Santorini, Page 2 ..
Friday morning, 4:30 A.M., May 4th ..
The frustrating thing about trying to photograph the moon setting over the volcano and the sea is that you can't. What the picture will do is remind us of its incredible beauty.
For thousands of years people have watched sunsets like this from this spot. Did the citizens of Atlantis muse about the beauty spread before them, too, or were they only another myth like the gods of ancient Greece?
(Get ready, since 'watch sunsets' is what people do here, you're likely to see a lot of them in the days ahead ..)
Among the parts of a trip which live in our memory are the people we meet throughout the journey. Like the two kids in the Athens airport, waiting for the flight. One strummed his guitar and asked if we had ever been to Santorini and if we thought he'd like it. "Oh, yes. You'll like it. I promise." The other, brooding and serious, obviously on his first youthful quest for the "meaning of life," studied a paperback of Hemmingway.
The young man on the plane from Dubai had traveled throughout the world, and when I asked what had struck him most about his travels, he replied, "That people everywhere are really the same inside. Some good, some not good. But everywhere the same. And if you are kind, they are usually kind in return."
Marina, the maid who cleans our apartment each morning came here from her native Ukraine to work, because she has a daughter in school in Odessa and must pay her tuition. No matter how hard you work there, she says, you can't earn enough to buy more than bread and milk. She speaks with great sorrow of the current situation which exists at home. Still, she is cheerful and helpful, and hopes for a happier future for her country. It is one thing to see on TV the problems the mafia is causing in her homeland, and quite another to talk with the gentle young woman who lives with the reality.
Many restaurants and shops perch along the rim of the volcano. Reaching them is the challenge. You need to be part mountain goat and part eagle.
Dick is a fan of Greek salads under all circumstances. And here? The ambiance makes them even tastier.
And, Dick's final thought for the day ..
You thought I was kidding yesterday, talking about the view from the bathroom? Here it is again .. we have the same one from the kitchen.
For all it's beauty, this is hard scrabble land. Grape vines do well in black volcanic ash, and so do tomatoes, but not much else.
Geraniums blooming in a construction site, and daisies struggling in a rock and concrete walkway
Whatever else Santorini may be, it's no place for a dirt farmer
Meanwhile, your staff on Santorini is hard at work on tomorrow's edition .. have a great weekend!!