Walking not running
Thursday we decided not to run after the hill training yesterday and headed into the main town of Fira on the bus. We wandered the lovely cobbled streets and followed the laneways along the caldera to the next town.In 1500 BC the volcano blew up the island, causing the middle of the island to collapse into the sea and leaving the rim or caldera cliffs rising dramatically from the Aegean. The lost city of Atlantis is said to be under the waves here. The towns of this side of the island are built into the cliff sides. Traditional white and blue houses are crammed together and connected via steps and laneways that weave between them. We decided to see how far we could go along the edge of the caldera, passing through the next village where the wedding was to be held and out the other side.
We could then see that there was a path that wound it's way along the caldera edge to the last town on the island, Oia. We didn't know how far it was but decided to see how far we would get. We ran out of water at one point and thought we might have to turn back. Fortunately we found a little bar on the cliff top and bought some more before tackling a steep part of the path where we could see there were no buildings. 
This has to be one of the most spectacular walks of the world. Once you leave the towns behind the path narrows and winds it's way up and down the ragged edge of the caldera, the blue of the sea and the rest of the island and it's sister islands laid out below. It was hot and made hotter by the fact that most of the rocks are black and radiate the heat back at you. Over the final hill and we could see that Oia was not far now. After about 3 hours of walking we entered the the classic Santorini town, the one that appears in all the brochures and postcards.
We were meandering rather than walking so although it took us 3 hours I don't think it was more than 13-14km. We found a pretty taverna perched on the caldera and had a fantastic lunch of Greek salad, stuffed eggplant, baded sardines and a bottle of Santorini's crisp white wine, made from the rare Asyrtiko grape. Needless to say Mr Lulu, aka Wine Trail Runner was happy to find some good wines here in Greece!
posted by Lulu @ 5:40 PM
3 Comments:
Oh Lulu sounds like you are having a fantastic time *she says very, very, very jealouly* :-)
Take care of yourself and Mr Lulu,
J
Good description of the island. Sounds warmer and more exotic than centennial park. Pictures would be good.
That walk sounded like hard work but well rewarded with great views and lunch. It sounds like you're having a lovely time - very envious!
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