Say Hello to Mama!

Our time spent in Santorini was the perfect answer to our woes in Athens. We knew as soon as we stepped foot off our 9 hour ferry that things were looking up. Way up in fact. We had to catch a cab up the never-ending winding roads to the capital of Fira where our hotel awaited. What we were greeted with was a bustling town built into the side of an island about 300 meters above sea level. After we settled into our room with a couple of Amstels we rested our little heads and prepared for 4 days of exploring every nook and cranny of the island we could find. For anyone looking to travel to the Cycladic island of Santorini you must know 2 things. The first is that it is the most popular destination of the islands which therefore leads to tourist traps and crowds. The second? You should go anyway. The island has lots to offer to travelers of every variety. Sky high restaurants overlooking the water, plenty of beaches, boat cruises, volcanic hikes and nightly sunsets. We split our first two full days between the black sand beach (Perissa) and the red sand beach (Agrikori), both of which offer a completely different experience. Perissa, situated on the Southeast shore, has miles of black sand and restaurants. We spent 4 hours soaking up a tan, finishing our books and enjoying smoothies. Agrikori is quite opposite. In what we’ve come to refer to as ‘Greek Tourism’ the bus drops you off about a kilometer from the beach with no explanation or signs of where you are. After a mild spat we followed the crowd on a hike around the bend where we came to the red beach, small in scope and set into a cove. We hopped headfirst into the 4 foot waves and found ourselves quite buoyant on account of the saltwater. Another 4 hours of beaching, a watermelon purchased from a local and off we were to enjoy a dinner on the North point, the town of Oia. World famous for its sunsets we enjoyed another great meal soaking it all in before retiring to a bottle of wine thanks to our newly purchased corkscrew. We spent the third day seeing what remained undiscovered by jumping onboard an all day tour on what looked to be an old pirate ship. The ship navigated West to a dormant volcano which spewed forth some 400 years ago if memory serves me. The temperature remained steady at 32 degrees and the sky offered no clouds as we trekked up and around this volcano. We learned that we were now in the Caldera (Greek for cauldron). It turns out Santorini was once all connected, but over time the volcano continued to erupt, creating new land and destroying old. The current shape is more of a three-quarter moon, and the ship took us North to the now disconnected island of Thirassia, adjacent to Oia and home to only 250 people! It was here that we had perhaps the best meal of the trip. We enjoyed fresh fish (it is a fishing village after all) at Captain John’s, seared and skewed to perfection. We’re not kidding. We headed back to Fira for a final night and counted our blessings that we were able to see as much of the island as we had. It would be blasphemy not to mention perhaps the most amusing part of our stay. If there is one promise we can make, it’s that you will certainly enjoy a visit to Mama’s Place. Mama is a short little Greek woman with a voice like an oil tanker who loves to call her guests ‘sexy bums’ and announces her presence with ‘Say Hello to Mama!’ For 6 Euro each you receive a mammoth omelette, a stuffed tomato, toast for two and a smile on your face, we guarantee. Next up: Naxos!