jglenis
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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.”
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.”
