Nov. 16, 2012

My first afternoon in Santorini was spent in Perissa. Rick Steves had inspired a desire to see black sand beaches. I took a bus there and arrived to an empty beach. It was the middle of November, windy and I was bored. I went into one of the beach bars and asked what I could do in the area.

On top of one of the mountains, I saw this structure and I asked if I could climb there. He said it was too far but I could go half way up to a church. And we went outside and he pointed to a small white dot off in the distance. He warned however I had to make it down before it got dark as there were no lights and it would become dangerous. I decided to do it.

As I walked along the main road, stray dogs started to follow me and I had the bright idea of cutting through the field to get closer to my destination and also to find the way up.

Wading through dried brushes and hearing the whistling and buzzing of insects with only the sight of a vertical ascent and no walkable path in sight, I realized this must not be the way. I went back to the main road and continued further down until I saw the start of a hill and a small gravel path.

The cold and windy beach day was turning into a smoldering heat wave with the blazing sun shining down on me relentlessly. The higher I climbed, the hotter it got.

The path also reduced as I came closer to the cliffs, with only a few rocks separating me from a fall.

My destination was this closed hut of a church.