Evening trip: The Ia Sunset

We spend the morning in Pyrgos, the afternoon in Thira and

then we caught a bus to the northern tip of Santorini, Ia. This

town is world famous for it's sunset... reportedly the most

photographed sunset in the world. Ia (or Oia) is yet another

enchanting Greek town with those trademark whitewash

houses, peering over a sheer drop into the sea. Parts of this

town were destroyed in the 1950's when Santorini's most

recent earthquake hit. The locals patched their town together

in a truly impressive way, showing how adamant they were to

stay put. Thousands of tourists flock to the same point every

day, just to watch an event which you can see anyday in most

parts of the globe.

Below: A group of travellers sit on a wrecked stone turret,

gaining one of the finest vantage points for the sunset.

We arrived at Ia some two hours before sunset which was a bit early, but at least we got a seat on the bus. We definitely weren't the first to arrive, but we managed to get ourselves a great view from the top of the town. Like most coastside resorts on the island, there's a big height difference between town and sea, Ia has yet more steep footpaths criss-crossing their way down to the base, with tourists lining up on every step. Some more well prepared visitors had booked into a restaurant with a sun view. (I'm sure that was a pretty penny!) Below: View over Ia's rooftops to

the volcano. The reason why

Ia's sunset is so popular is

all down to

geography.

There is no

land mass

blocking the

horizon so

you actually

get to see

the sun

vanish into

nothingness.

The sunset

is the scene

on many-a-

postcard not

just on the island but all over the globe. It's also used regularly by the movie

industry. In fact, as we were leaving we passed a film unit working on a new

film starring Angelina Jolie - couldn't tell you which one. Below: The sun sets

behind Thirasia.

While we were there

we noticed a wedding

taking place in the

town church. The

newlyweds had their

photos taken between

the crowds and then

made their way to

a waiting boat in the harbour for champagne by dusklight.

There is a daily boat which sits in the middle of nowhere

while the sun disappears. Below: The base of the sun hits

the horizon. Despite the pictures,

we didn't pick the best day to go,

because there was just one, small

cloud in the sky. The best scenes

are made when the sky is busier.

Here's a shot taken from Perivolos

(right) around dusk. It would

have been great to see the view

from Ia on that night. Still, it's

the luck of the draw. And that's

our tour of Santorini. Remember

that no matter how good your

camera is, the real thing is ten

times more vibrant and colourful

so do yourself a favour and go to

one of Greek's less well known islands. There are 660 of them after all!Jon P

Day Trip to: Nea Kameni, Palia Kameni, Hot Springs and Thirasia

Oh yes, when we do a day trip, we really do a

day trip. Starting off at Athinios Port. This is

at the base of a cliff, linked to the island by

this very impressive, windy road... not recom-

mended in a 53 seater. The port is used by

locals and travellers at all hours and seemed

to be busier than the airport! There are

regular links to the islands of Anafi, Ios,

Sikinos, Folegandros and Crete. If you feel

really adventurous and have plenty of Euros

you can island hop to Athens and get a flight

back. We were heading to the port to see the

rest of Santorini - many moons ago it was just

one island. Now, thanks to several earthquakes

and volcanic explosions, Santorini is now five

islands... The main one, making a crescent

shape, two other islands which complete

a doughnut shape, then two more islands in the middle.

