The Daily Diary of a Wandering Restaurateur
May 16 - Santorini Road Trip
Our transportation for the day was a Fiat Doblo. It handled well and would, in fact, hold seven people comfortably ... but only if at least three of them were children! It was snug for six adults ... but I was driving and had plenty of space! We got to Akrotiri at the extreme south end of the island only to discover that it was closed. We later found out that the site is likely to be shut down for a year because of an accident where part of the roof collapsed and killed a visitor. There are accusations of poor construction, improper inspections, and the like -- the end result being a typical bureaucratic blame game that has brought everything to a screeching halt. It will probably stay that way until the various agencies pin the blame on someone. In the meantime, everyone else loses out.
From the southern end of the caldera we had a good view of Ia in the distance. When we looked down, we were right on top of what we think is the site where the cruise ship sank a few months ago. Hard to tell for sure, but it appears that you can see it lying below the surface. It was a little creepy.
We did manage to make it to a beach where we could at least say we had splashed in the Aegean Sea. The water is still quite chilly, however, so swimming was not really an option. We managed to dodge the busses, but had to watch out for other hazards to navigation.
Our last stop of the day was the little fishing village of Amoudi, tucked below the town of Ia. It is a pleasant spot with a small fishing fleet, tavernas along the water, a few small lodgings ... and 277-step stairway up to Ia. The weather was far too hot for me, but Don Krump, the small red smudge on the right, headed off to walk back to the house. We beat him home, but not by all that much.
© 2007 Restaurant Doctor
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