View of Fira |
My kids at school love this book character |
Santorini
has a really interesting approach. It is a ring island created and developed by
numerous volcanic activity throughout its history. What is left is a large
opening for ships to come in to tall, tall sheer cliffs. There's a tiny landing
area that accommodates moderate sized boats and the ferries. It is totally
packed with cars, buses, and, of course, a handful of tourist shops. We were
again picked up by our driver and taken to the top, traveling in a long parade
winding its way up to the top of the cliffs. We wove our way through a high
plateau type area to the other side of the island where our hotel was. We
didn't have the ocean view but did end up in a room with a small sitting area,
fresh breezes and sunshine. We were near the beach and headed down to the ocean
to walk along the boardwalk, check out e stores and dine on the water.
Delicious.
Now, if
you happened to be from one of the cruise ships, there was another small
landing area setup to accommodate the traveler, connected to the top of the
hill via a funicular. One look at the line and I was glad we didn't have to use
it...at the top the people waiting to go down numbered in the hundreds. Of
course, there was a way to walk up...
The
next morning found us at the top of the hill outside our hotel, site of an
ancient city, perched strategically to watch for invaders to protect itself.
Despite being on top of the hill, they found ways to bring up enough water to
sustain some agriculture and a population that survived for over 800 years.
We
headed from there to the tourist town of Fira, site of the mandatory spendy restaurants
and lots of shops to buy local goods. They did have some gorgeous pottery and
beautiful jewelry. Our goal, however, was to hike from there across the
mountains to the city of Oios where we could sit at the edge of the world to
watch the sunset.
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