Exploring Santorini

    On the main street of Fira, Judy spied a decorated donkey and tried to coax it to eat

The Prehistoric Town of Akrotiri on the southern end of Santorini called to us. So, at 7:30 we boarded the bus from Oia to Fira, made our bus connection to the archaeological site and were among the first to arrive at the ruins, discovered in 1967.

The city, the largest outside of Crete in the Minoan-era world, dates back to around 1630 B.C. when a massive volcanic eruption buried the city in ash. Excavation has partially uncovered about 30 buildings and found more than 12,000 artifacts, including furniture, wall frescoes, and painted ceramics. No human or animal remains have been found, leading archaeologists to guess that the people had deserted the city before the eruption.

    Only 2 or 3% of Prehistoric Akrotiri has been excavated

    Pots found mostly intact, dating back nearly 1700 years before Christ

    Most of the viewing was done from ramps, but there was a section where we could walk among

    the buildings as if we belonged there

After our jaunt through ancient times, we walked across the road and on down to Red Sand beach.

    Red Sand Beach at Akrotiri

Fira's Museum of Prehistoric Thira is the repository of many items that were found in the prehistoric city near Akrotiri. Some of the pieces found dated back to the 2300 BC. Visiting the museum was a great complement to our morning tour and made the place come alive for us. 

    Museum with Cathedral in the background

    Blue Monkeys fresco from a wall in one of the homes of prehistoric Akrotiri. 

    This original was moved to the museum to preserve the color.

    Vessels, standardized for measurement 

    Theran vase painting often depicted themes of nature

The next big question: Where to for lunch? A family member chimed in via email with a recommendation for Naoussa, a cliff-side restaurant with a caldera view in Fira. 

We took off in search of it and it certainly was the place. The friendly, personable staff took great care of us. The chef came out and talked with us to be sure he understood our dietary needs. "Yes, I can make you a special plate of grilled eggplant, zucchini, and capers. It's no trouble. We are not yet busy." He even cooked up a beautiful and tasty "new" fish entree as the baked fish on the menu was not available.

 

    Beautiful grilled vegetable dish

    

    Fish poached in a light tomato sauce and served with spinach

While we waited, they served Annis toast with a beetroot-yogurt dip. Soon our server appeared and announced they had some gluten-free bread and wondered if Judy would like some. "Oh, yes! Efharisto!" our bread-deprived Judy said.

It's customary to serve a little dessert "on the house" at most Greek restaurants. Naoussa was serving a chocolate pudding. But, looking out for our needs, they bought us a little limoncello instead.

What a nice way to end our day in Fira.

This morning, in the picturesque town of Oia, we enjoyed breakfast on our balcony.

We spent today ambling around the streets, in and out of shops, snapping a few photos from time to time. We stopped for coffee drinks at a little cafe near the bus terminal and watch as the donkeys clomped by.

Returning from a stroll along the footpath near our hotel, we came upon this peaceful cemetery.

Today, we experienced some of the warmest weather yet. On our afternoon jaunt we noticed a haze that hung in the air, blending the colors of the sea and the sky, even though the sun was shining. We knew it wasn't pollution or fog, but pulled off our glasses several times, thinking that maybe they were fogged up.

Later we asked a gentleman about it. "It's from the sea!" he said and explained that it happens by afternoon on any warm day. By early evening, the sun was hidden, a promise of no iconic Santorini sunset tonight. Good thing we took one yesterday.