Becks and the Cities

Tuesday ~ June 14th, 2022

We woke up to the most incredible breakfast spread ever! I love how typical European breakfasts include a variety of cheeses and cold cuts to choose from, along with a few pastries and fruit. Since we’re in Greece, I obviously grabbed a side of tomato and cucumber (quite a balanced meal!). To top it off, there was freshly squeezed orange juice! Yeah, I could get used to this!

Today, Tristan and I had an afternoon wine tour planned! Before the van picked us up (and before the crowds hit the streets), we walked up the hill to explore the iconic whitewashed, cube-shaped buildings with blue accents that make up Oia Village. Not only were the buildings beautiful, the structures were accompanied by a backdrop of the bluest sea, which seamlessly blended into the sky. I was speechless!

With no real destination in mind, we continued along the smooth winding paths that interconnected and occasionally interrupted now and then by a small church. We wandered around until we eventually reached the Venetian castle at the northwestern tip of the island, which looks down at Amoudi Bay.

While it wasn’t too challenging going down the 278 stairs, I was not mentally prepared for what the journey going up would be like. 😂 They do have donkeys that help with transportation, but I’m not into that idea.

Amoudi used to serve as a shipping port, and the buildings located here served as warehouses. However, in 1956, there was a major earthquake. Since then, the town has began rebuilding along the promenade. In Amoudi Bay you can see the red volcanic rocks built from ignimbrit/ hardened tuff (an igneous rock), which formed as a result of a volcanic eruption and the falling out of pyroclastic materials (pieces of rock in solid form). These were bonded together with hot, liquid volcanic ash, creating a highly porous, sedimentary and acid rock.

Once we reached the bottom, we explored the restaurants situated on the water’s edge. A couple we met at the Athens airport recommended a sunset dinner at Dimitris. Unfortunately, the restaurant was closed for an unknown reason when we tried to make reservations, so we ate at a neighboring restaurant instead (just as fabulous, but more on that later).

After hiking back up to the top, we popped in a café for a refreshing drink and coffee. Once we cooled off, we made our way back to the hotel, changed into our swimsuits, and went to the pool. The amazing staff at The View brought out drinks and we relaxed in the sun until it was time to change for our wine tour!

We were the first of the groups to be picked up, so we chatted with our tour guide. After everyone was on, we quickly realized three of the five groups were honeymooners (woo!) and everyone was from the east coast in America (minus one couple from Texas). Tristan and I had our fingers crossed for great couples to share the experience with, and we got lucky!

We stopped at three established family wineries, toured the surrounding countryside, and sipped on delicious volcanic wines. Our guide was very informative and noted colors, smells, and flavors distinctive to the wines. Each tasting was paired with Cycladic cheeses (which I was thankful to have due to the heavy pours!). To my delight, I learned Santorini is renowned for their excellent white wines and Vinsanto—a desert wine made from late-harvest, sun-dried white grapes and aged for at least two years in oak. These wines include flavors or plums, menthol, and rum.

We learned the grape growers of Santorini use a unique bush-training system, known as kouloura, to grow the grapes. As the vines grow, they are woven into baskets with the grapes facing toward the inside of the ring. The vine’s leaves and vine provide protection for the grapes from harsh winds and sunlight. These are dry vineyards – no water is added – so it’s all about protecting the fruit from excessive heat and gathering enough moisture to keep the vine alive.

We ended the tour with a sunset toast and group photo!

After the tour, we had dinner at Apsithia Restaurant and watched a full moon rise above the island’s capital city of Fira. The iPhone just doesn’t quite capture how spectacular the moon was (the whole restaurant ran to watch the moon rise behind the town). We ended the night with gelato- and I went with Chocolate Hazelnut of course!