Today, we visited the past. Jen, Gage, Griffin, Nana Connie, Nana Andi, Connor, and Kayla all started today by catching a 10:00 AM (Greece Time) bus to the Red Beach on Santorini’s southern coast. Matt decided to stay at the place for the day and get some much needed alone time. Once we got to Red Beach we then headed up to Akrotiri which is an archeological site.
Arriving at the Red Beach bus stop we had no idea where to go. Luckily other people were just as lost and asked directions so when they found out, we decided to just follow them. Sadly it was right in front of our eyes but you know in our defense it was bright. We then got to buying tickets and Nana Connie asked Jen to ask the ticket person for directions to the bathroom. Jen then replied that she would be more than happy to ask the automated machine where the bathroom was. Luckily once we got into the archeological site, the signs for the bathroom were pretty self explanatory.
So some history on this site is that the first settlement here was founded around the mid 5th millennium BC about 100 meters from the present coastline. The position had two bays on either side allowing for protection and easy access to the water. The settlement also is in direct visual contact of Crete which is about 60 miles south. With this impressive placement, growth of this settlement was fortuitous. However, they did encounter several challenges including an horrible earthquake in the early Bronze Age (3rd millennium BC) and then hit by another seismic earthquake in the late Bronze Age (mid 17th century BC). However they were able to rebuild again after both earthquakes to become a thriving port in Greece until the society was hit by another earthquake and then a volcanic eruption which covered the city in a thick layers of pumice and ash. This buried and held the settlement in relatively good condition for thousands of years until recently when they started excavating the site (which is still currently happening).
When waking around you can see remnants of three-story buildings, furniture (bed frame, table, etc), and even religious artifacts. Also, at the archeological site you are standing the whole time at about the second story for the buildings because the rest is still to be excavated.
Also fun fact, this island and caldera are suspected to be what the story of the lost city of Atlantis is based on. This is due to the fact that they had advanced sewer systems (that held the water in separate places so it wouldn’t smell and was even accessible on the upper story buildings) and other technologies.
After spending a while in the archeological site we then headed outside to enjoy some lunch in the shade. We met two super cute puppers that sat with us while we ate our lunch.
Post a delicious lunch we headed to Red Beach which is about a 20-30 minute walk.
Once we got to the ledge, Griffin and Connor decided to walk the steep trail down to the water and the rest of the crew decided to head back to the archeological site and find the route to get up to the town of Akrotiri. .
That's the Red Beach in the distance
(Zoom in to see Griffin on the side of the super steep slope)
In the town we headed up to the Venetian Castle. You were able to go into the castle which had a beautiful lookout because the ceiling had fallen down. Other than the lookout there was not much else to explore so we headed back down into town where we got some refreshing drinks at a local store and then headed to the bus stop.
On our way there was an incredible dolphin-themed restaurant that served “Lamo” according to one of the Nanas which was hilarious. Also, if Lamo was not your cup of tea then you could choose from rabbit, or other seafood dishes. Sadly it was not open and we didn’t have Matt so we decided we should wait and hop on the bus back to Fira (where our Airbnb is located). At around 2:13 PM (Greece Time) we were ready to hop on the bus pulling up to the stop but as we were walking up we were told this is not in fact the city bus but the school bus. So we figured we shouldn’t hop on and we instead opted to wait for the actual city bus for our ride.
They do not have yellow school busses on Santorini - the school bus is the same as the city bus!
We got back to Fira and we headed straight for the grocery store to get supplies for dinner. Then Connor and Kayla went to the discount store right next to the cable car ride to grab super cool sweatshirts. Then we headed back to find the Nanas and Jen hanging out in the jacuzzi with some wine.
We began happy hour around 5ish (Greek Time) while starting to cook dinner. We did however pause the cooking of dinner to go watch the sunset and enjoy the night.
Signing off for the day,
Kayla Daniel
ReplyForward |
Comments