Mondays are for dreaming: Santorini

In honor of Valentine’s Day, I’m going to write this week’s Monday Dreaming post about the most romantic place I’ve ever been. Interestingly, this is one of the few trips I’ve taken in my adult life that I had no hand in planning. It was our honeymoon and since the location was meant to be a surprise, Matt made all of the arrangements.

Many people island hop on trips to Greece, but my husband decided that we would have a more fun and relaxing time if we went to one (quite remote) island and stayed there for the entire ten days. This was a great decision on his part as we found that there was plenty to keep us occupied.

Santorini is believed to be the origin of the Atlantis legend. Once a circle, a volcano (which is still live) erupted there in 1500 BC and sank half the island into the sea. It is now shaped like a crescent moon, with the volcano still smoldering across from the main island. The water in between the two is called the caldera and some of the prettiest hotels you’ll find anywhere are perched high on cliffs overlooking it. Oia (also spelled Ia) is a small town on the northern tip of the island with spectacular views all around.

So what did we do for ten days on this tiny island? We went to the beach.

We hiked and took pictures of the many remote churches.

We strolled through the streets of Oia and the larger town of Fira (also spelled Thira) and admired the gold jewelry, which the island is famous for, in all of the shop windows. Like everyone else, we gathered at the tip of the island to see the sun set.

We ate at many wonderful tavernas, most of them with outside dining. Our favorite was Finikia’s Place where we had a wonderful meal of fried eggplant; cheese croquettes; fava beans; eggplant salad; chicken slouvaki; and spaghetti with garlic, onions, nutmeg, mushrooms, tomato sauce, and cream. This feast was followed by complimentary glasses of homemade ten-year-old dessert wine.

We took a boat ride to see the volcano; swim in the nearby sea, which is warmed by hot springs; and had lunch on the island of Thirasia, another small remnant of the original island, which sits off the tip of Ia and feels like the most remote spot on the planet.

And most lovely of all, we spent lots of time sitting on the terrace of the little cave-house we had rented, enjoying the sun, admiring the view, and drinking retsina, the local wine. These traditional houses are built into the side of the cliff and are designed to stay cool even on the hottest days. Ours was called the Lava Oia, and I recommend it highly. (Although we were there over ten years ago, it is still run by the same proprietress. This is the woman who over the course of our stay arranged for our rental car; gave us local wine, tomatoes, and cucumbers; and, when she discovered that our last day there was my birthday, gave me a beautiful book about the architecture on the island).

Although Oia is beautiful and remote and romantic in every way, it would also make a great destination for a family trip, especially if you and your kids like bikes and hikes and beaches and boats. The room we stayed in for our honeymoon would be perfect for a family – spacious, and with a small kitchen. The Greeks are extremely friendly and generous and readily offered help, information, and gifts. In fact, I remember the two of us talking idly while there about bringing our yet-to-be-born children there.

Or, of course, you could just leave the kids at home. I’d understand.