 |
| Smart Car meets Good Steerer |
So today's leg of our Greek odyssey involved the farther reaches of Santorini and what better way to do it than by car. A small island calls for a small car so we rented the smallest (and cheapest) car we could find, a Smart car. It did the job, but let's say it won't "pull a sailor off your sister!" Gina described driving on Santorini like one of those shooting games. The driver, needs to dodge motorbikes, the odd donkey, stray animals, trucks and buses cutting apexes on hairpins, and any other manner of diversion that the roads can throw at you. The roads are seriously narrow!
 |
| Wisdom...nothing more to be said |
So we started at Santo Wines, the biggest producer on Santorini. Santorini. The island is particularly noted for its white varieties, but it also does a seriously good red too. We chose a six-wine sampling platter which included their most noted wines, 3 whites, 2 reds and a sticky. Generous portions ensued, also served with cheese, olives, a tomato dip and fennel infused crackers. Not bad for 11.50 euro.
 |
| Santo Wines Santorini...it's 12 o'clock somewhere! |
 |
| Gina on the way to 'floppiness' |
 |
| Gina in full 'floppiness' |
 |
| A kouloura curl planting formation..google it! |
Called 'the secret' the vineyards are not linear. The vines are scattered close to the ground, a method evolved over thousands of years. The local producers have invented a unique way of pruning, the so called koulara (curl) whose shape resembles a round basket that protects the grapes from getting damaged by the island's strong winds. For the wine-trivia buff, Assyrtiko is the most popular white variety in Santorini.
 |
| Some blokes attract the bikini babes, not this one! |
We tried to visit 3 more wineries, but surprise, they were closed. So we then made our way to the 'black sand beach', which is just that. A more coarse sand than we know in Oz, it doesn't stick to you. There were a few open tavernas in the area so we had an espresso freddo on the beach and played with some of the dogs that found our company to good to pass up. There were quite a few American kids on the beach, but not quite the weather for a dip we thought.
 |
| The coastline...the view never gets old |
 |
| "That's it Andrew, back one more step" |
We then made our way along the twists and turns of the coast road, admiring the Kodak-moments on the way to the 'red-sand beach'. It was nice, but an anti-climax compared to its' black counterpart. We left our mark on the beach, then headed back to Fira for dinner before returning to our pad in Oia. One more day left in Santorini, we just can't sing the praises of this island enough.
 |
| Leaving our mark on paradise |
No comments:
Post a Comment