is two large rooms, costs 2 Euros and takes about 10 minutes to go through but worth it if you intend on visiting Akrotiri.  Akrotiri is an active archaeological site and the finds are removed as found so that they can be preserved rather than deteriorate.  Most of the frescoes found at Akrotiri are housed in the Athens Archaeological Museum.

Archeological Museum in Fira housing items from Akrotiri

After doing extensive research on getting to Akrotiri rather than taking public buses and hoping a guide would be available to show us the site we decided to do a tour of the southern part of Santorini that included a professional guide at the site.  I am glad that we did.  We ended up seeing so much more of Santorini.  Below is the ancient town of Megalochori.  Very pretty, and only motorbikes can drive through as the streets were not made for cars.  Fortunately you can park at one end and walk through the small town in about 10 minutes.

Ancient town of Megalochori

For us though the highlight of the day was Akrotiri which is the excavation of an ancient site that due to a large number of earthquakes the people of Akrotiri abandoned their city and then it was buried due in Volcanic ash which has preserved it.  In order to preserve the site a roof has been constructed over the digs.  I can't recall the exact number but less than 10% of the entire site has been uncovered.  Progress has been slowed however due to the poor Greek economy and lack of funds to further investigate.  Some say Akrotiri is the Atlantis that Plato wrote about.  The people of Akrotiri were never mentioned again in history so most historians feel they were likely wiped out by a Tsunami while waiting for ships to take them away to Crete.  More info on Akrotiri here.  I do not recommend touring the site without a proper guide.  Cost to enter the site is 12 Euros each then you hire a guide although when we went I did not see any guides available for hire.  I am glad we took the full day tour to ensure that we had the history properly explained to us.

Excavations of Akrotiri

Staircase showing damage from the earthquakes

After Akrotiri we spent 2 hours at the black volcanic sand beach of Perissa. Many beach goers here as well as sea side tavernas.  We had an incredible lunch of Greek Salad, bread, tzatziki (had to have bread with it, so yummy) and Fix beers.  We waded in the sand here but did not go swimming.  I picked up a black sand pebble for my collection.  I do have to say that the beaches in Naxos were much nicer though.

Perissa beach - black Volcanic Sand

Seriously this was the best salad we have ever eaten.  They called it a Santorini salad which only differed from the regular Greek salad in that it had grape leaves and capers.  The sweetest cherry tomatoes grow on Santorini and gave it so much flavor.  I forgot to take a picture until after I started in but you get the idea.

The best salad we have ever eaten - Santorini Salad

And lastly, one of our three Santorini sunsets.  We experienced a few clouds and this provided the most spectacular one of the three - this shot was taken again from our balcony.  In the middle of our last night we were awoken by a massive thunder/lightening storm which was spectacular over the Caldera.  Apparently it only rains 60 days a year there and we were there for one of them.  By morning though the sky was clear again.

 We paid about $250 Canadian a night for this family owned guest house(Smaro Studios-Andreas suite-booked 6 months in advance)which is cheap for Caldera view  as many run in the $400-$1000 night range.  On the other side of the island at Perissa you can easily find hotels for less than $100 a night but they don't have this view so a definite splurge for us and one I don't regret.  Up next was our ferry ride to Naxos!

Santorini Sunset