Santorini-Day Four

We were woken up this morning with a phone call to bring us breakfast consisting of greek yogurt (delicious), pastries (also delicious), bread, coffee, fruit and freshly squeezed o.j. We ate breakfast on our terrace overlooking the sea. When we finally moved ourselves after breakfast we decided to take the 45 minute hike into Fira, the capital of the island.

The walk was some serious exercise. The road is windy, mostly uphill and not paved. Jamie tripped more than once and Seth laughed each time. We figured that Jamie should not multi-task while walking on steep terrain (or in general), and by multi-tasking we mean anything other than keeping her eyes on the trail. We walked through Imeroviglia (the town we are staying closest to and the most difficult to pronounce) which was beautiful and quiet. The houses are just like it is pictured in the movies, built in the cliffs formed by the volcano and overlooking the sea. In contrast, Fira, while looking similar and also quite beautiful is a combination of the Times Square and Canal Street of Santorini. The narrow streets are filled with shops for tourists and didn't sell anything we would buy. A few cruise ships had docked that morning and the streets were filled with Americans who fulfilled every stereotype you could think of. We actually overheard a woman ask a shopowner how to say Visa in Greek. Needless to say, we didn't stay very long and only ate lunch.

Fortunately, Katarina at our hotel had recommended a restaurant along the way (not quite in the center of Fira) called Flame and told us to ask for Raymond, the owner. We were greeted by Raymond, who we heard speak no less than 5 different languages while we ate and were treated to a lovely meal of tzatziki, the dip which has fish roe the name which we can't quite remember, gigantes (or elephant beans), meatballs, a tomato and cucumber salad and some fresh bread. Raymond is so friendly he sent us watermelon for dessert and two waters for our walk back to the hotel. He even let Seth use his bathroom after we had already left the restaurant and were walking around the town; talk about hospitable!

We got back to the hotel, very hot and tired, so we changed into our bathing suits and lounged by the pool until sunset, around 6:30. At that time, we moved to our jacuzzi and private garden to drink wine (Seth) and frappe (Jamie) and watched the amazing sunset. The sky was red and orange which couldn't be captured in a picture, although we tried. After the sunset, we cleaned up and headed to dinner at Vanilia, in the outskirts of Fira, known for fresh seafood. This restaurant was fancier than the tavernas we had been frequenting and was a nice change. Our server recommended a great bottle of local white wine and told us "the only wine here is dry!" when we checked to make sure it wasn't too sweet. We shared octopus marinated in red wine, which was different than anything we had previously tasted. We had a santorinian salad, consisting of tomatoes, cucumbers, a soft mild cheese, homemade croutons and capers. We also shared the fresh catch of the day, sea brine (unsure of the spelling), a new fish for both of us, grilled whole in olive oil. It was the highlight of the meal, especially watching our server clean the fish and extract the skeleton in one piece. For dessert, we shared baklava (as recommended) and had coffees. Right before we left, the server brought us a shot of homemade liquor who smelled like strawberries and tasted very sweet. By the time the taxi showed up to take us back, we were sleepy and full.