Finding Wisdom, Courage and Grace on the road less traveled.
The Seven Martyrs Church on the headlands of Kastro Sifnos is an eerie site at sunset. The Cyclades islands are rough and dry, their coastlines plunging into the black Aegean. At dusk, the sky glows like there’s a blazing fire nearby. On this warm August eve, goosebumps came over me as the warm pink glow of nightfall enveloped us on the cobblestone path up the hill into town.
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Santorini is a dark beauty located in the southern Aegean Sea. An island perched on the rim of an ancient volcano, it s a hot, romantic paradise that is unlike Asia’s tropical beaches. There is an eerie juxtaposition between the honeymooning couples that litter the island every year and the seemingly bottomless caldera that it hugs. The terrain is rough, parched and unforgiving and arriving here for the first time, it is nothing like we expected.
From the ferry ride, it rises out of nowhere, massive cliffs of land jutting from the sea. In the summer heat, the ferry terminal is almost always fogged in from humidity, the kind of humidity that hits you like a brick the moment you step outside.
It’s best to rent a car if you’re staying several days and want to explore the excellent beach bars around the island. The roads are hilly and steep, and with the evening winds, a ride home on a scooter would border on dangerous.
This photograph was taken during a pre-dinner stroll along Oia’s main pedestrian walkway. Hot, breezy evenings are what make this place so incredibly romantic. Dinner on the terrace after a day of sunning on the beach. Rinse and repeat.
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We’re in Santorini for the next few days and every time I come here, it always takes my breath away. It’s an island on the rim of an ancient volcano, with towns sitting precariously on the edge, looking as if they’re about to fall into the dark, eerie waters of its eye. It was nothing like I expected when I came last year with friends and the second time around, it still gives me shivers. This is the darkest beauty I’ve seen.
Black sand beaches, bottomless waters, dry rough hills and a scorching sun. It is wild and raw and unforgiving. Violent winds on one face of the island and a calm, mirror-like caldera of water on the other. An island of contrasts. So shocking in its wonder and so soft in its beauty. It’s the kind of place that makes me feel so alive. I am so awed.
This is why we travel. To feel mystery, to be reminded that we haven’t seen everything there is to see, that we don’t know everything there is to know. We like to be shaken. We like to be swept off our feet. Like the draw of unrequited love, travel teases us, shows us a world that could be and opens up possibilities so different from our daily lives.
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It’s Saturday night. It’s hot and humid in Athens. And I am trying to recover from 7 straight nights of sleeplessness and dancing. Another girl trip in Greece, another success, another exhausting holiday. These trips are never relaxing. They are packed with food, sun, dancing and crazy late evenings. I will need another holiday just to recover.
This year, we hit Athens, Mykonos and Santorini. Maria, Glykeria and I. =) And it has been lovely. The food has been fantastic, the nightlife amazing and the company just beautiful. These girls are always able to make me laugh. Laugh, laugh, laugh, laugh, laugh.
This travel time has also been a good way for me to reflect on a lot of things. There is so much thinking time when in transit from place to place.
I’ve noticed that since I’ve left work, my mind has cleared itself of so much angst. I was always wishing to be doing something different, to be doing something more, to be doing something that really mattered personally to me. And now, I am. And in one fell swoop, I eliminated a lot of dissatisfaction in my life. We always talk about making the changes that we say we will make. Well, walking the walk has been a challenge but feels so so good. The fears have subsided and now there is are only doors. So many of them. Possibilities and ideas and new experiences.
I feel like I’ve grown up somehow. So much has changed in the last month – in the way that I see the world, the way I see myself, the way that I see and understand the people in my life. There is a different kind of perspective now – one that comes from having been on both sides of the “grass is always greener” fence. I am so much more thankful for all the things that really really matter in this life: for family, for good friends, for true health, for freedom, for education and for all the amazing opportunities that I’ve been blessed with.
As time goes by, I feel less and less unmoored and so much more anchored in the things that truly matter. I am so certain now of what I do and don’t want in a career/business. I am so much more appreciative of the time I have with my parents, brother, family. I am so much pickier about the people with whom I spend my time with and the kind of energy that they bring into my life. And I am so much wiser about the things that I desire, many of which have changed dramatically in the last few months. Change has been the constant lately and it has been so so good for me.
Tonight, I will attempt to get some sleep in this hot hot August heat. Tomorrow, it’s back to London for a few days before hitting Italy.
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Αν είστε ο κύριος που μας πήγε από αεροδρόμιο στο παγκράτι με ταξί το σάββατο 1 Αυγούστου στις 5 το απόγευμα θα σας παρακαλούσαμε να μας πάρετε ένα τηλέφωνο στο +30 6977 980340 (Γλυκερία Ναυρόζογλου) για να επικοινωνήσουμε μαζί σας. Ξεχάσαμε ένα γκρι σακίδιο στο πορτ μπαγκάζ του αυτοκινήτου. Επειδή η κοπέλα που άφησε την τσάντα είναι φωτογράφος, και έχει μέσα στην κάμερα πολύτιμη δουλειά της, θα σας παρακαλούσαμε τουλάχιστον να μας στείλετε την κάρτα με τις φωτογραφίες που είναι μέσα στην κάμερα. Μπορείτε να μας τις στείλετε στη διεύθυνση:
Φουντά Ιωάννα
Αριστοξένου 11
τκ 11635, Παγκράτι
Αθήνα
Είμαστε διατεθιμένοι να σας δώσουμε αμοιβή αν επικοινωνήσετε μαζί μας ή αν μπορείτε τουλάχιστον να μας στείλετε την κάρτα με τις φωτογραφίες, θα σας είμαστε ευγνώμονες.
Σας ευχαριστούμε εκ των προτέρων.
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I’ve seen only a dozen sunrises in the last year, a handful of them from airplanes crossing timezones. The rest have been in Greece – while dancing on the shores of Little Venice in Mykonos, and this past weekend, in a car, on our way to souvlaki breakfast after clubbing in the Gazi district of Athens.
My times in Greece can be summarized in four words: girlfriends, food, dancing, laughter. Time just warps here. Timezones become obsolete. We eat when we’re hungry, not when the clock says so. We dance till exhaustion, or when the lights come on. And we stroll ancient streets in Plaka, at the foot of the Acropolis in between.
Life needs to be lived like this. Coffee with friends, late lazy lunches on romantic hillside cafes, laughter and storytelling with strangers, moments of family, gratitude, wonder and joy.
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Ears ringing.
Dancing all night.
Souvlaki at 645am in Gazi.
Beautiful people beautiful people.
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Hi there! I'm Denise. I share my name with Dionysia, the Greek god of wine, pleasure and joy. I'm a photographer, writer, marketer vagabond. I take photographs of enchanted places and the people seduced by them. This blog is an account of the wisdom, joy and grace that I've encountered along the way, and a place where I showcase some of my favourite photographs.
If you have similar stories to share, have questions about purchasing prints or just want to say hello, I'd love to hear from you!
