Scirocco Apartments

OIA SUNSETS - ISLAND OF SANTORINI

by LoriPori

The traditional village of OIA 11 km to the north of Fira, is a place of incomparable beauty. The unique appeal of Oia or Ia lies in its little houses, hewn out of the soft rock, with some of them white-washed and others painted blue or ochre. There are basically only two streets, one with traffic and the much more pleasant inland pedestrian lane, Odos Nikolaos Nomikou, paved with marble and lined with numerous jewelery shops, tavernas and bars. The remains of the ruined Lontza Castle at the western end of town is the best place to catch the famous Oia sunsets.
There is a superb view of the seas there - a photographer's dream. Friday evening the VT group was there to witness a splendid sunset.
Directly below lies the Beach of Amoudi. This is where we had our Friday VT Dinner ( The Sunset ). The only way to Ammoudi is by foot, going down 214 steps. The descent just about did me in. Thanks Jim (Outforlunch) for sticking with me on the way down. Those slippery, sloping stairs sure are treacherous. The hard part is the way up so thank god Galatea arranged for coaches for us.

RAY & HOLLY (THE DAY AFTER)...

by mavl

"GOT UP WITHOUT EVEN THE SLIGHTEST HANGOVER"

(i guess being two-dimensional has its advantages)

in fact, they were very excited to get up and practically dragged me out of bed to go to that sunday's activity - wine tasting!

immediately upon arrival, we got a table and proceeded to sample the many fine wines that were being offered.

we then took a tour of the wine cellars and they quickly made it clear which bottles they were interested in - even if they weren't for sale.

the wine was so good that they decided to hang around a bit longer and see the whole process unfold.

after going through the cellars and seeing how the wine was made in this part of the world, they even took a traditional santorini donkey ride on the way out - without the risk of falling off the edge of the cliff, mind you.

thanks to ray and holly, i discovered so much that day - particularly just how good vinsanto (the proper name for sweet wine made in santorini) tastes. it's absolutely unique, you have to try it if you get a chance!

that afternoon, we were all just relaxing and enjoying vineyard after vineyard, each other's company and, of course, the wine.

ray and holly, in the meantime, were also spending great quality time together far away from the rest of us noisy VTers.

til the next VT meeting guys, cheers!!!