The remarkable Santorini

Having been very recently to both Rhodes and Santorini, is virtually impossible to avoid comparisons. And, since each time I think of an island as a woman, letting myself relate it to a popular persona in terms of beauty, grace and elegance, I found it quite easy to compare those two. You see, Rhodes invariably reminds me of Ingrid Bergman – and of Audrey Hepburn as well. Santorini on the other hand, brought to my mind only one famous persona, in terms of beauty, grace and elegance: Baldrick, the servant of Black Adder.

The place has a unique landscape, but is also a crossroad of chronic vanity and summer stupidity, plagued with ugly beaches and crap food. In the fish restaurants, you will be served all the fresh delights of the Atlantic Ocean; in the afternoons, if you wish a quick bite be careful, because the “souvlaki” I tried turned out to be an oily, poisonous enema wrapped in “pita”. The whole island is shamelessly commercial, and the locals uncontrollably repetitive of three words: caldera, Oia, sunset. But it takes more than that to enjoy one’s holiday. I really don’t think I have had a more regretful time in any other Greek island or any other place I have ever been.

Nevertheless, I might not have been entirely objective. Maybe because one day landed in my hotel room a B 52 R-O ach the size of which I had never seen. Of course, I jumped on the bed, called reception and emptied the room within 30 minutes – though the hotel itself was very clean and did not have responsibility for what flies through the window. But the experience was indeed unforgettable.

I know most people are excited with Santorini, but I am not the only one who thinks that it should be avoided; there is at least one more, a guy from Amsterdam - who has a lot of good thinks to say about most of Greek islands. His advice about Santorini is one I completely agree with: “Buy a postcard of it and keep sailing on to the next island.”
 
Μου θύμισες την ατάκα του Ντέμη Ρούσου: "Όταν έρχομαι στην Ελλάδα, προτιμώ να κοιτάζω τη θάλασσα γιατί όταν κοιτάζω προς τη στεριά στενοχωριέμαι."

Παρεμπιπτόντως, είδα κι εγώ στην Κω ένα τέτοιο υπερμέγεθες B-52 που θα το ζήλευαν και τα Τεθωρακισμένα. Αν και δεν ίπτατο, εκινήτο με υπερηχητική ταχύτητα. (Και ήθελε να μου φάει και το μπακλαβά.)
 
Μάλλον επειδή εγώ είχα το αεροδρόμιο δίπλα, οπότε τα αεροπλάνα ήταν φυσικό να είναι περισσότερα...

Πάντως, γενικά ο κύριος Ρούσος σωστά τα λέει – από θάλασσα καλά πάμε, στη στεριά μας λείπει αυτό το κατιτίς.
 
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