Church anyone? (Santorini)

Please do not alter photos in any way. Please only borrow photos for PERSONAL use and please ALWAYS give Dana R. Atwood credit for the pictures you use. Thanks!

12-20-2011

Back in Athens we spent our last day hiking around the city and visiting the Olympieion.(for more information on the Olymieion visit: http://www.greece-athens.com/place.php?place_id=33)  It’s just crazy how old everything is around here! The kids slept though quite a bit of our self-guided tour as they rode on our backs.

Asher just woke up from his nap in a good mood!

 Olympic training! Go team Zeus!

Chloe is actually sleeping on my back in this picture.

At this point I had made a very random observation: No tattoos. I have not seen a single tattoo or tattoo shop while in Greece. I’m not sure why this is.

Overall the people of Greece seem to be very religious. We stopped at a local church where they chant every single day during the holiday season. While outside the church, I noticed that everyone who walked by did the sign of the cross. Even the passengers and drivers of taxis passing by did the sign of the cross. Typically the sign of the cross goes from the forehead to the chest and then left shoulder to right shoulder. The Orthodox, however, touch the right shoulder before the left.

It was a short 45 minute flight from Athens to Santorini. We rented a car and drove to Rocabella. This hotel would be our home while we are on Santorini.

If you crave a Big Mac or a Starbucks peppermint mocha, you would be out of luck on Santorini. The fast food chains simply don’t exist here. Instead you can dine on Greek salad, mousaka or wood oven pizza. Also, I have not seen any corn! The diet here probably explains why we have not seen many victims of obesity here either. The food is fresh, natural and delicious.

Once we got to the hotel I was able to find a Tinkerbelle movie on TV…in Greek! Chloe still watched it intensely. This gave me time to un-pack.

The next day was a Sunday so Jim took me to town so I could go to church. The Greek Orthodox start at 6am. Although I was actually up at this time, I was not aware of the start time so I attended a Catholic service instead. It started at 10am at the St. John Cathedral in Fira and it was beautiful! It had a bell-tower outside and very ornate decorations and murals in the inside. The painted ceilings were probably my favorite. The congregation had about 20 people in it. Even though I was a little late and the service was in Greek, I felt very welcome. After church I shook hand with everyone and set off to walk around the small city.

This gate is near the Catholic church.

St. John Cathedral

I tried some wine specific to Santorini called “vinsanto”. It was delightfully sweet but had an after taste that kept me from purchasing any.

I stopped by the local Orthodox Church to light a candle. It is typically our practice to participate in the local religion of the area we are visiting. We feel that un-like in America, to experience the culture you have to see about the religious practices too. In most countries there is a very predominant religion that may have much to do with other cultural practices. It’s also important to be able to respect deeply rooted customs.

On my way back to meet up with Jim, I met a shop owner named Maria. She sold art and souvenirs. She was very nice (typical here) and spoke with me for at least a half an hour. She told me that there were at least 400 churches on Santorini and less than 10,000 people. She also gave me two little pins with beads on them. She said to find a safe place on the beds of our babies to pin the décor onto and that it would protect the babies while they slept.

I informed Maria that out of all my travels so far, the Greeks were the nicest people ever! (Right up there with Bali.) She said that hospitality in deeply rooted into their culture. “There’s an obligation to be helpful and pleasant.”

I walked back to meet Jim and the kids. We then returned to our hotel for a while. The building is made of concrete. Our room is pretty much a concrete cave with amenities like a bathroom, TV and internet. It is actually a very nice place to spend our downtime. It has plenty of space and even a private hot tub right outside our door with magnificent views of the ocean and nearby towns.

Jim and the kids are enjoying the view from our hotel room.

Yesterday, we did a lot of walking around the town. We bought some wine and had a picnic at a nearby church. The churches here are not open. They are just holy structures and they are everywhere.

Jim is enjoying lunch.

Kids also enjoyed lunch.

Seconds please?

Today was cold and windy so we drove around the island to see what we could find from the comfort of our car. We drove past vineyards but none were open. The grapes here grow low to the ground and they are trained to grow in circles. It looks like a bunch of wreaths made of grapes vines are laying all over the ground. These techniques help protect the vines from harsh winds and ease the difficulty for the plant to get water.

Vines growing in a circle on the ground.

After a quick stop at a food stand in Fira, we ate some Gyros in the car and returned to our cave to retire early for the day.

Typical small church on Santorini.

View from a walkway in Fira.

Please do not alter photos in any way. Please only borrow photos for PERSONAL use and please ALWAYS give Dana R. Atwood credit for the pictures you use. Thanks!