This picture not only shows how precariously balanced

our bus was as it headed down the side of the cliff,

it also shows Thira Port, followed by Nea Kameni which

was blasted out of the sea in 1707 - that island's young-

er than Malmesbury Abbey! To the left of Nea Kameni

is the older island of Palia Kameni which has existed

since 197BC. Behind these islands is the other side of

Santorini; Thirasia which was part of the mainland

until 236BC when an eruption blew a number of holes

in the land, creating the islands. After boarding the

cruise ship, it's not long before the cameras start

clicking, looking back at where we've just come, the

idea that buses and lorries regularly make the trip up

the mountainside is a wee bit incomprehendable. Then

attention turns to our right to look that the capital of

the island, Fira (below). Once again, you can see a

steep, twisting road leading up to the city from the

coast. Fira has it's own port which is smaller than

Athinios - the buildings all seem to be hanging periliously

close to the edge of the cliff; not just here in Fira but in

every coastside town and village on the island. There are

also remains of abandoned mineshafts all the way along the

side of the rocks. Santorini is a goldmine when it comes to

pumice and sponge. These mines were shut down but some of

the ladders, shafts and chutes still remain. Fira is the island's

new capital city - the original one was perched on the highest

point (see first article). Fira is full of pricey little restaurants,

and has street after street of quaint little shops and market

stalls. You can walk down to the port or, for the lazier among

us, you can catch a cablecar from top to bottom. Fira has

a cathedral in it's centre and several museums. Buses run

to the capital from all over the island - we stopped here for

a couple of hours on our way to the northern tip of Santorini,

the town of Oia (more on that later). Parts of the capital city

and Oia were destroyed in the 1950s - that was Santorini's last

major eruption to date. Houses were thrown from the edge of

the cliff, and yet residents continue to build them and rebuild

them in defiance at nature's favourtism for playing with this

part of the globe. The biggest eruption to hit Santorini was

around 1650BC. Several earthquake and eruptions came

together to make one of the

largest explosions in history.

This picture shows more clearly

just how close the city is to

falling into the sea below.

We're looking south here so the

land in the distance is the south-

ern part of the main island,

which includes the village of

Perivolos where we were stay-

ing. Santorini is visited by

tourists from all over the globe

and isn't considered to be a

destination used solely by the

Brits and Germans (such as the Canaries).

We met Americans, French, Japanese and

even Greek Mainlanders who couldn't resist

visiting the place. This picture shows the

edge of the island, and you can see why some

people describe Santorini's rock structure as

a chocolate fudge cake. The layers signify how

many eruptions and changes the land has gone

through over the centuries. The white layer on

top is pumice. This piece of rock is the end of

Thirasia. Below shows another amazing

display of how unique Santorini is - two coves

in the mainland. At the far left of the picture

is the town of Oia which is based right at the

far end of the island. The next piece of land

jutting out contains the settlements of

Imerovigli and Firostefari with

the capital city of Fira shown

slightly right of the centre. The

closest piece of land leads

around to the port where we

started. The boat first took us

to Palia Kameni, an island which

is just a couple of thousand years

old. It is home to a hermit and

a family of mountain goats.

Naturally there is a church

(pictured). But the main

feature of this island is the hot

springs which, although it

sounds romantic was actually very muddy and stank of piss. After a quick swim we then headed to the far island of Thirasia which has it's own port, beach and three little towns. Manolas is a row of shops and homes at the foot of the cliff. There's a pebbly beach so most of the tour dipped their toes in the water and watched the fish swim around them. We headed up the zigzag footpath to the town of Agrilla. 45 minutes later we arrived in a ghost town (right) with the most breathtaking views imaginable (left). There are shops, but they were closed, there's a hotel, but I don't think it was all that busy, there's a cashpoint, but it had no money in it. There was, however a restaurant which overlooked everywhere and everything. The wooden frame was dangling over the drop like nothing we'd seen before. This was another town which suffered in the 1956 eruption. Still, we were made to feel very welcome by the restaurant owners, who must be happy to see anyone

(knowing that

whoever climbs

that high will be

in dire need of

refreshments. This

is the view from

our table (Left)

at the Panoramic.

Next challenge:

getting down to the

shore again!

Back onto the boat

and onto the next

stop. The volcano itself (picture above right is taken from the top with Ia to the right and Thirasia to the left) is a fairly new addition to Santorini, appearing in 197BC. Steam and sulphur still bellows out of holes in the rock (left). These pictures don't capture perspective so we'd recommend you go along yourself to see just how deep some of the craters are and how hot the surface is. It's not a high volcano, just 340 feet, but there's enough views to tire you out and we were cream-crackered by the time we made it back down to the boat. To the right is our favourite rock (and we took pictures of hundreds of them!) which has been blown in half either by an eruption or an earthquake. It also shows two distintive layers, a smooth surface on the top and a rough texture lower down. If any geography experts can explain what happened to this rock to make it look like that, please get in touch. And that's another day in the life of the travelling Jackdaws.

