Santorini

Travel Woman

Fira, Santorini
	Richard and I are sitting a coffee/sandwich shop in downtown Fira. If you look across the street you'll see the blue doors on the second floor - this was the internet cafe.
	Here I am at the internet cafe in Fira - behind me is a room with about ten terminals. They sell their time prepaid in 1/2 hour and 1 blocks. One half hour cost us 700 drachmas - about two bucks.
	We are literally standing on the edge of a cliff! It's hard not to love Fira - the sights and sounds are tantalizing. When we turned around and looked down - this was view!
	This is my favorite fruit market - it also became a landmark for us. We rented a car one day and drove all over the island - while trying to find Imerovigli we passed this fruit stand four times. Keep in mind it is in downtown Fira - about one block from the internet cafe.
If you know me, you know I love penguins. It is only right that in our wanderings I found a penguin laundromat!
Akrotiri, Santorini
	These pictures were taken on Red Beach - the sand is black but the cliffs in back are red. Notice on the picture on the left in the back you'll see people walking down a path - this is how you get to this beach! In the picture to the right you'll see Richard standing at the top of the path.
See the little white spots below? Those are the beach chairs and umbrellas! The water is comfortable and most of the sunbathers were topless. In the U.S. this is considered very daring (and not many beaches even have the choice). Overseas it is pretty common - and all shapes and sizes participate in it.


		Ia has the most beautiful sunsets in the world. Hundreds of people come out every day and line the caldera just to watch the sunset. The sun is pink here - and reflects onto the water and back into your heart.
		As the sun got closer to the water it became more and more orange and the whole world was reflected in the light.
		We were standing in a church patio during sunset. I thought the iron bars with the sunset behind it would make a good picture. I was right. Almost done -- blues and pinks and a sailboat too.
		This is the path up the mountain - donkeys carry people up and down all day long. Blue doors all over Greece! Here's another one in Ia.
		We got to see a Greek wedding. This is the reception area. All afternoon they played Greek music. Imagine our joy - sunset, live Greek music and love everywhere. I passed these three women on my way back to the car. When I asked if I could take their picture, they thought I wanted them to take our picture.
Kokkinos Villas - Akrotiri, Santorini
		Kokkinos Villas are located in the city of Akrotiri. The Villas themself are built into the side of a cliff, overlooking the Aegean Sea and the city of Fira across the way. This picture is taken at the top of the driveway. You can see the steps leading down and the tops of the villas behind me.
	This is Mr. Kokkinos and me. We are standing outside the reception area (also known as the breakfast area).		There is no T.V. at Kokkinos Villas. So we told stories, laughed a lot, cooked dinner and one night even dressed up. The French girls who stayed below us took this picture.
		Speaking of cooking dinner......Richard here sitting down to one of the many fabulous meals he cooked. You'll notice the salad, bottle of water and glass of retsina -- staples at every meal.
See the tiny black spot in the water? That is a submarine! We were sitting on the terrace one afternoon and noticed we had company. The sub stayed in the bay for a couple of hours and then left.
Imerovigli, Santorini
		Honeymoon Villas swimming pool. The water flows over the edge into a smaller pool. Honeymoon Villas is in Imerovigli on Santorini. Yanni and Maria are the owners.
And this is Yanni! He is currently at work, on the phone beside the pool In addition to running the Villas, he also has a couple of yachts that he does tours with and he teaches young people to scuba dive. He's a busy happy man!