Reillys on Tour

Dear all, Never ones to sit back and relax, Lisette and I have been busily exerting ourselves in Santorini. It's a good way to break up the mealtimes. The most ambitious activity so far has been a hike from our digs, halfway up the island on the West side, to "Oia" - a town at the North-West tip of Santorini. Looking at the map on the morning before the hike we scoffed at what a short distance it was and made plans to complete said journey in under 2 hours. This was not to be. Underway... "As the crow flies" is a fatal way of looking at the world in these parts. It fails to take on board the matter of scrabbling up hills, down mountainsides and also the furnace-like heat - none of which does the humble crow have to contend with. Shortly after departing Firostefani ("our digs") these points came sailing right home to us. Regular examination of the GPS map on my phone made us realise just how far we actually hadn't travelled. Neverth...

Greetings from Greece...... and Salutations from Santorini! I am writing to you from Fira - the island capital. Fira, is one of the few "vertical" towns which I've have had the pleasure to encounter. Nothing here is flat. Essentially Fira appears to be a cliff face onto which bits of shop, restaurant and pathway have been pinned - possibly by genial giants with an architectural bent. We are in a land truly unfamiliar to spirit-levels. The net result of this means that everything feels like (and indeed is) exercise. Want a meal? Clamber up a cliff first. Want to go shopping? Go hiking first... And there are no shortage of shops / restaurants and similar here. Lisette and I were initially very worried upon arrival as despite having packed everything else we had left behind any kind of phrasebook. Normally we at least know a couple of numbers, "please", "thank you" and "could we have the bill please?" - not so this time. So ou...