LOADING

The volcanic past of Santorini

We were here

Perivolos

  We stayed in the resort of Perivolos, about

a mile away from the centre of the more

popular destination, Perissa. Perivolos

doesn't currently have much to offer

visitors with only a handful of restaurants

and very few shops. However, it makes up

for amenities by providing a fantastic

beach which isn't sand, and it isn't

pebbles. Tiny fragments of volcanic rock

in every colour you can think of make up

this beach. Sounds a bit odd... and it is.

It's not sharp so it doesn't cut - it dries

quickly and just falls off you soon after a

dip in the clear turqoise sea. Tiny fish are

quite at home swimming around your toes

while you sit at the edge of the waves. The

tide is very slow moving and we didn't see a jellyfish all holiday - always a plus point. One word of warning about the beach is to be careful not to go out of your depth. You can stroll out quite far and only be in water two foot deep - then the land suddenly drops away from underneath you. Another disadvantage is that you can't build sand-

castles with the rocks - it

just doesn't work!

We stayed at Robertos which

wasn't the best of choices

but it did us for a fortnight.

It was about a five minute

walk from the beach, with

a bus stop close by. We'll

avoid all the negativities

about our accommodation

and focus on the fact that

it had a gorgeous swimming

pool which overlooked the

resort and the beach.

In all honesty, we had to do

plenty of walking to find

our supper. Perivolos only had a handful of restaurants, and as we went at the end of the

'05 season, half of them had shut

for the winter. Still, a walk down

the semi-lit promenade led us to

a whole host of bars, pubs and

restaurants. Here's our tip if

you're staying in the area... walk

with the sea to your right. The

closer you get to Cape Vesa Vouno

(the mountain between Perissa

and Kamari) the more nightlife

you'll encounter. (Picture: the

hustle and bustle of Perissa!)

Here's our pick of eateries and

drinking holes which you've just

got to try if you're in the area. All

of the places mentioned are on

the seafront between Perissa and

Perivolos. (Please remember, this

was compiled at the end of the

2005 season... things change!)

Once again, another holiday... we must be made of money! This time, intrepid adventurers JT and Ells headed for the Greek island of Santorini. Well, I say island... it was an island once. Now it's a collection of five big rocks in the middle of the sea, blown to pieces by centuries of volcanic eruptions - the most recent one being in 1956! So, here's our guide to one of the most interesting, relaxed and gorgeous places in all the 600+ islands.

This may take a couple of minutes to fully load on dial-up.

Ancient Thira

Thira (or Fira depending on which reference book you pick up) is the capital of Santorini, half way down the west side of the main island (More on that later). But many moons ago, way back in the 9th century BC - that's close to 3,000 years ago, the main settlement was elsewhere. Perched on a clifftop between Perissa and Kamari, Ancient Thira was created by the Dorians - warriors from the mainland who set out to claim Greek's 600+ islands as their own. It is jaw-dropping to consider that this city, which has been through centuries of war, weather, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, still exists as a gargantuan stone ruin.

You can still make out stonework of buildings (pictured) as if it were a giant excavation site. You can walk on the same stones and steps as those who would have lived and worked here all those millennia ago. Looking around the crumbling foundations, you can see pillars and mosaics - specialists have even pin-pointed the stonework which once would have been part of the theatre, there's also remnants of a bath-house. By far the most impressive spectacle of Ancient Thira is the church.

Complete with walls, roof, and altar, it has been preserved in a fantastic condition, which gives you a starting block to imagine what all the other houses, buildings and structures would have looked like in their hayday. The Greek are famous for their ambitions and commitment to religion, in partivular their churches. Wherever you go in whichever part of Greece you will find dozens of small chapels scattered across the fields, in amongst the cliffs and dotted across every town and village - all are white with blue decorations, many with a blue, domed roof and what could be described as a trademark of Greece; the pyramid style arches used to house the church bells.

