Memories of the Sun

Time passes so quickly.  Hours turn to days, days turn to years.  In what seems a moment a decade is gone.  Even so in just the tiny expanse of time that separates the summer from the winter, the long nights and gray skies turn recollections of the sun into what seems like a distant memory.

It’s grey where I am and has been for several days.  At times like this I like to let my thoughts wander back to the sunnier places I’ve passed throughout year.  To aid the imperfect memory I also returned to some of the sunniest photos I captured during my stay on Santorini.  If you enjoy the photo below be sure to check out the other images in the new photo gallery “Oia” available via the photography page or by clicking here.

I think I saw this same door in a dream once.

One in a Thousand

Like so many photographers I find people to be a burden to photography as often as they are a blessing.  How many times have I stood waiting impatiently for some tourist to finally finish taking their photo, to finally keep walking and stop wandering into the middle of my frame – spots on a lens that refuse to be wiped away.

One of hundreds of almost good pictures I’ve captured over the years.

Greek ruins are particularly trying of ones patience.  Summer crowds mean camera-toting tourists clouding almost every panorama.  Like many of the guests

Ruins

Athens has a bad reputation and in all honesty it isn’t hard to see why.  After the serene and tranquil beauty of the Greek islands, the loud streets, sweltering heat and frequent sightings of slightly less savory characters makes for an unflattering comparison.  Even so this harsh modern city makes for a splendid contrast with the ancient wonders of the Athenian Acropolis.   Like an owl, the city’s ancient emblem, the ruins of the Acropolis are perched calmly overlooking the city, watching as the people that fill scramble to do their business each day.

The Acropolis also bears witness to Athens’ role

Atlantis

So my next stop in the Greek Islands is none other than the mythical Atlantis.  Of course the years have changed it a bit and it’s now known as Santorini, one of the world’s most beautiful islands.  Of course the reason for the name change is that when the island was Atlantis it was roughly round and inhabited by ancient ancestors of the now Ancients Greeks.  Then, sometime around 1,600 BC the island exploded annihilating both that civilization and the ancient Minoan civilization whose ruins I had the pleasure of enjoying while I was in Crete. The plus side of all this cataclysmic destruction is that the current island has a magnificent crescent shape with world class view of the caldera (i.e., crater) from around the island.

This view is across one small part of the caldera which is truly massive. Hard to imagine what it must have looked like when the volcano exploded.

Ancient history lesson aside, modern Santorini is (along with a few other places like Ibiza, Hawaii and Capri) as close to

My Odyssey

Take a Ferry – The Poor Man’s Cruise!  I’m not sure it’ll catch on, but I certainly find it an appealing description.  In fact I’m writing this from the deck of a glamorous Blue Star Ferry.  As promised I recently escaped from my mountain habitat and began to cruise around the Greek Islands.  It’s a bit of a whirlwind tour, at least in comparison with my normal pace and I’m hitting up at least five distinct destinations in only two weeks (ok maybe gentle breeze is more accurate than whirlwind).

Fortunately the sunset doesn’t care if you’re on a fancy cruise or a cheap ferry.

The destinations include