Santorini was my dream. I kept it locked away for a special trip. Once I got engaged, I knew exactly where I wanted to go for my honeymoon. I had long seen photographs of the picture perfect blue domes and whitewashed buildings clinging to red cliffs rising from the sea. However, like any place we long to visit, I knew that I had to arrive to Santorini with a sprinkle of hesitation. I knew that it would be touristy, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. At the same time, due to my redheaded temperament, I can easily get annoyed with hordes of tourists. While I am one myself, for whatever reason Continue Reading
Hora, Naxos Wishes You Were Here
I’m lost. I pass under one arched portico after another, down cobblestone streets into the old town of Hora. The port and capital of Naxos appears to be constantly dizzy, embroiled in its own explainable confusion. The streets have no rhyme or reason and a map is virtually useless. In Hora, you get lost. The people of Hora live in this maze sprinkled with restaurants, art galleries and shops. While a Venetian stronghold in the 13th century, today Hora is decidedly more casual than noble. It is an ordinary Wednesday and the restaurants are preparing for the night. The business casual of Continue Reading
Crossing Through Ancient Doors in Naxos
To travel, we must walk through doors. Some thresholds are wide, expansive and quite easy to cross. Others seem to be the opposite of gateways, at times closed off and hard to breech. On the Greek island of Naxos, the main port city of Hora bears the ultimate entryway. As my ferry chugged closer and closer to the port of Naxos, I could spot a doorway into another time. Disconnected from the main island by a causeway, the Temple of Apollo dramatically takes in the sunset each night. The masses crowd the hilltop temple to appreciate a natural constant to the world. True ruins become perches Continue Reading
What I Wish Someone Told Me About Traveling By Ferry in Greece
It was to be a three-hour tour to the remote island of Folegandros from Naxos. If I learned anything from my early years of watching Gilligan's Island, I knew all along that this wouldn’t be the case. As the seas grew rougher and my ferry seemingly went airborne with a few waves, I realized that the romanticized side to the Greek ferry experience was lost at sea. Unaware of our future at sea that day, we sat in the port terminal at Naxos hours earlier. Nothing more than a few beams of concrete protected us from the whipping wind. Poseidon saw our future at sea and it wasn't pretty. Before Continue Reading
Fira, Santorini Wishes You Were Here
I can almost count on one hand the number of experienced sunrises in my life. Not much for rising before the sun, most of those sunrises have involved an early travel day. After 27 hours of travel to reach the island of Santorini from the middle of the United States, I arrived to the island’s main town of Fira under the cover of night and jet lag. After a quick meal and a shower, I am out like the light, but not for long. The church bells will soon ring. Under such conditions, I knew a sunrise was in my future. I rose to Fira’s blue gates leading toward the sea. The sun and the tourists in Continue Reading
A Day in Oia’s Paradise Lost
Grabbing the northern red cliffs of Santorini, similar to that of a parent’s grasp on a roaming toddler, the village of Oia bathes in the spotlight. It is no wonder Santorini hangs on to this settlement with such a firm grip. Oia is the popularized Greece, the image you will often see on any article featuring the Greek islands. It is the blue domes, the whitewashed buildings, the windmills that serve no function other than being aesthetically pleasing. I could see Oia from the distance in Fira. I knew it would be a challenge to reach with a bag fit for a month in Europe. We arrived as Continue Reading
Ancient Thira Wishes You Were Here
To truly see a new place, the traveler must find the highest point. Uncovering the highest point of a destination can be advantageous to the lost explorer looking to find their place on the map. Most importantly, to know a new place, you must find the metaphorical high point, even if the lows surround you. On the Greek island of Santorini in the Cyclades, it was often difficult for me to find the high points. Bogged down with overpriced resorts, plenty of tourist traps and clogged roads with ATVs steered by those in tank tops and colored the bright red of tomatoes, I was beginning to Continue Reading