Santorini.featured

We had an easy 27 minute flight from Athens to Santorini late Tuesday. Our Airbnb was my favorite of anywhere we’ve traveled! It was a fantastic combination of staying in a former bread factory turned cave home, incredible views of the caldera, and unparalleled hosts, who did everything from arranging our airport pick up to contacting a local vineyard about having wine shipped for my aunt.  Santorini is part of an active volcano that erupted in 1600 BC, burying most of the island. The center of the volcano sank into the ocean, and the newest land in Europe is now being created in the center of the caldera, surrounded by the ring of ancient islands. Our first day in Santorini was miserably windy, foggy, and cold. We made the wise decision to head to Akrotiri on the southwest tip, rumored to be a possible location of Atlantis. My post yesterday pointed out that the Acropolis was the oldest intact site we’ve seen. That lasted for about 48 hours until we saw the 17th century BC excavations of Akrotiri. Luckily for us with the weather, they are now enclosed in a museum with walkways throughout. 

Our second day was still windy but bright and sunny. For comparison:

We spent the day wandering through Oia, the far northwest part of the island and said to be the most beautiful. I’d have to agree. Our waiter at dinner that night said, “This isn’t an island anymore. It’s a resort.” This is certainly true in most aspects, but I still found the pull of the caldera incredibly enticing. Since we visited at the end of their winter season, we weren’t able to do boat tours to the new islands. When we return to Greece, the 27 minute flight would certainly be worth a day trip to sail over the volcano.

The highlight of our time in Santorini came for me while waiting for our flight to Rome. The girls immediately made friends with two older girls from New York. I started talking to their dad and discovered that they were in the middle of a year of travel as part of a return to South Korea. He had his 10 year old daughter explain everywhere they’d been on their trip so far and everywhere they were planning to visit. To which Molly piped up and told them about our trip. We basked in pride at the details our daughters were able to recall about our respective travels and shared a moment of solidarity before returning to opposite sides of the world.