Santorini - Day 9

Departure time is 9:30a today. We had a fair night's sleep but the wind was blowing through chairs on the deck above us and "howling" most of the night, very strange. The front desk said they would move them today, I hope they did! So far we haven't heard it again. 

First we trekked down the slope to the bus, then we headed to the archaeological site of Akrotini to visit the prehistoric site of the excavations. Professor Marinatos discovered this area and began the dig. The timing was good for us because visiting here in the rain is fine due to the covered area over the excavations. This is another astonishing site that is only 20% excavated, so there is much more to find, they have found 35 dwellings so far. One of the areas or rooms were very small and they have concurred it must have been a brothel due to the suggestive mosaics that were found from the walls. Akrotini is the fourth city built upon the ruins of three other cities that still lie beneath it. There are a lot of unanswered questions to this dig because they have not found any human remains. Where did the people go when the volcano erupted. They were not found "frozen" in time like Pompeii. Perhaps they had warning signs? Of course there is so much more to excavate they may find more answers in the future. Thinking about a time line, this eruption happened 1615 - 1600 BC, the exact date has not been determined. This is at least 1100 years before Pompeii and 10 times the size of Pompeii. This is also much older than what we saw in Delos. Ash from this eruption is noted on the growth rings on the Giant Sequoias where we live in CA so it was huge! The ash traveled very far changing the climate on this island and other areas nearby for years afterwards. They found indoor plumbing upon excavation and I found the merchant containers especially interesting. There were frescoes on the walls and they have pieced together quite a few of them, which are on display in Fira at the Prehistoric Museum near our hotel. Most of the colors they used where from minerals but the yellow color was made from Saffron. The  people used stone and rock for construction but they also made bricks from the available materials. Wood framed the doors and windows. They have found many items preserved in the eruption and they have used the same methods of casting like Pompeii to discover the how the original pieces looked. There was even a small animal statue found in a box. It was 80% gold, 11% silver, and 1% copper. Archaeologists believe the people planned to return as they stored so many things under beds and such to protect them from collapse during earthquakes. There are some pretty large volcanic bombs in the area, maybe 4'x4' in approximate size. They even found cooking utensils in one of the houses still preserved under the ash. Linear age writings were also discovered! It is an amazing place to visit. They have yet to discover even one trace of human remains. Hopefully, they will and the unanswered questions of Akrotini will come to light and they will know the fate of the people who lived here so long ago. 

Indoor Plumbing (toilet)

Storehouse - Merchant Jugs and Jars

Stairway

 Beds

Papyrus Mosaic Found in pieces & restored 

Boys Playing Mosaic - So Egyptian Looking

Gold Statue Found in Box in 1999

The Clay Box

From the excavation site at Akrotini our expert bus driver took us up to the top of Profitis Ilias Mountain for the views. The road up there is narrow and winding ... It did make me pretty nervous but I guess the driver knows what he is doing. The views were spectacular even with the rain but I was happy when we were off of the mountain. 

Views from Profitis Ilias Mountain

The next stop was the little village of Pyrgos. I am sure this would have been delightful if not for the rain. However, we made the best of it by finding an ATM and getting more Euros and having a cappuccino at a local cafe before getting back on the bus and heading back to the hotel. This is a picturesque little town of 800 people, our guide today lives in this town. There are 60 privately owned churches in town. Many people own a church and open it for special occasions. On Sunday, people go to church at a public church, not one of the privately owned churches. We stopped in a little shop and planned to buy some wine but it was very expensive. John and I already decided we wanted to go back to Mama Thira for lunch, so we will have some wine there. 

I was surprised when we got to Mama Thira, they remembered us from yesterday! We had a nice quiet corner table with a beautiful albeit rainy view of the Caldera and surrounding area. Our appetizer today was dolmades, which were served warm with a sauce and tomatoes and cucumbers. The entire dish was sprinkled with fresh dill and thin lemon slices complemented the dish.We both agreed they were the best we ever tasted. After that we shared a Greek salad (they are always huge), and we both has a filet for our entrée. My filet had a peppercorn sauce, which was delicious. Both entrées included a few pieces of grilled vegetables, rice, and roasted potatoes. Our TWO pieces of filet were served on top of a fresh pita. What a marvelous meal. We asked for our check as we are stuffed and we have a box of leftovers for our dinner tonight. Much to our surprise they brought out an exquisite dessert as a gift for us. We didn't think we could eat another bite, but we did! The dessert was a scoop of vanilla ice cream with cherry sauce and a thin drizzle of lemon sauce. There was one "filled cookie" on each side of the ice cream. I asked what it was called and the waiter just said "from Crete" - these cookies were not terribly sweet but very delicious. The filling was sort of like cheese cake and each bite really just melted in your mouth. Somehow we managed to waddle back to our nearby hotel and collapse in an epicurean coma!

Lunch - Lunch - & More Lunch!

Dolmades

 Greek Salad

John's Filet

My Filet

Complementary Dessert!

We relaxed the rest of the afternoon. We have a free day tomorrow until 5p so we plan to walk around town some more then as the sun is supposed to return tomorrow. I think it is true because by the time I am posting this blog the sun has come out and set, the clouds are disappearing!

A little more information about Santorini - 30% of the island is grapevines. Inhabitants number 15K. There are 13 villages or towns each with their own elementary school, three middle schools, and three high schools. There is no college so young people go to Athens or Crete for further studies. Usually they choose Crete because it is closer. Most are coming back to Santorini because the hope of finding work here is improving. Until 1956, all the structures were made of stone, now concrete is used. Structures cannot be more than two levels due to the threat of earthquakes. Rounded tops on the buildings have more elasticity in earthquakes than flat roofs. One of the main exports used to be pumice but it is no longer exported.   

About the wine - Wine has been cultivated here for more than 5000 years. In recent times the vineyards look quite different than what we see in the states. When the vines are young they weave them into basket shapes. This protects both the vines and the grapes from the fierce winds here on the island. We were unable to get out into a field for a photograph because of the rain but I found these photos online that look identical to what we saw in the fields. Vineyards comprise 30% of the island. I was surprised to hear that because it doesn't look that way, but that's what we were told.  

Santorini Vineyards