Tag: Santorini

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After each big wave the passengers on the boat were shouting: "Well done captain, may the Seven Children bless you". The captain was a young man, smiling awkwardly, holding strongly the boat's wheel. This strong shake didn't last more than ten minutes, the calmness returned while the boat got into the arc of the volcano’s caldera.

The dry land and the volcanic soil of Santorini give a great taste to all the agricultural products of the island. On this dark and dry land, one wouldn't expect anything to grow, but some special crops are fruitful. The earthquake was catastrophic for Santorini, but it was the salvation of the vineyards, tomatoes and the split pea cultivations.

Every afternoon big groups of summer visitors are being gathered at the westernmost part of Oia in Santorini to enjoy the sunset. They come from all over the island in order to be in time and take a place in some terrace or some mantel, from where they will have a panoramic view of the phenomenon. These gatherings happen every day for ages without any interruption, but in July and August they turn into entire people gatherings.

A village dangling off the volcano's crater. All houses are traditional and built abiding strict guidelines. Electric cables run underground, and there is absolutely nothing to obstruct the amazing view. A couple of decades ago, the islands’ inhabitants were poor and used to dig burrows in the rocks in order to have shelter. Nowadays, the situation has been completely reversed.

"I don't fear the sea at all and the possibility of me drowning never crosses my mind. Whenever I can't see the sea, even from afar, I feel afraid and think I'm dying. I was once taken to Panagia Sumela church inMacedoniaa and I hardly managed not to go crazy in the mountains. I suppose that Holy Mary saved me".

"I dig with a pickaxe and make a cave in which I keep my wines. Among other elements, Santorini's soil contains pumice stone. The pickaxe I use is slightly different than the standard ones; it was specially made by a Roma blacksmith. The island's caves remained intact after the catastrophic earthquake of 1956; they're safe and cool. The day before yesterday the temperature in my concrete garage was 29 degrees Celsius while in the cave it was only 19".

"My father produced 80-100 tons of wine per year until 1974 and it was all sold to the French. We used to call it "mourouka" and they called it Bordeaux. We used to carry the wine on 100-200 animals loaded with four goat sacks each. We took them to Fira coast, where we poured the wine into barrels. Afterwards, we used to wash the sacks with sea water in order to protect the leather".

“I play music many hours a day. I start in the morning with the violin and then I go on with the piano. During the summer I stop for a while to swim and then I play the violin again”. Antonis Prekas from Emporio of Santorini is the son of the famous lute player Kyriakos and the grandson of the great violinist Antonis.