Santorini Is Not Only For Lovers
Santorini as we know it is a romantic place, but the story surrounding my visit was actually quite tragic.
Sometime in the summer of 2018, a close friend from college announced her dream destination wedding for the following spring. In the next few months, everything you could imagine followed - bridal party group chats, Google Sheets, hyperlinks to pastel-colored bridal dresses, brunches, the bachelorette party, early requests of time off from work, all of it. By October, the (resourceful as hell) bride-to-be sent a flight deal of Emirates direct from New York to Athens. The plan: she would be there days in advance, and I would fly in shortly after to help her finalize the details as maid of honor.
Two weeks before our departure, the US Customs and Border Protection changed a law that prevented those waiting for changes in visa status to return to the US. By attending his own wedding, the groom would essentially be barred from returning to work in the US. Imagine if you had been planning your own wedding for the past six months only to have it canceled by the US immigration law. Needless to say, the bride-to-be was upset and defeated. In the midst of her disappointment at what was beyond her control, she encouraged us to take the trip regardless. I hope that, some day, this recount serves her would-be wedding guests.
I ended up flying solo to Athens (Emirates, I see you). Remember when every airline used to give little care packets with earplugs, eye masks, and long thin socks? They stopped doing that a long time ago, but receiving these from Emirates brought the memories back. The spacious, luxurious long haul flight was immediately followed by a small, turbulent flight from Athens to Santorini island. It’s always the last few hours of traveling that ends up being the most exhausting.
Back in my room, I remembered what it feels like to knock out horizontally.
I’m by habit an early riser and this is even more so the case when I’m excited by a new environment. Oia, Santorini’s most touristy town and where you’ll find most of the classic white-and-blue houses, is really quite small and walkable (actually the entire island of Santorini is very small). From one end or the other takes maybe 45 minutes on foot down the main strip. I had a quick breakfast of yogurt, fruit, honey, and coffee at Passaggio Oia, then walked over to the end other where you’ll find the Oia Steps and Ammoundi Harbour, where they jumped off into the ocean in Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 (don’t ask me about the details). After spending the day sitting on various ledges reading, I returned to Roka Taverna and had a rocket salad with fig and grilled manouri cheese drizzled in balsamic reduction. Simple and rustic.
Moment with a stray cat that adopted me by the harbour
Most curiosities during traveling turn into a little history lesson. In 1922, many Greeks fled Smyrna (modern-day Izmir) after Turkish military occupied the city and burned down Greek and Armenian businesses. Once-wealthy Greek families used limestone to whitewash the outside of their new homes as a way to make it look beautiful and clean. During the cholera outbreak in 1938, Metaxas imposed mandatory whitewashing of building exteriors since limestone was considered a powerful disinfectant. The white paint also helps keep the houses cool by reflecting off sunlight. One explanation for the blue roofs is that the military regimes of the 1960s encouraged blue-on-white as a nationalistic ode to the Greek flag. Decades later, the images of white-and-blue houses became the advertisement for Greek tourism.
Most islands in the Cyclades are also results of volcanic eruptions, so towns are built upon decently steep hills. Most businesses and residential houses are located in alleys inaccessible by car. Donkeys inevitably became crucial members of the greek island community, so much so that it’s even a brand of Greek beer. The more you know.
Oh yes, my friends! Yang and Sabine were arriving on different flights the following morning, so I checked out of the temporary stay and found my way down narrow winding stairs to our cave house Airbnb. I fetched Sabine first and then Yang came shortly after, who had a generous helping hand from a beautiful Greek specimen. We gawked silently and briefly at the result of years of consistent leg day on these Oia stairways. Once we were all settled, I herded the group out to Fira, the biggest town and transit hub on Santorini island, for Lucky’s Souvlaki (there is such a fine line between being friendly and creepy from older foreign men, but we won’t get into that now) and, views of the caldera, and access to Perssia beach. The girls will give me shit for not mentioning here that I read the map wrong and made them get off way earlier than we were supposed to, and walk through cutting winds to said beach. March is a little early for the ideal warmth of a greek island, but getting tipsy in the sun, listening to the waves crash on the beach were still revitalizing for our city souls nonetheless.
