Oia Santorini – beauty in simplicity

Psssst… want to go for a walk with me?

Won’t take long and I promise you it’s worth it.

Let me take you by the hand (so to speak ;-) ) and show you a small part of my village… the colour, the architecture, the attention to detail, the beauty in simplicity!
 

a balcony… with view!

 

and one with a flag…

 

a roof top with some colour…oh, and a view,

 

 

and a hidden garden that other tourists won’t get to see…

 

simplicity in design and function…

 

understated elegance…

 

and clean simple lines…

 

a simple root top garden…

 

and attention to detail… even for signage

 

of course it helps if your friend and neighbour is a world famous iconographer… you know who I mean!

 

At the end of our walk I’ll take you to one of my fave spots for dinner and sunset watching… Kastro restaurant.

 

Just a little walk through my neighbourhood. Did you enjoy it?

;-)

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Tip of the hat

 

The lovely Ingrid from Vita Lenta nel Bel Paese has honoured this blog with an award which is very gratefully accepted. I am supposed to nominate 15 new winners which I will try hard to do tomorrow. Thank you so much Ingrid x

 

 

I also wanted to say a big thank you to Lucy from   Enchanted by Josephine   (now here is a lady with several passions in life) for giving this small blog it’s first award several weeks back. Although I acknowledged it in the comments I never publicly thanked her…only because I was very new at this and really had no idea how it was all done. Thank you Lucy…sending you a big hug from Oia x

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The colours of Oia

A lot of people have the idea that Santorini…. and especially Oia is full of white, sugar-coated houses. But not so. Whilst the white-washed houses are many, the village of Oia is alive with colour…glorious colour !

 

 

 

 

As it often happens with European and especially Mediterranean villages… somehow it all looks totally co-ordinated, even though its not.
From the sea… looking up, Oia looks like a master has painted it on the cliff face.

 

 

 

 

These images offer only a tiny glimpse… but believe me when I tell you that colour is everywhere. The endless Aegean sea below maybe the backdrop, but the colours of Oia leave memories that last a lifetime.  

 

Oia Santorini – Volcano Viewing

 

I was visiting my friend today…he manages Volcano View villas on Santorini. I looked out of his office window and saw this:

300m above sea level…. look closely. What could this little bird be thinking? 

If you can think of a quote please leave a comment.

 

 

Oia Santorini – the Great Walk… a Sunday morning walk on the cliffs of Santorini

Alessi (my son) and I went for a walk this morning. It was a long walk….but not just any walk. This was the Great Walk along the cliffs, facing the caldera of Santorini. We thought you might like to see what we saw…. enjoy ;-)

 

we started up the path…

and soon we were high enough to look back at our village – Oia, in the background…

and in front of us was Imerovigli….

 

and the volcano was sleeping surrounded in endless blue…

 

so we climbed higher…

 

and before long we came across a small church….

 

just an ordinary Greek church you might say…but how wrong you would be! 

 

You see, this church has this view in front of it….

 

and this…..

 

if you want to get married in a magical place….I challenge you to find a better one…

 

it sits on top of the cliff…

 

and its stunning…

 

 

but we continued till we went over the cliff top to the “other side”….

 

the “other side”  (as the locals call the side not facing the volcano)  anywhere else in the world would be considered stunning,
but here…well here its just the “other side”… 

 

the path continues towards Fira…but we decided to leave that part for another day and headed back….

 

so we went back up to the cliff top….

 

looking at our little village in the background….

 

Alessi stopped to collect some wildflowers for home…

 

and we watched the morning ferry leave the island…

 

that’s when we met poppy…

 

and violet…

 

who was next to pink….

 

and this stunning yellow…

 

all of them under the shade of rugged volcanic rock…

 

so we kept walking back down the path….

 

to where the red Vespa was waiting to take us home….

 

where we found Rex having his own morning viewing of the endless blue below…

 

It was a lovely walk on a Sunday morning…we hope you enjoyed it too ;-)

 

 

Santorini Spring

Most visitors come to Santorini in summer…the island is crowded and the landscape dry from the relentless sun. If only they knew what they were missing in spring !  This morning I was riding the Vespa from Fira to Oia…bright sunny day. Thought you might like to see what I saw….

There is so much colour you don’t know where to look first…

 

 

 

 

 

 

Santorini has always been a photographer’s dream. But in spring….well in spring its something else again ;-)

 

Oia Santorini – dreaming of a different life

Santorini dreaming !

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            Mark Twain ii 

 

The image above was taken only days ago….but I had dreamed of the scene for 20 years. The dream was real all that time. It wasn’t a big dream, it wasn’t an extravagant dream. It was a simple dream…. of a different life!

Santorini sunrise…

 

sublime Santorini sunrise

 

Sunrise or sunset?

Of the 1.2 million visitors to this islands every year, its doubtful that any more than 1% ever see what I consider the most beautiful sunrise in the world.

In the evenings they flock to Oia by the thousands to take photos of the famous sunset. The “sun-setters”, as we call them, hang off every wall, every roof top, every empty spot they can find to witness the magical sunset of Oia.

You’ll find none of them in the early morning though. If they only knew what they miss. Sunrise is the most peaceful, most serene time of the day on this island. On a calm morning the caldera below is like a canvas with the most sublime painting on it….changing each morning with the breeze, the cruise ships and the rare clouds that drift in during spring/summer. Sunrise is quiet, very very quiet. It’s the perfect time to think and try to take in the majesty of the vista in front of you. Sunrise is my time…..

Oia – resurrection at midnight in Santorini

It was almost midnight and the marble paved streets of Oia were filled with people….all walking in the same direction. The main church and the square in front of it were filled. The chants and psalms from the church were carried by the light breeze and taken over the dark caldera below.

Just before midnight all lights went out….and the sacred light was passed by the priest to the faithful, who passed it on to each other until everyone held a lit candle. At midnight the resurrection was announced and the celebrations begun. Families and friends kissed and wished each other a Happy Easter while fireworks danced in the breeze. In a while people slowly drifted off for the traditional family dinner….carrying the sacred flame to light the icon oil- lamps at home. Easter in a small village feels very different….

 

the church bells rang…

 

the faithful came…

 

the sacred light was passed to one and all…

 

friends and families shared the magic moment…

 

and the home candles were lit for good luck !

 

but small village or not…the kids still want their easter egg-hunt (look closely) !

 

Happy Easter to you all from Santorini ;-)