STILL IN THE GREEK ISLANDS

FROM SANTORINI TO CRETE - SEPTEMBER 2006

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"ISLANDS - According to Wikipedia, Greece has some 1400 islands, 169 of which are inhabited, though only 78 have more than 100 inhabitants. The map I borrowed from WorldAtlas.com shows some of the most important of them. As we may see, lunch in Santorini, dinner in Heraklion is not a difficult task!"

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SANTORINI


"RED BEACH, located near the archaeological site of Akrotiri, is one of the most beautiful beaches of Santorini. It attracts lots of people because of the blocks of red and black volcanic rocks one may find there. This view, taken from the top end of the rocky route that brings you from the car parking, before starting walking down the rocks to the hot sand, is one of my favourites. If you look along the rock you'll see that it turns white, thus explaining the name of the next beach"


"HOW TO GET THERE - There are only two ways of getting to the Red Beach: either by car (and then by walking from the parking lot through the rocky route) or by the sea with these small fishing boats (used in summer for tourism purposes) that depart from the ports of Akrotiri and Fira"


"BLACK SAND - The sand is reddish black and may get quite hot, thus making it difficult to sit straight onto. Actually, with this kind of sand, the sun seems to beat down particularly strong..."


"BLUE SEA - The water is clear and warm enough..."




"THE DOLPHINS is a nice restaurant quite close to the parking lot of Red Beach, near the ruins of Akrotiri, in a wonderful location right at the water's edge. It's used by locals, namely for the Sunday lunch, and has a good combination of Greek salad and freshly caught fish..."

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CRETE

The FlyingCat departs around 5:30 p.m. and takes one hour and forty five minutes to bring you from Santorini to Heraklion, so that you may have dinner at a decent (not Greek) hour...


"AGIOS TITUS - The beautiful church of Saint Titus, patron of the island, was first built by the Byzantines around 962 A.D. The Venetians used it as a Catholic Cathedral, and the Turks converted it into a mosque. The church was destroyed by an earthquake in 1856, rebuild as a mosque and, after the liberation, converted into a Greek Orthodox church in 1923. The holy relics of Saint Titus, returned from Venice in 1966, may be seen inside (the Venetians had taken the golden skull with them when the city fell to the Turks in 1669). The photo is blurred, as always, but I couldn't resist"



"OUTDOOR CAFES - The cafe outdoor lounges in Heraklion are amazing!"



"LOUKOULOS is considered as one of the fanciest restaurants in Heraklion, with a wonderful terrace garden and an antique interior. The fish was superb, and I don't show the excellent lobster pasta"


"LAST QUARTER - Night view from an Executive suite at the Lato Boutique Hotel"