SANTORINIIIIIIIII!!!!!!111!!

We booty-danced all over the roof of this church in my new swimsuit just before sundown. God was not happy, but I was.

There are two famous Greek islands for tourists: Santorini (aka Thira, aka Θή⍴α) and Mykonos. For reasons of my fascination with the iconic blue churches, I picked Santorini for our trip prior to hopping over to Crete. This could have been the perfect place to relax, but due to either short-sightedness or selecting for cheap travel times back when we booked our cruises (can't remember), we were only in town for a much-too-short day and a half. In our desire to see all of Europe, we didn't insert a day to bask and relax. I consider this one of my biggest follies in planning this trip, of which I really haven't committed many. In hindsight, a day from Florence could have moved to Santorini. There's no question we could have spent at least a day more just lounging on the beaches, provided we had enough sunscreen. I got my only serious sunburn of this trip in Santorini, and on just my thighs of all places. It'll make sense, read on.

Before we continue on my journey, make sure you caught all three of my Athens posts: alpha, beta, and gamma! I popped them out quickly and you may not have realized you skipped one.

On arrival from Athens, our bus to the hostel needs to work its way up that sliver of a switchback road.

Plenty of cruises come and go from Port Santorini.

After dropping our stuff at our hostel where our efficient hydration methods were foiled by our discovery that the Santorini tap water is barely potable, tasting like a mix of salt and milk, Phil needed to buy sandals and I needed to buy a European bathing suit (my second souvenir). Then we decided that an ATV rental for 24 hours would be our best way to traverse the island. So we jammed our combined 180 kg big boy frames onto the smallest off-road vehicle we could find in a laughable display of stinginess. And, haha, we still chuckle at how absurd we must have looked. Although we could barely move on any inclined road, which made getting to the highest point on the island especially difficult, we did make it everywhere we had to be.

Starting our ATV cruise

Phil likes the feel of my bare legs clutching his sides for stability.

Some shots from the highest point in Santorini, called Moni Profitou Iliou. Some sort of Greek military base exists up here also.

Looking down on our hostel area

The biggest Santorini town of Fira is straight ahead.
Way in the back on the north end of the island is Oia, where the blue-capped churches are most dense.

From now on, we spent the entire day doing a full lap around the island. Mostly, I was hunting for the best possible shot of the blue-caps. It was all so relaxing, going anywhere and taking our time, bound by the 30 square mile island. For I think the first time, our time in Europe felt like a vacation vacation, and not a scramble to see every possible site. We rode all over the island, hollering "Santorini!" as we went, taking nature walks where we could, and learning to say "you're welcome" in Russian (bo-jah-LUI-sta). And so you see why I wish I gave us more time here.

These blue-caps are all over the island, you can't miss 'em.

The blue-caps exist in some of the strangest, most desolate places.

There are beaches all over the island, including at least one nudist beach. There are black- and red-sand beaches. And I swear there is no sand in the depths of hell as hot as that black sand.

I'm a cool guy.

Public paths two bodies abreast woven between buildings on the mountainsides are difficult to navigate, especially in the more crowded towns.

You can get right up to some of these domes. They are public churches afterall.

Shoutout to the Santorini board game.

Did the perspective fool you? This is a little church model left in memory of someone who died on this cliff.

The path out to Skaros Rock

Ready to dive in. Like my swim trunks?

So malnourished. And you can see my thighs getting beet red from the beating the sun laid on me while on the back of the ATV.

Bojahluista!

Behind Skaros Rock

Looking back on the island

Now we had two things on our mind. Get to the lighthouse at the southern tip, and get somewhere good for sunset. We couldn't make it to the lighthouse for the sunset in time, but fortunately there are many locations on the western coast for a good look at the sun. You get to see it fall behind the mini-islands and light up the water.

Phil and I sat at the top of a cliff in the southern quarter of the island to watch the sun disappear. It was a heartfelt evening, eschewing the usual jokes we would toss at each other ever since our first semester in grad school. Yes, we are just two normal guys... sometimes. This evening, we shared the soul of humanity, staring out at the edge of the world.

We talked about how special seeing a sunset is. We are alive for about 32,000 of them, but how often do you actually see the sun fall below the earth's horizon? Usually it's behind a building or hill. I know in my case, I treat the sunset like a time. Oh, it's just a point in the evening, a number. We speak of sunsets like they happen every day, but if you don't witness it, did you truly appreciate what the solar system has done for you? Count how many you actually see. Maybe one a year for most people. It's a jarringly low frequency.

With the sun gone, we didn't give up on getting to the lighthouse. The walk past the lighthouse to the very southern tip is tricky. Definitely don't do it in the dark.

The Akrotiri Lighthouse

After the lighthouse, we went to the beach near our hostel, lied out under the stars, and napped until it got too chilly for my tank top. We spent the next half a day eating and lying on the beach some more until we had to go catch our next ferry to our last stop in Greece. The late June Mediterranean water was colder than I expected but still plenty warm. I had the best Greek salad ever that day. Sure, the garden produce was especially fresh and there was a generous portion of feta, but I think I relished it so much because my body was telling me I need to eat more vegetables.

Aside from shortchanging our beach time allowance, we missed out on a potentially interesting tomato paste museum. Yes, a tomato paste museum. If I'm ever back in Santorini, I'm going.

Santorini was weeks ago. In real time, I am in the Zurich airport. Short layover in Dubai (kinda hoping to miss my connection to spend more time there) and then Tokyo thereafter.

Not even another concussion would cause me to forget this day.