The land of yogurt and honey

As I'm writing this post I'm sitting in our little room facing out to the patio overlooking a gorgeous sunset over the Aegean Sea. It's okay to drool; it's just as delicious as it sounds. Again we are both struck with what an extraordinary privilege it is to travel.

Oia, Santorini

 From Naxos, we headed south by a 3 hour ferry ride to the island of Santorini. For those Oregonians familiar, imagine Crater Lake sliced in half and placed in between the Sea of Crete and the Aegean Sea and you can begin to understand the beauty of Santorini. This ancient volcanic land was once home to the Minoans, who primarily lived on the island of Crete. It is hypothesized that large volcanic activity around 1500 BC on Santorini may have led to a tidal wave that contributed to the end of the Minoan civilization. While there are still some ancient remains, it is clear why civilizations have been drawn to this island throughout the centuries.

our first sunset in santorini

Upon arrival, our host, Kostas, greeted us at the ferry dock and swept us up the hill, around a few curves and into the town of Oia (pronounced EE-ah), which is at the most northerly end of the island. We got a few moments to rest before we headed into the town to catch the sunset from a rooftop restaurant. Oia is the quintessential Grecian town with pure white walls and brilliantly blue rooftops. While it has some Disneyland-like feelings, with the amount of tourists that abound, we have some sanctuary in our hotel about a 10 minute walk from the center, which still boast spectacular sunset views. Jon told me that we was overwhelmed with the cuteness of it all, perhaps there can be too much of a good thing.

Jon testing out the Bouzouki

Cliffside town of Thira

 
This morning, though we considered renting the all too popular ATV, we opted for a smart car to see the island (Mom, no need to fret). We wandered the streets of Thira, came close the remnants of the ancient Minoan town of Akrotiri ( the museum was closed due to a law suit), visited red sand beaches and found a resting place on the black sand beach of Vlichada amidst the moonscaped rocks in the background.

Vlichada beach

 
This evening, we made our best version of Greek food, relaxed and absorbed one more ridiculously beautiful sunset. Tomorrow morning we head back on a high speed ferry to the city of Athens. It will be difficult to pull ourselves away from the chill Greek island life. But I don't think the Greek islands have seen the last of Jon and Margot.