I stayed on Santorini long enough to see the sunset I showed yesterday. The island, with its volcanic rock faces dropping directly into the sea, is beautiful. But it's also full of tourists. And expensive.
When I got to Oia--the place you see in all of those Instagram photos of Santorini sunsets--it was like being in an older and more beautiful version of Times Square on New Year's Eve. It's was so crowded that with people taking selfies that you can't do much more than take a selfie--which, as you've probably noticed in this blog, is something I don't do.
It's odd that another New York analogy comes to mind: the road that winds (and I mean winds) its way down to the port of Athinios in a similar way to the Route 495 spur to the Lincoln tunnel. The difference is that the road to Athinios is about a tenth as wide (or so it seems) and its turns are sharper: hairpins in a couple of places. To complicate matters even further, the port itself sits on an improbably small shelf of land in front of a rock face. So, only one vehicle can reach it at a time and people spend more time waiting in that line of traffic than they did in getting from wherever on the island they came.
One more thing about Santorini: I saw mules. Some, it seems, are for tourists while a few others were being used by families who have been living there for generations. In a day and a half, however, I saw one bicycle.
Anyway, it is worth it to visit Santorini, however briefly, for its natural beauty and, of course, its sunsets. And, away from the tourist traps, the food is actually quite good, often made from local produce. Still, I was happy to go to Milos, which the world knows because of Venus de Milo(s). I took a "Sea Jet", which really is more like riding in the cabin of a plane than a boat, except that you get to see the blue (Yes, it really is!) Aegean and some islands instead of endless clouds. And the port of Adamas isn't just a port: There are other things to see and do, which I'll talk about in my next post. The best part, though, is that it spreads across the shoreline and is not nearly as claustrophobic as Athinios.
For a long time now I have been using guide books as a means of finding places to avoid They are handily graded with stars, the more stars they get the more they should now be avoided. On the few occasions we have made return visits to places deserted thirty years ago and charming they are usually spoiled and crowded with visitors. My partner traveled widely with family when young and keeps recounting visits to *** hot spots by telling me that they were the only people there...
ReplyDeleteWhen we visited Epidaurus theatre on the mainland and the Acropolis site in Athens I had to wait a quarter of an hour to get a photograph devoid of people. The very next year a holiday guide described over a dozen tourist busses in the theatre parking at the very same time of year. You might tell from this that I do not like crowds.
It is so adventurous to travel to Greece on bicycle. I am also trying to plan an adventurous trip to a country where me and my friends can enjoy and even explore the best. I already got my Greece visa three days ago and now we are waiting for others to receive their visa so that accordingly we can plan our travel. We need to make the reservations for our stay and places we will be going to for enjoyment.
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