Slow to get going. It had rained a little during the night, and when I ran up to the Laundromat at the end of the street to deposit my dirty clothes, it started raining a little again, just for me, I thought. I have to pick up my laundry after 05:00 this evening.
We got a couple of pastries from a local bakery and sat at an outside table to eat them. Richard had a crème-filled pastry, and I had an apple-filled one, or at least it had a little apple in it. The wind blew so hard that it almost took them off the table. After eating, we went back to our room to discuss what to do with the rest of the day. We had planned to rent a car, but it was obvious that we couldn’t go to Ancient Thera as we’d planned with the wind blowing so hard. The archaeological site is on a high promontory and susceptible to winds. We had to latch our shutters to keep them from banging. We decided to delay renting a car for one day, and that I would stay in our room and write blogs while Richard did a little shopping and took some pictures, maybe even sketch a little if he could find a place out of the wind.
While he was gone, the wind blew so hard that it sounded as if it might blow the roof off the pension. Early in the afternoon, Richard returned to say that he’d not sketched much but had located an exhibit of the all the wall paintings of ancient Akrotiri, so I hit the streets with him again to see them. It was in a large museum not far off the caldera, but hidden within the maze of streets.
Corridor Inside the Museum (Photo by Richard Sheppard)
The exhibition contained replicas of all the frescos from the walls of ancient Akrotiri.
Beautiful Girl in Akrotiri Wallpainting (Photo by Richard Sheppard)
Akrotiri is the name given to the ancient city uncovered by archaeologists.
Akrotiri Wallpainting (Photo by Richard Sheppard)
It was destroyed in 1635 BC by a major volcano eruption, which covered the ancient city in many meters of volcanic ash.
Akrotiri Wallpainting (Photo by Richard Sheppard)
What characterizes their culture and differentiates it from other cultures of the Mycenaean era is its emphasis on women’s activities and on the flora and fauna of the area instead of war.
Akrotiri Wallpainting (Photo by Richard Sheppard)
Akrotiri appears to have had a peaceful culture.
Akrotiri Wallpainting (Photo by Richard Sheppard)
Also shown among the wallpaintings was a replica of one of the boats show in the wallpaintings.
Akrotiri Boat Replica (Photo by Richard Sheppard)
After viewing all the ancient artwork, we left the quiet, empty halls of the museum and went back out into the wind raking over the island. We walked through the winding streets to the Archaeological Museum of Ancient Akrotiri.
Santorini Today - Ruins of Ancient Akrotiri at bottom.
Santorini experienced an eruption of the volcano of which it is formed sometime around 1635 BC. The earth has not experienced such an explosion since.
Before the Erruption in 1635, After, and Current Day Configuration of Santorini
This museum contain not replicas but the actual artifacts themselves taken from Akrotiri, all dating to the time of the eruption of the volcano that destroyed the ancient civilization on the island, and buried the artifacts.
One of many exhibits in the museum.
Curiously, the hardware used for catching fish has not changed much up to the present. Notice the fishhooks below.
Ancient Fishing Hardware
Nor have our basic cooking utensils.
Ancient Bronze Baking Pan
The museum contained some of the wallpaintings found at Akrotiri.
Actual Portion of an Ancient Wallpainting at Akrotiri
Many vases, large and small, were found in Akrotiri.
Ancient Akrotiri Vases
A recent, unusual find at the archaeological site is the animal figurine shown below. It is hollow and made of hammered gold. The legs, neck, and tail of the animal were soldered on after the removal of the core. The significance of the figurine is not yet known.
Hollow Gold Figure of an Animal - Unique - Recent Discovery
After our visit to the museum, we came back to our room to discuss how we might spend our last days in Greece if we can’t get to Mykonos. They only way to get to Mykonos from Santorini is by hydrofoil. But hydrofoils are very susceptible to weather. With the wind blowing as it was, Mykonos looked more and more doubtful. We could go to Naxos instead, but I’m really intent on visiting sites that pertain to the novel I’m writing, The Mysteries. We may just simply return to Athens, if Mykonos isn’t a possibility.
That even we went to a rally nice taverna and have what was hands-down the best meal we had all the time we were in Greece. It was souvlaki (Greek shish kabob). Richard had the lamb and I had the pork.
My Dinner - Pork Souvlaki
We went to bed that evening wondering if the wind would stop so we could get to Ancient Thera.