Greek Islands: Santorini & Crete (Page 2/4)
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Left: Homes and churches in the beautiful and romantic village of Oia, Santorini Island. After major destruction in a 1956 earthquate, the towns of Fira and Oia have both been rebuilt as multi-level mazes of fascinating whitewashed architecture. Published in June 2002 PC Photo Magazine.

Santorini Island (or Thira):

Left: Oia: Greek Orthodox Church in the main square.

Geologic & Human History of Santorini 

Humans first arrived around 3000 BCE on this volcano known in ancient times as Thira. The island was a volcanic cone with a circular shoreline until 1646 BCE, when one of earth's most violent explosions blasted ash all over the Mediterranean, sunk the center of the island, launched tidal waves, and may have ruined the Minoan civilization 70 miles away on Crete. Remarkably, volcanic ash dumped onto the volcano's flanks actually preserved the village of Akrotiri and its 3600-year-old frescoes from the Minoan era. These are some of the earliest known examples of world art history, which you can now view in museums. In 286 BCE, the volcano split off Thirasia ("Little Thira") Island (to the West, left on map). The volcano began rebuilding, and in 197 BCE the small center islet of Palia Kameni appeared. In 1707 CE, lava started forming Nea Kameni, the larger center island which erupted as recently as 1956 and caused a huge earthquake (7.8 on the Richter scale) which destroyed most of the houses in the towns of Fira and Oia. Fira and Oia have since been rebuilt as multi-level mazes of fascinating whitewashed architecture, attracting tourists from around the world.

Santorini Travel Tips

You may want to keep your itinerary flexible, researching all the possible lodging places ahead of time, and booking about 1 to 4 days ahead as you go. That technique worked great for us in New Zealand's popular South Island in "tourist shoulder season" (2007), and may also apply to tourist areas in Greece.
    Santorini Island is justifiably celebrated for its romance and beauty. You might want to reserve ahead like we did, or else pay a premium to find a place more spontaneously. As elsewhere in the world, the cheapest lodging with best value usually fills before more expensive rooms.
    We pre-booked and enjoyed several nights at the inexpensive Ecoxenia Studio Apartments, one of the best values on the island, located on the sunset (West) side, very quiet in the countryside, about a 15 minute walk (or short taxi ride) from Oia village, the most photogenic village on Santorini. The following lodging and transportation links may help you plan your trip:

• www.greekhotel.com/cyclades/santorin/oia/home.htm
• www.hostels.com/en/gr.html
• www.santonet.com
• www.justgreece.org = was helpful for Greece overall.
• www.greeka.com/cyclades/santorini/ = may help plan trip.
  
• www.frommers.com = gives excellent free travel advice for destinations worldwide. Arthur Frommer is a wellspring of travel knowledge who has been travelling since the 1950's, before Lonely Planet and Rick Steves. His speech in Seattle 2008 proved his dedication toserving budget-minded travellers with the latest advice.
  
• Ferries:
  
• We flew from Athens to Santorini, to Crete, then back, which is quicker than navigating the ferry system for the long distance from the mainland. I recommend flying the longest legs, then taking local ferries to closer islands. Compare prices and consider how much time you spend in open water with little to see.
  
• www.ferriesingreece.com = booking site established in 2009.
  
• www.ferries.gr = Greek ferry system timetables and bookings.
  
• www.lonelyplanet.com/worldguide/greece/ site has good free info. I recommend carrying the excellent Lonely Planet guidebooks on the trip: 1) Greece by Paul Hellander, 2) Greek Islands, 3) Greek language phrasebook (buy at Amazon.com).

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    I recommend carrying the excellent Lonely Planet guidebooks on the trip: 1) Greece by Paul Hellander, 2) Greek Islands, 3) Greek language phrasebook. If you will be hiking on the mainland, try The Mountains of Greece: A Walker's Guide (Cicerone Guide) by Tim Salmon. The DK Eyewitness and similar Insight Guide series are both excellent for dreaming, planning and leaving at home as glossy souvenirs. I enjoyed the historical fiction and romance Voice of the Goddess, by Judith Hand, 2001, which enlivens the Minoan era (or "Keftian" era, since the Egyptians of 1500 BCE called Crete "Keftiu") based upon archeological evidence and the author's imagination. (She also wrote The Amazon and the Warrior, a novel of Troy.)

Left: A modern version of a fresco from 1500 BCE: A man with fishes. [modern reproduction by Spanos, based upon the 53-inch high original]. Volcanic ash preserved Minoan era frescoes such as this at Akrotiri on Santorini Island.

Left: Fira: View of Nea Kameni Volcano and cruise ships in Santorini's sunken crater.

Above right: Carol and I explored Fira, which is a bustling tourist town, a port for cruise ships & Greek ferries, and the largest city on Santorini Island.

Above: Evening in Fira, Santorini. Published in September/October 2005 Sierra Magazine, Sierra Club Outings.

Winds of Greece

The scirocco winds from the south can turn the sky over Santorini reddish in color with dust swept from Africa. In summer, the winds shift and become the meltemi, which come from the north-east. On May 5, 2001, we experienced unusually strong 50 miles-per-hour winds from the west, the strongest wind that our hotel owner had ever seen in 10 years living in Oia, Santorini.

Below Left: Evening in Oia.     Below Right: Afternoon.


Above: Imerovigli village, adjacent to Fira, sits atop 1000-foot sea cliffs.