Although you are unable to enter the church at Ancient Thira, you can peer through the door to see a standard Greek Orthodox setup. Where Christians have the altar, Orthodox have a wooden wall - a hole in the centre is where the preacher performs his surmons.

On either side of the priest - always in the same order - you'll find pictures of Jesus, Mary and the Saint to whom the church is dedicated. This practice is still used today throughout all regions of the Orthodox religion. The church is lit by a single candle, we had to use our night-vision camera for this shot:

But what makes Ancient Thira even more spectacular is it's location. Perched on a clifftop more than 1,800 feet above sea level, this city had an incredible natural defence of sea and rock. It beggars believe to imagine just how these people managed to cart such vast quantities of building material to the top of the Cape Vesa Vouno.  From the Perissa side, it is a fifty minute walk up the steep cliff face to a level platform, where you'll find the gates to the City. From there it is a further twenty minutes up into Ancient Thira itself. For the lazy among you, there is a road from Kamari as far as the level part. Or, you can try our round-the-houses technique of walking to Perissa, getting a water-taxi around the Cape into Kamari, spending an hour walking along the town's pebble beach, looking in the trendy clothes shops, staring in wonderment at the pavements (something lacking in Perivolos), having a couple of milkshakes and then walking up the Kamari Road. (It's a winding 'W' road with more than twenty 180 degree turns).

Of course, by the time we got to the top, they'd closed the gates so we had to walk back down to Perissa and try again another day! Here's a view of Kamari from the top of the road - Ancient Thira is even higher than this! To the top left is the island's airport which you're not allowed to photograph. Oops!

Nature also plays it's part for Ancient Thira is this picture of some trees demonstrates. Centuries of high winds from the Aegean Sea have battered these plants, forcing them to grow at this unusual angle. Some of the greenery was literally hanging over and under the cliffs. There's very little in the way of animals and insects up this high which makes Ancient Thira particularly eerie and silent. The largest creature you'll come across up here is a security guard's dog. Or, failing that, a small lizard - there are hundreds of them everywhere - even in the bars! (More on that later).

This is the view from Ancient Thira of where we were staying. In the foreground is the town of Perissa, followed by Perivolos; just under two miles away as the crow flies... more than two hours worth of trekking by foot. Them lucky crows! You can see it wasn't the best day for exploring with rain in the air. We were in Santorini towards the end of September which is when the weather starts to turn. We had one terrific thunderstorm which more than doubled the size of the waves on the beach for the next three days - in typical fashion for these resorts the streets were partially flooded, electricity was sporadic and we ate in a restaurant by candlelight... all crowded around the only table in the gaffe which wasn't under a hole in the roof.

Just finally, this is the sign from Perissa. It lies. It should be pointing about 60 degrees higher. The top right of this picture is Ancient Thira. Where the land meets the left of the picture is the location of the flat piece of land which links to the Kamari Road.

This attraction

is great for

anyone who's

ever been

interested in

an episode of

Time Team.

For those who

work or have

hobbies based

on archaeology

then this is an

absolute must.

It's totally one

of a kind and

the views and

sights far out-

weigh any pain

and nagging

you might

encounter

while trying

to get there!

BEST ATMOSPHERE

Meteora

This restaurant is THE place to be in Perivolos - everyone seems to eat there. I felt sorry for all the surrounding restaurants... we didn't see anyone dine there for the whole fortnight. Meteora is open all day long, and it's star attraction is the whirlwind waitress, Irini. She really makes you feel welcome on the island and always seems to have the time to give you advice and travel tips. There's plenty on the menu and they even have themed Greek evenings... although we managed to avoid the place that evening!

LOCATION: Perivolos Beach - close to border with Agios Georgios Beach.

BEST DRINKS

Beach Bar

A genuine Greek sports bar with dirt cheap cocktails from dawn til... dawn! In peak season this place is home to beach parties and live DJ sets. While we were there - in the quiter months -  the highlight was Mario - the barman - who could rustle up any number of cocktails in no time at all with his ample muscles and long, flowing hair. Footie or basketball is always on the big screen TV, and Jack Johnson is usually blasting out of the sound system. Bit pricey for normal drinks like beer. Still, it's a great place for chillin' out after dining.

