Santorini - Here We Go Again!

 

Kalispera! We're back! 

Leaving the island of Santorini three years ago we agreed that although we'd enjoyed our two-week trip, we were in no hurry to return. Although beautiful in parts, the island seemed to lack the soul of the many other places we'd visited in Greece over the past (almost) 40 years. However, with the lure of a cheap October last minute deal with Jet2 dangling in front of us, we decided to give the island another go.

As before, we stayed in Perissa (below), a relatively modern village on the southeastern coast of the island. We didn't love it the last time but knew it had a reliable bus service, a decent beach and was in walking distance from a couple of places we were keen to revisit. Our 3.5 hour flight from Birmingham landed at midday and an hour later we were sitting in the blazing sunshine in a beachfront taverna drinking ice cold Ezes. On the way back to our room we called into the village supermarket for a plastic bottle of village wine, fruit, Greek yoghurt, wildflower honey and bottled water (the tap water on Santorini isn't drinkable). 

After a siesta (we'd been up since 2am!) we sat on the balcony with a glass of village wine transfixed by the incredible skies.

The temperature plummeted once the sun had set and we were glad we'd bought jackets. 

We headed back out and stuffed our faces with delicious Greek food, gemista (stuffed vegetables) for me and grilled lamb chops for Jon, eating at Hellas, a traditional taverna on the main road, we'd loved back in 2023. We popped into Dorians, a popular bar around the corner from our rooms. We weren't mad about it three years ago and although it was a lot quieter and less hectic than it was three years previously, it was still a bit too "Brits Abroad" for our tastes. 

We'd both been studying the weather apps before we left and the forecast was looking good, with the exception of Saturday, which was to be our first full day. As expected, the morning kicked off with heavy rain so we ate breakfast in our room and waited for the sky to clear and, just as the BBC had predicted, by midday the showers had stopped, the skies were blue and we caught the bus to Fira, the island's capital. 

There's several bus stops in Perissa but we always head for the terminus outside the church at the end of the village, where you're guaranteed a seat. A ticket to Fira, a 40 minute journey, is 2.70€ each, paid in cash to the conductor. 

Our first stop was to revisit the incredible Museum of Prehistoric Thira, which contains the treasures unearthed during the continuing excavation of Akrotiri (which we also visited on our previous trip to Santorini).

The ancient city of Akrotiri was the only Minoan colony known to have existed outside of Crete. Often referred to as the Pompeii of the Aegean, the settlement was buried under a 2,000 foot layer of ash & pumice following the eruption of the Thira volcano triggered by the earthquake of 1700 BC and remained hidden for over 3,700 years.

Akrotiri began as a simple fishing and farming village growing olives and grains, but because it was positioned on the trade route between Europe and the Middle East, soon grew into a large & prosperous port city. The Minoans were an incredibly sophisticated people, living in two and three storey houses with balconies, underfloor heating, hot and cold running water and even flushing indoor toilets! What a contrast to life in Ancient Britain.... 

Although likened to Pompeii, here no human or animal remains have ever been found. It's thought there were probably many foreshocks before the big eruption, so the Minoans had time to pack up their livestock and valuable belongings and leave. As Akrotiri was a rich seafaring city, people had access to boats which made it easy for them to escape, although where they went next and why they never came back to Santorini after the eruption is another of the many mysteries which surround Akrotiri.

Abandoned for centuries, Santorini was eventually recolonised, with the Phoenicians, Dorians, Romans and Byzantines creating new settlements on the island but the buried city of Akrotiri remained forgotten until the 1860s when workers quarrying ash to build the Suez Canal discovered artefacts from the old city. Some small-scale digs took place but the remains stayed where they were for another hundred years until excavations began in earnest in 1967.

One of the most celebrated exhibits is this solid gold model of an ibex which, when unearthed in 1999 was still packed in its original wooden box. 

On our trip to Athens back in 2023, we were enraptured by the Santorini frescoes on display in The National Archaeological Museum, discovered at Akrotiri between 1967 and 1974. The Museum of Pre-History has many, many more and, since we last visited, the museum has added an additional gallery in which to display them. 

The presence of these frescoes in buildings of all types throughout the excavations of Akrotiri suggests that they were not restricted to a rich elite but were enjoyed by all classes of society. The interior walls were covered with a layer of smooth lime plaster and then painted, either when the plaster was fresh (fresco) or dry (secco). Some of the geometric designs, especially spirals, show signs of mechanical devices to achieve greater accuracy. Similarly, in order to portray people accurately, figures employed a grid system which was adjusted depending on the age or dimension of the figure. Paints were derived from minerals to provide strong colours such as red, orange, black, blue, purple, and white, and organic material was used as a fixative.

The frescoes, at over 4000 years old, never fail to blow my mind. They display a love of the sea and the natural world with seascapes, animals, fish, and plants being popular subjects. There are naturalistic representations of bulls, goats, antelopes, monkeys, wild-cats, ducks and swallows and also mythological creatures like griffins. Geometrical and abstract shapes, especially curves and spirals, were also a common theme as are scenes of everyday life such as religious ceremonies and the collecting of crocuses and saffron, boxing & fishing. 

When we visited Fira in September 2023 it was peak tourist season with up to 5 cruise ships a day pulling into the port and disgorging over 20,000 passengers into the town. Although the weather was a little more challenging, I'll take that over the hoards.

 

This is the caldera, the cauldron-type depression caused by the Minoan eruption 3,600 years ago. 

After a wander around Fira, we headed to a back-street taverna where the prices were a fraction of those facing the caldera. By now the temperature had dropped and the staff lit the patio heaters and handed blankets out to anyone needing them. (Luckily we'd bought our jackets with us). Replete from Santorini salads (freshly made sheep's cheese, cherry tomotoes, cucumber, pepppers, capers and pickled caper leaves), grilled pitta bread and beer we caught the bus back to Perissa. We later learnt that it had been coldest day on the island since April. 

After village wine on our balcony, where by now, the wind had mercifully dropped, we had a drink on the seafront and had dinner in Volcano, another taverna we'd enjoyed on our previous visit. Again we ate gemista and lamb chops accompanied by a carafe of wine before a leisurely stroll back to our rooms.

Sunday was glorious! We ate our fruit, Greek yoghurt and local honey breakfast in the sunshine of our balcony whilst the resident cats caused havoc.

We spent the day on the beach, basking in the 23°C heat. I swam for over an hour in the wonderfully warm and calm waters (Jon promised to join me later in the week). Lunch was, as usual, Greek salad, bread and beer in a seafront taverna. 

Later we ate vegetable moussaka and chicken souvlaki in Acropolis before late night beers in Meltemi, a cosy bar on the main road where the Greeks outnumbered the Brits.

Later we ate vegetable moussaka and chicken souvlaki in another great taverna, Acropolis, accompanied by village wine and complimentary glasses of limoncello. Yammas! 

Stay tuned for part two!