Yesterday, I enjoyed a 12 hour day tour of Santorini. 'Enjoyed' is probably a strong word though, as there was a lot of sitting around waiting for things to happen. I did get some very cool pictures of typical island style churches (white with the blue domed roof) and of an old fortified community (built to protect the inhabitants from pirates) though it looks pretty much the exact same as newer Greek neighbourhoods! All buildings on the island are white and cubic with lego blue trimmings (doors, shingles, gates, etc.), they're actually really nice looking and appear strong enough to be able to withstand anything as they're made out of foot-thick concrete. No pansy wood or drywall for these Greeks!
I said previously that I'd be visiting volcanoes, but the whole of Santorini actually is a big volcano that had a monster eruption (allegedly one of the biggest that we know of) 3600 years ago. Now it consists of the main island and about 4 other smaller ones.
The most modern eruption on the smaller island (Neo Kameni) was 50 years ago and it is supposed to be this wonderous geological monument that is meant to be admired and preserved... well I'll admit that the idea is neat, but in reality it's just a big pile of rocks and dust. That's it. Maybe my expectation of the word 'wonderous' is too high?
After that we boated around a bit more exploring some small inlets and checking out the beaches and restaurants of Thirassia where I got to eat some more delicious stuffed tomatoes. I implore someone back home to learn how to make them... please?
We then dropped port (is that the term?) at Oia (pronounced ee-a) where I think I climbed up 8000 stairs after foregoing the use of a smelly donkey to get to the top of the mountain. I then proceeded to sit for approximately 3 hours, with 2000 other people, to wait for the damn sun to set!
Apparently Santorini sunsets are spectacular. Though, it was pretty average as far as I'm concerned. The main attraction wasn't so much this daily event of nature, but the fact that all these people turned up to marvel at it ('s mediocrity) as if it would never occur again! Honestly I think there were more snapshots taken of the crowds than of the horizon. As if we all stumbled upon something plain but felt inclined to stick around because everyone else was, therefore more people stayed to see what all the fuss was about.
In the end, the sun did set, as per usual and some jackasses kicked off a frenzy of clapping and cheering to which the whole crowd burst off of as if it was some spectacular event. As if it occurred by conscious design. As if the sun deserved that sort of attention. As if the Earth revolves around it or something...
I don't intend to complain, it was just a long and somewhat disappointing day. Tomorrow morning I will be heading off to spend the week on Crete. First in Heraklion and then to Hania.
But today, I will hang by the fabulous pool!