LOCATION: Perissa Beach - only five minutes away from the mountains.

BEST DISH

Charlina - Perissa

There are two Charlina Grillhouses in the resort - the one in Perissa is larger and serves the better dishes. We're in agreement that the Mix Soulaki - a skewered kebab with various meats and chips - was the best meal going in the area. The restaurant itself is a very nice place with a relaxed atmosphere and a separate bar area... the desserts are fantastic too. We tried the Mix Soulaki at the Perivolos branch while we were there... wasn't the same. It was smaller, tougher and didn't have the same, barbecue flavoured sauce.. Yum yum!!!

LOCATION: Clolse to the centre of Perissa.

BEST VALUE

Acropolis

You know when a restaurant has something good about it when it's always heaving. The Acropolis, styled in the theme of Rome's famous landmark, has a wide and varied menu, specializing in pizzas and pasta dishes... it also does a takeaway service. Whichever choice you go for one thing's for certain - you'll get a lot of food for our money. I seem to remember the giant shrimp covered in spaghetti being a particular favourite. Don't really want to quote figures because they'll have changed by now - still, it's worth remembering this place when you're down to your last euros.

LOCATION: South side of Perissa.

BEST BREAKFAST

Best Bar

This was our regular stop first thing in the morning for eggs and bacon... we also paid a few visits to Best at lunchtime, and in the evening... mind you, it was very convenient for us - just over five minutes from our apartment. Lovers of fry-ups beware... certain foods are in short supply on these islands... such as proper sausages and fresh milk. So they make do with alternatives - like UHT packets, Bleh! As well as being a run-of-the-mill restaurant, in high season Best also offers a 'meal to your sunbed' service. Useful for us lazy British holidaymakers.

LOCATION: Perivolos Beach.

BEST PUB STYLEE

?

No I'm not flagging on research, it's called the Question Mark Bar (although in Greece they use a ; instead of a ? so why isn't it called ';'?). They have pool tables, a dart board and around 80 different ales, beers, ciders and the like from all across the globe. They even have an ale list so you can read up on what you're drinking before you order it. The only downside is that ? is quite a pricey place - but at least you can have a game of pool there and get laughed at by a load of French people for being shite. Happens every holiday!

LOCATION: Closer to Perissa than Perivolos, next to the diving school.

BEST ROMANTIC BIT

Perissa

At the end of Perissa there are a number of restaurants all side by side. The layout is as follows... There are the main buildings next to the road, on the other side of the road (which is fairly busy for a single lane track) are the tables, and next to the tables is the sea. If you want to eat by candlelight as the sun sets beside you with the constant noise of waves crashing into the rocks beneath you, then try one of these places... any one of them will do, they all seem to share each other's waiters, each other's menus and each other's kitchens.

LOCATION: At the end of Perissa Beach, a fair old walk from Perivolos.

MAP OF AREA

Akrotiri

One of the places every person, book and website recommends you visit if you're in Santorini is the Akrotiri ruins. This is an ancient city which is being fully excavated. Some of the buildings still stand three storeys high under the volcanic ash - it's believed the city was destroyed around 1600BC... that's 3,600 years ago! But the spooky part of the tale is that no human skeletons have ever been found on the site. This suggests that the Minoans knew that a volcanic explosion was on it's way, and fled the island before the eruption. Our guide book warned us that Akrotiri was currently undergoing a major renovation project - a roof to cover the entire site to protect it from today's climate. A few days before our planned day-trip to the site, this happened...

Needless to say, we didn't see the site. Barman Mario, from the Beach Bar, was doing some building work at the site when this happened - he was first on the scene and pulled several people out from under the rubble. For that week, museums on the island opened their gates for free. So we spent a couple of hours in the capital of Santorini, Fira.

