Santorini Sunsets

Sunset on 'the most beautiful island in the world'

No blog report on the Greek island of Santorini would be complete without touching on the magnificent sunsets. As the sun sinks over the Aegean Sea, the view differs depending upon where you situate yourself on the rim of the caldera, but everywhere it's divine.

The sun begins to sink....

...and lowers into the sea..

There's a story in the guide books that the village of Oia (Ia) is the prime location for sunset viewing. It's only when you get there (or when a helpful hotel concierge with Google Earth demonstrates for you) that you realise that Oia faces the wrong way. There's just one good west-facing spot in the village - the ruined castle of Ayios Nikolaos - and every tourist in the place heads for it at sundown. A few enterprising taverna owners have built high and advertise their 'sunset terraces;' and if you can get down to the tiny beach of Ammoudi (and find parking) you might be lucky.

Sunset in Oia...pretty, but not quite the same.

Church of Panagia, main square in Oia

In Fira town, or in Firostefani, the setting sun will make a great display, but will set behind the rim of the caldera on the opposite side of the inner sea. Beautiful. But can we do better?

From Firostefani - but can we do better? 

From Firostefani. Almost perfect.

Not bad at all.

Sundowners in Imerovigli

The best view, we found, was directly out of our hotel room doorways: from the highest point on the caldera at Imerovigli (385 metres asl). From this point our view was between the Oia on the tip of the mainland, and the separate island of Therasia. As a sailboat drifted photogenically into the burnished sea, we sipped our gin & tonics and enjoyed.

Avaton Resort & Spa, Imerovigli

Sunset from poolside at Avaton Resort, Imerovigli

Santorini sunset - hard to beat.

Vineyards in the Wind

Santorini vineyard -- low lying.

The Greek island of Santorini is beautiful, but can be decidedly windswept. This doesn't matter when you're lying on your pool-side sun lounger sheltered by an attractive rustic stone wall, or a glass screen thoughtfully installed in your resort hotel, but it matters a lot if you're trying to grow anything. It's also rather a challenge that Santorini has no permanent rivers, streams or springs: all the water for agriculture falls as rain.

A fine rosé from the mandilaria grape.

A delicious white from the assyrtiko grape.

Yet Santorini has a famous, if boutique-sized, wine industry. The enterprising vine-growers of the island train their grape vines to grow close to the ground in a circular 'nest', with the grapes nestling inside. This prevents the winds from doing their worst, and saves what little moisture there is. The characteristic basket-shaped vine is called “kalathi” or “niabelo” in the local dialect.

The vine clustering on the dry soil.

A 'vine nest', obviously past its use-by date.

The distinctive palate of Santorini wines owes a lot to the volcanic soil in which the vines are grown, producing some very good, sharp, minerally white wines; and to the hot sun, giving the famous sweet Vin Santo. As for the grape varieties, they are decided local: Assyrtiko (covering 80% of the vineyards) Aidani and Athiri are the grape varieties participating in the AOC 'Santorini' dry white wine, and in the AOC 'Vinsanto' dessert white wine. Red regional wines are also produced from the varieties Mandilaria and Mavrotragano.

A nice selection.

Tasting the local produce. With a view.

This useful site has lots of information and pictures, and tells us that:

Along with other adapted horticultural species, Santorini’s vineyards cover a surface of 1400 hectares. The cultivated vines are stretched from the sea level to the caldera cliffs of 250m of altitude. The archeological statements show that viticulture was already present on the island in the 17th century B.C. (vineyard devastated by the volcanic explosion around 1600). From 1200 B.C. to today, there has been a continuous cultivation of vines.

Santorini also has the distinction of being phylloxera-free, so the vines on the island do not need to be grafted. There are ten or eleven wineries you can visit to taste and purchase, plus lots of local family cellars.