Friends on bus
View of Oia from the other end of the island
Dinner? You guessed it - Roka Taverna. The waiter was relieved to see I indeed had friends. The three of us filled the tiny restaurant with a little liveliness while the waiter filled our table with greek salad, lamb shank, sausages, wine, and more fava. Much satisfied, we retreated to our cave (literally) and watched stand-up until we passed out.
Next morning was blessed by the sun god Ra himself. The three of us drank in a slow morning just lounging in the porch area of our cave, grateful to be here.
quick stop for coffee
The beautiful specimen from the other day (Dimitri) spotted me and shouted, “YOGA?” The hot pink swimsuit arguably stood out against the white and blue background of Oia. Blushing with an outfit to match.
Our MTV cave had a small hot tub carved into the limestone entrance. We took our liberties with the amenity that night, and had a friendly visit from a stray dog who wanted to jump right hell in. When he wasn’t allowed, he snagged one of Yang’s flip flops and ran.
The Red Beach (Akrotiri), a beach left with red and black stones from a volcanic eruption, is located the opposite end of the island. To my surprise, Santorini is both much smaller and better connected than expected. Similar to our previous day trips to Perissa beach or Fira, we took the bus which is 2.5 Euro each way. Realistically, with that amount we could’ve rented two ATVs for a day and cut out the waiting time, but we got around fine the way we did. There’s a small hike to get to Red Beach, not challenging but definitely requires the right shoes (and i surely did not wear the right shoes). The beach itself isn’t mindblowing, but the mysterious doors along the base of the rocky hills are interesting to see (mystery solved, they are used by fishermen to store fishing nets and other equipment. Or maybe it could lead to Narnia, cannot confirm nor deny.)
The hike to Red Beach
There was a small worship gathering inside this Orthodox church
sunbathing squid
That night, we united with a few other would-have-been bridesmaids at Laokasti Restaurant. Greek owners love to witness a celebration, and fed us free shots of Ouzo. Yama!
Our final day we took as slowly as we could, taking lingering walks, drinking in the last moments of Oia. Atlantis Bookstore in Oia has quite a story and a small publishing house. The interior looks like a treehouse where you can move into, sleep and dine on books, feel your meekness in the face of literary gods, and retreat from the world. Right as we were about to enter, two dogs chased each other into the bookstore, knocking over a tin of bright blue paint that the staff was going to use for refreshing the stair handles. In complete honesty, I don’t always have the best memory but that almost 1940s Disney cartoon scene has always stuck with me vividly.
Entrance to Atlantis Bookstore
Towards dawn, we made our way to the windmill at the tip of Oia. I’m not sure if there’s an official name for that windmill but it’s impossible to miss. The setting sun had the same color as organic egg yolk. In moments like that, I find myself thinking about everything at once and simultaneously nothing at all. Our last night in Santorini had no stray dog, no stolen flipflops, and no Tzaztiki flavoured Lays. What we did have were the same hot tub, the same company, and the same stars.
A windmill, as promised
On the back of the menu at Roka Taverna was this quote I found quite beautiful -
“If you take Greece apart, in the end you’ll be left with an olive tree, a vineyard, and a boat. Which means with these items you can rebuild Greece…” - Odysseas Elytis
*Backlogging my trip from March 2019
RESTAURANTS
Roka Taverna
Karma Restaurant
Catch
Elinikon
Mou
Selene (fine dining as recommended by the chef couple)
WINERY/BREWERY
Domaine Sigalas (specializing in Assyrtiko)
Koutsoyannopoulos Wine Museum
Santorini Brewing Company (donkey beers!)
ATTRACTIONS/ACTIVITIES
Atlantis Bookstore
Skaros Rock (hour hike back to Oia)
Santorini Arts Factory (art museum in an old tomato canning factory)
Red Beach (Akrotiri)
Akrotiri Lighthouse
Hot Springs Nea Kameni (on the Tholos island)