This picture shows a scaled down version of Akrotiri, marking on all the buildings which have been uncovered to this date. Below is some highly impressive wall mosaics which were transferred from the site. The museums also contain artefacts and tools which were used during the rule of the Minoans (anything as far back as 16th century BC). The highlihts included a hollow golden onyx, six foot tall vases and a wide selection of jugs and pots.

Akrotiri has now been reopened to the public. Tours are available of the site.

We were 'ere

THE 2005 MTHREEW 'VERY IMPORTANT THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT GREECE' WEB-GUIDE 

Following our successful

guide to Bulgaria last

year, here's our list of

Do's and Don'ts for the

Islands of Santorini.

TOILET PAPER - It might

seem wrong and at some

point during your stay

you'll forget... but don't

EVER put bog roll down

the lav. It should always

go in the bin (which

will be emptied very

frequently). Greek sewer pipes are a fraction of the size of ours, and struggle with solids. JT had fine fun with his own unique way of testing the system to see what it could take. Enough said on that!

TORCH REQUIRED - Santorini at night is very dark. As soon as you're off the beaten track there are little or no street lights. In Perivolos, 'street lighting' consists of an energy saving light bulb every 100 metres, and not all of them worked! Even the promenade, which was well lit, was still dark in places so for safety's sake, always carry a torch with you.

PAVEMENTS - It's strange the things you miss when they're not there. It took us four days to find a pavement in Santorini. Play it safe and always walk on the left side of the road so you're facing oncoming traffic.

TRANSPORT - Buses are dirt cheap and run regularly... just not to the timetable. We got from one end of the island to the other for just a few Euros each. Taxis are more pricey - €20 for the same journey- and don't run on meters so agree a price with the driver before you get in.

HOSPITALITY - Back to the toilet again... it's customary for Greek

  hotels to only give you one

  toilet roll (to start you off).

  After that you have

  to buy your own.

  Don't get caught

  out by that one!

  SHOES - If you're

  planning on doing

  any travelling,

  make sure you

  have good walking

  shoes that are

  tough and comfort-

  able to wear.

  There are plenty

  of hills on the

  island and even

the flat parts can be very rocky in places.

SOCKETS - They use the standard European electrical sockets in Greece so don't forget to take an adapter to charge your camera or razor.

WATER - Always use bottled water. Their water system is not up to

  scratch by a long way and

  drinking too much of their

  tap water will soon lead to

  tummy troubles... not good

  if you've got to put the toilet

  paper in the bin. See where

  this is going?

  DOGS - It's normal for dog-

  owners to let their animals

  out at night to roam the

  streets, looking for scraps

  and new friends. We patted

  a dog on the head one even-

  ing on the beach. Not only

  did this dog follow us back

  to our apartment door

  (despite being chased off several times), he also brought half a dozen friends with him!

THE 2005 MTHREEW 'VERY IMPORTANT THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT GREECE' WEB-GUIDE 

continued...

THE SEA - Waters around Santorini are very clear and usually calm. This is beneficial not only for health issues but also because you can see any sea creatures from a long way off. We only saw one black and white thing swim by, couldn't tell you what it was... didn't really want to swim out to investigate further! Another point on the sea around the island is that it could easily catch you by surprise; you can walk out quite far and not be in deep water, then, all of a sudden, the land drops away. In short, make sure you don't get out of your depth!

CHURCHES - Hundreds and hundreds of religious places are scattered everywhere, up every hill, in every filed (nearly) and most definitely in every town and village. If you want to look inside these Greek Orthodox churches remember to cover your shoulders and knees at all times and never take any kind of photography in the building.

ETIQUETTE - A couple of points to remember about manners while drinking in Greece whether you're supping a Chardonnay or you're out on the razz... It's customary NOT to drink your glass dry and to only ever fill wine glasses three quarters of the way. This is particularly difficult for alcoholics like us but just try you're best.