As well as its unique local wines, Santorini rather amazingly manages to produce other local agricultural specialities - all grown close to the ground, of course: indigenous farm products like fava peas (like split peas), cherry tomatoes, white eggplants and the wild crocus plant (from which saffron is gathered).

Dried fava beans.

Fava beans - look like split peas.

Cactus jam (from fico d'India or prickly pear fruit)

A few local agricultural specialities.

Scallops with fava bean pureé, garnished with local capers - delish!

Along with vines, we know from the wall murals that many of these plants were being cultivated on Santorini - Ancient Thera - in the 17th century BC when Akrotiri flourished and the volcano ended it all. But they're back.

Did I mention that it's windy? This imported eucalypt has bent to the breeze.

Would You Do This?

'Doctor Fish'

The tourists on Santorini were flocking to have their feet nibbled by tiny fish. One establishment billed itself as 'Doctor Fish' and its logo was a smiling fish in a nurses' hat. A few Google clicks later and I learnt that the fish themselves - a Turkish variety - are called 'doctor fish'. The spa girls assured us that the fish have no teeth, and this is right - they're toothless. The species' correct name is 'garra rufa'. I also learnt (from Wikipedia - what would we do without it?) that:

Doctor fish is the name given to the species of fish Garra rufa. Other nicknames include nibble fish, kangal fish... Garra rufa is called the reddish log sucker. They live and breed in the pools of some Turkish river systems and hot springs. Modernly, they have been integrated as a spa treatment, where they feed on the skin of patients with psoriasis. While the doctor fish treatment has been shown to alleviate the symptoms of psoriasis,[5] they are not meant as a curative treatment, as no cure for psoriasis currently exists. The use of the fish as a spa treatment for the wider public is still widely debated on grounds of efficacy and validity, as the treatment is not shown to have either positive or negative effects.

In addition to eating the dead bits on your feet, the little garra rufa are also have an enzyme in their saliva, diathanol, which is thought to heal conditions such as psoriasis and eczema (source).

Not bothering about the question of positive or negative effects, my adventurous companions both subjected themselves to the attentions of the tiny suckers. One was initially overcome with the ticklish sensation and spent a few minutes laughing; the other found the experience soothing. Both reported feet that felt clean and soft.

Ticklish!

It seems that 'fish spas' are presently banned in the USA, due to health concerns -- spas are supposed to discard or sterilise the 'equipment' they use for pedicures, and the little fish are a bit expensive to replace between nibble sessions. Wiki says:

The practice is banned in several of the United States and Canadian provinces as cosmetology regulators believe the practice is unsanitary, with the Wall Street Journal claiming that "cosmetology regulations generally mandate that tools need to be discarded or sanitized after each use. But epidermis-eating fish are too expensive to throw away"....TV journalist John Stossel has ridiculed state laws against fish pedicures, arguing that they represent a case of the government becoming a "Nanny State", where individuals no longer can make their own decisions about their well-being. He participated in an illegal fish pedicure on his Fox Business Network program to illustrate his point.

Fish politics! But there are plenty of scare stories in the media warning that the little fish, nibbling a variety of different feet, could pose health threats. These dire predictions were not bothering the customers on Santorini.

This WebMD article sorts some of the hysteria from the facts and advises that the risk of infection is low:

The risk of infection associated with Garra rufa fish pedicures is likely to be very low, according to experts from the Health Protection Agency. In October 2011 it issued updated advice on fish spas following an investigation.
Fish tank water may contain a number of microorganisms. So there is the potential to catch a range of infections, either from fish to person, water to person or person to person passed on by the water or the fish.  However, the HPA says the overall risk of infection is likely to be very low, if the spa operates good standards of hygiene.
However, it advises people with weakened immune systems or underlying medical conditions, including diabetes and psoriasis, against using fish spas. It says people with these conditions are likely to be at an increased risk of infection.
People with cuts or infections on their feet should allow them to heal before seeking fish spa treatment, and it is advised to wait at least 24 hours after having a leg wax or shaving before having a fish spa treatment.

