Leimotiv #greece - #travel for the essentials! #santorini

SANTORINI - the distilled version

About 6000 islands, indescribable scenery... so much to see, such little time, indeed. Story of my life. Well, at least when it comes to Greece, I've always tried to see as much as possible - but that endeavour's far from being over!

After almost 1 year of absence from the Aegean habitat, I thought it was time for me to explore another portion of that mythical universe... I set my eyes on the Cyclades, or at least part of them, for I know that my unquenchable thirst for knowledge, new lands and peoples will force me to return to these seas... Always in search for more, pursuing a life on the road and the determination to avoid routine and boredom: at any cost.

Palermo was the starting point of my Aegean quest: the direct flight took me to the acclaimed Santorini; out of sheer curiosity awakened by a reputed paradise, unfortunately much too popular and much too populated...

However, I had decided to do it all in an anti-touristy fashion: starting with 1 h walk through the "wilderness" at 10pm, from the airport to the dark beaches of Exo Gialos. The morning light next day would uncover just how dark, volcanic and wild my surroundings really were... amazing, the view as the location, literally in the middle of nowhere!

The "capital", Thira, offered a whole different sight compared to my beach abode: seas of tourists blocking not only my view to that sumptuous Aegean Sea, but also my passage... another obstacle I had to overcome - didn't they say: "there are no problems, only challenges to overcome"?

However, my attempts at finding a spot away from the maddening crowd were worth it: the panorama was so rewarding!! the volcanic heights contrasting the electric blue of the sea, the white church towers and houses disposed in an almost natural stairway to Heaven blending into the cobalt of the skies... I went through all that labyrinth and decided I needed to escape and see the Northern coast of the island; I got to Oia, comparable to Thira in every way, in the company of another fellow traveler, an Italian lady from Salerno.

They say the best sunset can be seen from the white heights of Oia, which overlooks the entire island. I must say that walking the narrow streets of this characteristic spot, blinded by the white-blue contrast and chatting about different stuff with my newly found companion were more valuable to me than that legendary sunset, which we partially watched from the terrace of a bar... I guess I needed to relive, to prolong the feeling of Italy, of being constantly on the move, but having Sicily within reach... a highly comforting feeling...

The 3 hours I spent in Oia were coming to a more or less definite end: we caught the bus at the last minute (another story of my life!) and returned to Thira right in time for me to get on the bus that would take me to the ferry terminal: I was going to İos that night...

A voyage is an adventure by excellence... and in the South it's the people that spice up the experience - too bad that in very touristy places the contact with the locals happens in a kind of "filtered" environment; however, thanks to my eternal curiosity and unconventional South-Eastern self, I always manage to become a part of that endemic realm…

I had gotten the best of the island, leaving the more popular beaches of the South-East/West to the hordes of tourists hungry for sun and selfies. I was already on my way to Ios, after an interesting type of interaction with the bus driver and other fellow travelers waiting for the humongous ferry renowned for its delays - perhaps a justified custom, this tampering with Time, considering this is the land where the legend and concept of Kronos originated in...