Santorini, perfection to say the least!

Santorini is a Greek island part of a small set of islands that form an archipelago with the same name. In the past all of the islands of the archipelago were part of the crater of a huge volcano that erupted and destroyed itself 3600 years ago. Even nowadays if you look closely at the island's geographical disposition you can imagine the size of the crater. Anyway, geographical history aside, Santorini is without doubt one of the most beautiful places I've had the pleasure to visit.


The beauty of the sights is impossible to describe. The views from Oia's cliffs towards the other islands are beyond perfection. The white painted houses, instead of built, almost seamed like if they were carved on the cliffs and turned all the landscape into some kind of surrealistic painting - to this day I'm still convinced that Dali must be acquaintance of the local architects!

Speaking of surrealism, before boarding to Greece remember that Greeks use an unique alphabet so simple daily tasks like reading a menu or the morning newspaper can be rather challenging. You can't imagine how many times did I wish I had some handy translation services at my disposal :)


Like I stated before the beauty of the sights is nearly impossible to describe, with that in mind, allow me to show it in pictures. Above a normal view from the streets of Fira, Santorini's capital city, and bellow a detail from a church taken from one of the countless balconies of the cliffs of Oia, a small town on the North of the island. Amazing views right...

Since sights aren't all in a travel let me tell you about the local food. In Santorini, much like in other regions of Greece, the food is wonderful. The Mediterranean influence can be easily noted in the local dishes by the abundant use of olives and olive oil, cheeses, and herb seasonings. Besides this you can also count with a wide variety of magnificent salads and a very good selection of wines.


Also a note for the people on the island, they were all super friendly. Apart the obvious language barrier (I'm from Portugal and I speak zero Greek, much like most of the Greeks do when it comes to speaking Portuguese) everyone tried to make use of their best English and everything went great.

I leave you with the article title - Santorini, perfection to say the least! - and with the usual thanks note to the Open Galleries site for the lovely set of Santorini photos.