SHOWERS - Greece is usually very hot and muggy and it's always tempting to jump straight into the shower when you return from a day of sunbathing or mountain trekking... but it's not as simple as that. Hot water throughout Santorini gets it's energy from solar power. Panels and batteries sit on top of houses and hotels just like satellite dishes do here in Blighty. Showering in the morning is out of the question, unless you want a cold one! So is showering in the evening. The best time to have a quick rinse is between late afternoon and just before sunset. This gives the batteries a chance to charge up.

UTILITIES - Water and electricity supplies, as you may expect when you consider the pipes and cables have to criss-cross between hundreds of islands, is sporadic. Powercuts are quite common across the island and all the locals are very energy conscious. In the hoel where we stayed, your key acted as a fuse - when you took the key out of the socket the lights went out. Water pressure can also fluctuate depending on demand.

RESTAURANTS - You will find restaurants and cafés all over Greece take pride in their appearance and the quality of their service. They are expected to provide bread to go with your meal, whether you're having a three-course gourmet or a salad. Some restaurants will provide this as a free service, others will sneak a few extra pennies onto your bill. This can also be said about the service charge. Check your receipt for any extra charges, if they haven't asked for anything extra then it might be worth considering leaving an extra Euro or two, the recommended tipping limit is 10%.

TOILETS - Unlike some parts of the world, you don't have to spend a penny to take a penny when you're using restuarants in Greece, but there may be a charge to use public conveniences.

SCOOTERS - Scooters are everywhere. Wherever you go, the beach, the city, the top of a mountain, there will be scooters. Locals use them all the time... but so do tourists. Visitors who can't be bothered to walk can also hire themselves quadbikes and golf carts. Every couple of minutes you'll here the engine creeping up behind you as you prepare to dive into the nearest shubbery! But seriously, if you do decide to hire one of those things, have consideration for the fit people among us. Also, if you fall off, hurt yourself or damage the bike you could well end up spending the rest of your holiday in hospital, or the nick.

CRIME - We saw one police car on Santorini... on Day 12. We didn't hear of anyone having anything pinched, we didn't see any violence, everyone seems to get on happily with one another. But just because we didn't see any crime doesn't mean it is non-existent so take the usual precautions.

We hope you find these words of wisdom useful, Santorini is a fantastic place and anyone planning on going there definitely will not regret it!

On our way to Thira we got off the bus early by mistake and ended up in Pyrgos. It's a town which is slap bang in the middle of the island with panoramic views, a maze of footpaths, gorgeous scenery and a couple of restaurants. Well worth a visit if you've got the time. There are two buses an hour which stop in the town, one to Thira

(FIRA) and one to Perissa

(PERISA). Make sure you get on the right one!

Whether you're in Perissa or Perivolos, two buildings will always be in your view: the military base (not shown for obvious reasons) and this church (left) which is perched half way up the mountain towards Ancient Thira. As you make your way up the dusty footpath, it breaks into two with one way taking you to the top Ancient Thira, the other route leads to this church (which seemed to be constantly deserted apart from the occasional tourist).  If you make it to this chapel, you can ring the bell and make yourself heard across the bay! It's not until you're back on the ground and you're looking back over your tracks that you realize just how precarious the track towards the church is.

Below: A clearer shot of the same church, taken from our apartments.

Taken a few hundred feet up, looking down on Perissa we found this small cross which had been built into the side of the footpath. Whether this mark acts as a signpost to signify you're close to a church or whether somebody fell down the side of the cliff at this point will always be a mystery to us. This reinforces just how religious the Greeks and their ancestors truly are. It also makes for a nice shot, as does everything on Santorini.

These little tiny dinosaurs are everywhere! You can be walking along a roadside and you'll occasionally here the russels of these lizards scuttling out of the way. They spend all morning sunbathing, working up the energy to go catching crickets and flies. The more rural your location, the more of these you'll see and in the mountains there are thousands of them. One night when we were drinking in the Beach Bar we saw a lizard wrapped around a tequila bottle. Thinking it was a fake one we commented on their cute pet. Mario said, quite seriously, that they DO make great pets around the home because they eat all the bugs, ants and flies... and that he had one living in his apartment, just like we have spiders. Of course, lizards eat spiders, so it makes sense not to keep arachnids as pets in Greece.