The Daily Diary of a Wandering Restaurateur
May 13 - First Impressions of Santorini

Our day started a little earlier than we anticipated. The villa is located just below one of the two main churches in town and today is Sunday. So of course, the first bells rang at 7am and then several times during the course of the morning. Don Krump went up for part of the service and reported that apparently it goes on for about three hours with people coming and going during the ceremony. They broadcast the service over a loudspeaker into the churchyard, I suppose so everyone can feel like they attended whether they actually did or not!

Since we had no food in the house, we took Spiro up on his offer of breakfast at the taverna. There was no menu, just an enthusiastic host out to make his guests happy. So it all started with a simple, "What would you like for breakfast?" and he took it from there. We had a terrific Sunday brunch -- ham and cheese omelettes, toast, coffee, fresh-squeezed orange juice ... and all the better because it was all a labor of love. Very civilized.

We got a few directions from Spiro as to where to find a market and wandered off down the pedestrian street (the only other street is for cars, busses, trucks, and motorbikes of every description). This was the first time we have really had a chance to see what the island looks like ... and I think it is fair to say that we were all stunned by what we discovered in the light of day.

Santorini -- at least the village of Ia (pronounced ee-ya) where we are -- is not to be seen as much as experienced and that experience comes from being immersed in it. The startling white of the houses against the blue of the sea and the often deeper blue of the sky took our breath away. As we wandered farther down the road, we encountered more and more interesting shops, tavernas, restaurants and churches (lots of little churches). About this time we started to understand that there is a lot more going on at this end of the island than we ever expected. Rather than try to describe it all, just take a look at the photos ... and be prepared to sigh heavily!

Around Ia

Sunday Brunch and Beyond


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