Day 235 - Ridge

Thought of the day: We had an early breakfast this morning and then took a hike to Fira.  There's a stone trail from Oia all the way to Fira along the ridge.  Some sections of the trail looked underused and were overgrown with grass, but overall, it's an easy hike if you can stand the blazing sun - there were no shades along the trail at all. The view of the agricultural land and settlements to the left and the caldera to the right was just spectacular.  We walked past a few towns along the way including Imerovigli and Firostefani.  After a lunch at Firostefani, we walked the final leg to Fira and took a bus back.  I was surprised that during the hike of over two hours, we didn't run into any other hikers on the trail.  I guess most people come to Santorini in the summer for sightseeing and relaxation at the pool, not for hiking in a desert landscape under a merciless sun. It also doesn't help that the local people tend to exaggerate the difficulty of the hike. None of the hotel staff I talked to have done this hike, even though some of them have been here for quite a while. Now that we have done it and told them how easy it was, at least two of them said they would be eager to finally give it a try. Personally, I always need to walk, run or hike to get a better sense of a place and feel some emotional connection to it, sightseeing alone just doesn't do it for me. So I am glad that we did the hike today.

Photo of the day:

Portrait of the east end of Oia, the ridge, and myself next to the hotel pool.  The town of Fira perches high on the ridge (all the way to the right).