Left: Oia, Santorini Island.    

Below right: The village of Oia perches on 700-foot high volcanic sea cliffs at the north end of Santorini Island.

Above: Oia, Santorini Island: Southeast view across the caldera to the larger town of Fira.

Above: Homes and churches in the beautiful and romantic village of Oia, Santorini Island. After major destruction in a 1956 earthquate, the towns of Fira and Oia have both been rebuilt as multi-level mazes of fascinating whitewashed architecture. Published in June 2002 PC Photo Magazine.

Doors of Santorini

The Island of Crete:

Left: Restored Minoan pillar supports ruins of the Knossos palace.

I was glad that I read some of my wife's art history books before visiting Crete and the ruins of Knossos, since the visual sights aren't as striking until you know some of the important history.

Crete is the home of Europe's first advanced civilization, the Minoan, which was contemporary with nearby advanced Egyptian and Mesopotamian cultures. The six-story Minoan Knossos palace complex on Crete probably originated the myths of the Labyrinth and the Minotaur (half man, half bull). Water pipes running 18 kilometers from mountains to the Knossos supplied the world's first known flush toilets and sewers by around 1500 BCE, when the Minoans reached their peak. Three-story townhomes and the first known paved roads in Europe also indicate a wealthy, organized society. Archeaological evidence suggests that Minoan and earlier societies on Crete may have been remarkably peaceful:

• Towns on Crete had no fortifications for 1000 years.
• Few weapons have been found.
• Minoan art depicts nature (not violence), little social stratification, and prominent females and female dieties

Left: A stone room with wood throne in the Knossos palace on Crete.

Left: Minoan pithos (jar) from Olous (Ancient Elounda) 1600-1500 BCE, Geneva Private Collection, seen in a shop on Crete.

Olive trees are native to the Mediterranean, and 50,000-year-old olive leaves have been found fossilized in lava on Santorini Island. Oil-producing olive varieties have been cultivated over 6000 years, starting with a sparse, thorny tree and ending with today's compact, thornless, and oil-rich varieties. The Minoans were some of the first people to get rich from olives. Unfortunately, the tap roots of olive trees cannot hold the soil like the surface roots of native forests, and planting of vast olive groves on mountainous terrain caused an environmental disaster: the topsoil washed away, resulting in the dry and rocky landscape you see throughout much of Greece today. Crete used to be 90% forest, but is now 17% forest. Humans have stripped the trees to clear space for olive plantations, to build ships and towns, and to burn for cooking. Big naval battles in wooden ships over thousands of years helped spur the demand that decimated the forests.

Left: Heraklion, Crete: Venetian Fortress, Old Harbor boats.
 

Left: Omalos, Crete: Hiking through a rock arch on Mount Gingilos, in the Lefka Ori Mountains.
 
 
Below right: Tree roots twist around a boulder on Mt. Gingilos, Crete.

Left: Samaria Gorge is said to be the longest gorge in Europe, and it attracts hundreds of hikers daily. I found it to be as mildly interesting as a minor canyon in Utah, USA, with the addition of a beautiful and isolated coast at the end of the hike. If you prefer much fewer tourists and a more spectacular gorge, I strongly recommend hiking the Vikos Gorge in Northern Greece instead. If you want to experience better slot canyons than Samaria Gorge, I recommend the many wonderful canyons of Southern Utah, USA, such as the Paria River Canyon. Setting comparisons aside, Samaria Gorge is still one of the most interesting natural sights on Crete.

Below right: Mt. Gingilos (white mountain on far left) rises 6864 feet above the beach at Agia Roumeli, at the mouth of the Samaria Gorge. Here, our friends Jim and Sharon announced their engagement to be married!

My favorite discovery on Crete was the carnivorous Dragon Lady plant (or Voodoo Lily, Sauromatum venosum, in the Araceae family), which is about 2 to 4 feet tall, has a green zebra-striped stalk, and a dark purple flower spike, at the base of which is a bowl of fluid that captures and dissolves insects for their nitrogen! In May, the Dragon Lady plant was in full bloom in the Samaria Gorge, and it was producing seed pods on the bluffs around Loutro, Crete. Many other spectacular flowers grow on Crete, such as the Star of Bethlehem Lilly (seen at Omalos). Walking on the coast near Loutro, the wonderfully rich aroma of thyme and other herbs wafted strongly around us on the most fragrant hike that I've ever experienced.

Left: Samaria Gorge: The purplish-red spathe and foul-smelling stench of dragon arum (Dracunculus vulgaris) (also called dragonwort, dragon lily, or voodoo lily) attracts flies to the base of its erect, flower-bearing spadix. The purple spadix can reach over a meter long.

Left: Samaria Gorge, Crete: With an odor of dung or rotting meat, the Dragon Arum (Dracunculus vulgaris) entices flies into its spathe (not a blossom or flower) and deep inside into its bulbous chamber where its flowers are actually located. The insects can sometimes get trapped overnight, but are later freed, covered in pollen, to find other flowers for pollination.

Below right: Loutro, Crete: After pollination, the Dragon Arum plant produces green fruits that later turn red.


Left: A long haired goat on a seaside cliff trail on Crete.


Below: A remote cafe at Sweetwater Beach, near Hora Sfakia.

Left: In southwest Crete, the pretty port town of Loutro is only accessible by foot or ferry.
 
 

Below: Loutro Harbor: A blue oar-boat in a sea of green.

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