Santorini, Greek Isles

[Martin Hash]

Greece's Santorini is the most famous of the Greek Isles, and rightfully so. It has the picturesque towns built on the side of a volcano, and views you can imagine moving there for, even if you don't speak Greek. The city street of Oia is perhaps the most quaint my wife, Gwynne, and I ever walked, so we just had to stop at a bar overlooking the Aegean Sea filling the gigantic caldera far below. This volcano is famous for destroying the Minoan empire 3600 years ago but now it's whitewashed plastered and blue-domed Byzantine churches.

Pumice Stones in Fira.JPG

With all that volcanic history, I just had to buy a volcanic stone in the town of Fira, a round piece of pumice, from a man selling it out of a basket on the street, even though I had almost no room in my luggage, which consisted of a single backpack, but some rocks are just to cool to leave behind. The island is famous for its wines so, of course, we had to stop for a tasting. Gwynne liked the sweet stuff.

Gwynne Drinking Wine.jpg

[Montegriffo]

We always had pumice stones in the bathroom when I was growing up. It's great for getting paint off your skin.