'Doctor Fish' in Fira.

The tanks at 'Doctor Fish' in Fira and 'Kissing Fish' in Oia on Santorini - yes, we tried out two places - advertise that there are 200 fish in their tanks. I read a little further through the Wiki article, and discovered that in some fish spas the tanks have hundreds of fish; and at one spa in Croatia, the fish are used to cleanse the bathers. The 'Doctor Fish' establishment in Fira did advertise a tank downstairs where your were invited to fully immerse yourself in fish (in your swimmers - I'd suggest tight fitting ones!) but we weren't tempted.

Only 200 fish... 

Eating that dead skin!

 You may be wondering why the fish nibble your feet so actively, and what they eat in the wild. I did - so back to Wiki:

...the skin-feeding behaviour fully manifests only under conditions where the food supply is somewhat scarce and unpredictable. During their activities of foraging they slough off dead skin. They are simply looking for food which in the wild consists of 'aufwuchs'. In both marine and freshwater environments the algae – particularly green algae and diatoms – make up the dominant component of 'aufwuchs' communities. Small crustaceans, rotifers, and protozoans are also commonly found in fresh water and the sea, but insect larvae, oligochaetes and tardigrades are peculiar to freshwater 'aufwuchs' faunas.

So when there is no algae about, and tiny crustaceans and protozoans are in short supply, the doctor fish will eat your dead skin cells instead. I can only speculate as to whether there is some nutrition in that for them. But apart from their diet, animal welfare groups have expressed some concerns, particularly about fish deaths: "fish are animals too":

Animal rights groups have also voiced alarm over the conditions in which the fish are kept. "We do have concerns about the welfare of any fish involved in this practice," a spokeswoman for the RSPCA told the Observer. "Fish are covered by the Animal Welfare Act. They need a stable environment, with the correct water quality and temperature range. Sudden changes in temperature should be avoided as they can severely compromise welfare and even kill the animals. Water quality is of paramount importance in maintaining healthy fish. Having people bathe in the water with the fish is likely to affect quality, particularly if they are wearing any lotions or other toiletries that could leach into the water. Similarly, chemicals used to disinfect tanks and to clean patients' feet beforehand would have to be non-toxic to the fish." (source)

The government of Turkey has now made the garra rufa a protected species over concerns about over-exploitation by spas. This will no doubt ensure that they are costly to acquire, and therefor will be given careful treatment by their owners. As far as I'm aware, the garra rufa don't die in the process of eating your feet. In fact, from observation, they seem very keen. Or hungry, anyway.

'Doctor Fish'

'Kissing Fish' in Oia.

It's unlike me to post anything about 'celebrities' I've barely heard of (this is definitely a first for this blog) but here's a short but ridiculous video you might enjoy of a 'celeb' enjoying (or not) a fish spa in the Kissing Fish establishment which we visited in Oia.

I leave you to make up your own mind.


I freaked out at this fish pedicure!!!! OMG 🐟🐟🐠🐠🐟🐟

May 1, 2013| Source: Keek.com

Doorways of Santorini

The blue & white of Santorini - and Greece

A photo journal stroll through the beautiful villages of Santorini - Imerovigli, Firostefani, Fira and Oia - just in case you didn't get the message from my recent blog post!

The Cycladic architecture of Santorini owes much to the fact that there are very few trees - and thus no wood for building - on the island, but there is a lot of stone, much of it soft, workable volcanic rock. Timber and metal for doorways, windows and reinforcement has to be imported, so is kept to a minimum. In some of the villages, houses are carved back into the rock face itself, forming Santorini's "cave houses", with typically a doorway flanked by two window and often a skylight above -- cool in summer, warm in winter. Domed roofs, flat roofs, houses stacked on top of one another like children's blocks, most painted a blinding white with splashes of colour: the houses of Santorini.

Enjoy your stroll.