Santorini, Greece - Day 3/4

     We decided that yesterday and today should be counted as one day since we did nothing yesterday but waste away on a beach. It is vacation, right? We cruised around Perissa and the southeast part of the island, found a nice beach, rented a couple of chairs and an umbrella, and enjoyed a day in paradise. Our evening consisted of visiting a couple of the main landmarks in Thira and having dinner again at the restaurant we tried the first night. We met a nice couple from Mexico and chatted with them for a while about travel and literature. It was a great time. Spanish has really opened up lots of doors to meet new and interesting people when we travel.

     It's a tough life, we know. Here are some shots of the local sites in Perissa, a Greek Orthodox Church. There was an old men dressed in black robes guarding the doors just in case wanton girls tried to walk in with their knees showing. The little harlots! I still can't believe that relic made Izzy put on a blanket to cover her legs, meanwhile, I walk in with hardly any clothes on. Maybe they will step into the 21st century one day.

     After our day at the beach, we passed through a traditional settlement on the way back to the hotel. It was a quaint little place and you could tell it was full of the islanders that weren't part of the tourist industry. Before dinner, we walked around to some of the churches in Thira to see what they were like on the inside. This time, we managed to get around the little man in the black robe and snap a shot of the inside of the church while wearing shorts. It was great.

     We've noticed that the Greek Orthodox churches have blue domes and the Catholic ones have white ones. I guess its a logical way to distinguish the two. On Friday, we found out the hotel would hold our bags and offered us a ride down to the port for free. We left our stuff there and went down to the 4 wheeler place and rented it for another day. Instead of going south, we headed north to see the city of Oía and visit a vineyard. A friend of ours recommended we go to the Sigalas vineyard just outside of Oía and that's just what we did. They had tons of awards for their wines and we ordered a sampler of all of the wines. The grapes that are common in the islands are called Assrytiko. They produce dry white wines and a variety of dessert wines. To help the vines grow, a crown shaped basket is placed at the base to protect the grapes from strong wind. As we sat and drank, a little kitten came along and tried to talk Izzy into taking it home with us. I had to say no.

    A little buzzed after all the wine, we drank a lot of water and went for a joyride along the coast. There were several churches scattered across the landscape and tons of beaches without a soul on them. The north part of the island is definitely not as crowded as the south, at least outside of the cities. We made our way up to Oía and found a place to park. We had no idea what to expect but what we found were all of the rich folk. Apparently, Oía is the place to be for fine dining, shopping, and being seen. Although, we did hear several people complaining about paying a lot for a meal and getting terrible service. All of the shops had overpriced art for sale. It was the kind of stuff that could only be shipped home and not packed in your bag. The streets were bright white and wide with no shade. We had to duck into a couple of shops to take a break from the heat. We spent only an hour or so wandering around the town before we had to go in order to get back to the hotel and catch our ride to the port. Our next stop, Heraklion, Crete.

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