Laninga's Travel Blog

The first known inhabitants of Santorini date back from around 3,000BC. In the ensuing 5,000 years it has survived war, natural disasters, economic strife, and political unrest. In fact, at one time local resident were forbidden to fly the Greek flag, so the building wre painted the now famous white and blue.

Early nobles and wealthy people deied the best place was to view the ocen from the lower slopes, so the poor were banished to carving homes out of the “undesirable” caldera cliffs. Today, of course, the lower slopes are mainly farm and ndustrial, the prime places are looking inside the caldera.

There are three ways to get to the rim: on foot, by donkey, o by gondola. We took the gondola to the top, then explored the maze of small streets and alleys of the town of Fira. It is hard to choose what scenes not to photograph! We then took a local bus to the town of Oia (pronounced “eye-ah”), another beautiful city in white and blue. Again, picture lots opportunities, and we had a nice lunch of local food and wine.

The local bus is a story in itself. The road from one village to the next is high on the edge of a cliff, with lots of hairpin turns. In addition, the roads are narrow, and the bus driver fearless. I can see why some people don’t want to look!

All in all, the visit to Santorini was a memorable one.

Colorful flowers against the white buildings

Nice looking pool!

Church tower and building

Even local glass work reflects the color s blue and white

Scenic lbue dome

Looking towards Oia

Santorini church