Santorini

The light here is strong, almost bleached, so the white buildings hurt your eyes a bit, especially mid-morning. Then the sea is a deep blue, and the sky seems to go on forever, with that line of the caldera rim always in view, and the air often smells of the sea and volcanic rock.

Most people stay in the towns along the caldera, Fira and Oia being the biggest, so walking is the main way to get around these parts. Paths wind through the villages, sometimes steep, sometimes narrow, so you are always moving up or down, or ducking under an archway, and roads connect the other parts of the island, flat land mostly, where the airport and some black sand beaches are.

A few days here usually means mornings spent looking out, walking a little, perhaps a coffee. Afternoons can be for exploring further afield, maybe a swim on the other side of the island, or a boat trip out into the caldera, then the evenings bring a shift in the light, often quite dramatic, and everyone moves towards the western edge to watch it. It is an island that encourages you to slow down, just a bit. The villages themselves are built in layers, houses stacked on top of each other, sometimes a cave house carved directly into the rock. There is a sense of something ancient beneath the surface, volcanic earth that shapes everything, from the grapevines to the hot springs.