The Daily Diary of a Wandering Restaurateur
May 12 - Welcome to Santorini
Not much to show you for most of the day today -- airports are really not that photogenic -- but when we got to Santorini, it started to get interesting.
Sunset was just ending as our van left the airport. Our villa sits right on the edge of the caldera, what is left of the mouth of the ancient volcano that once was Santorini. It erupted around 1500 BC sinking half the island and, some speculate, taking the city of Atlantis down with it. Our little village of Ia is the best spot on the entire island for sunset-watchers and we were told to expect a parade of tour busses to arrive nightly for the occasion, a warning that turned out to be ominously accurate.
Up the twenty irregular steps from our villa, across the courtyard in front of the church and across the main road is Taverna Laokasti, which looked very inviting to four very hungry travelers. The taverna and the eleven villas behind it are presided over by Spiro, our new best friend on Santorini. Spiros is a Santorini native who lived in Washington, DC for twenty years (from 1956 to 1976 -- what an amazing span of time that was in the country's history and particularly in Washington!) As a result, his English is very good, which has definitely made it easier for us to get acclimated. He also has a playful wit about him that makes it even more fun. We ate and drank well, connected with Don and Sharon (good thing, since I doubt they could have found the house in the daylight, let alone in the dark!) and promised to return in the morning for breakfast. I have a feeling we are in for a very good week!
© 2007 Restaurant Doctor
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