But Where's The Blue??

When we think of Greece, I think more often than not the image that comes to mind is one of white homes and buildings with beautiful blue dome roofs, and a gorgeous coastline. We have this one picture in our heads, and when we arrive to Greece, expect to see just that. The most-used and publicized image of Greece happens to be taken here in Santorini, so of course when we arrived we expected to be overwhelmed by the sight of blue and white. But I am here to bust the myth, and blow the lid right off that one! 

The most common picture of Greece/Santorini (Source: Google)

Fact: Greece and Santorini are not actually synonymous for white buildings with blue dome tops. 

There is a bit of that, but these buildings that we so often think of in association with Greece are actually the Orthodox churches. The churches have these dome tops, and yes, many of them are blue. I asked our host why they are usually blue, and he said that it's to represent the sky. So when they look up, they see the blue, and think of the sky (sky -- God -- heaven -- you see where this takes us). I love this explanation and reasoning, and it completely made up for the fact I felt somewhat deceived coming here.

But I will admit, because this is the image we have stuck in our minds, my friend and I actually spent sufficient time searching, in a way, for the area with these smooth, beautiful buildings with the amazing blue dome roofs. And we were so perplexed when we just couldn't find them. It then dawned on us that this isn't actually what is common, and through seeing this image, we had just decided that that was Greece, that's how it all was. Interesting how our minds do things like that to us, and our brains decide to create a place based off a picture. (I should probably point out that we were also completely confused. We were searching in Fira for this image we always see of Santorini, when in fact, it's taken in Oia. Whoops.:)

In spite of everything, Santorini has been a beautiful experience. We've seen so much of the island, and though I know there's much more to see and do (especially in the high season when it's overflowing with people and parties), I am leaving quite satisfied with the trip. It's been a really cool experience to learn that we really can't judge a book by the cover!

Oia, where the classic Santorini image is taken. Look there, and you can see the blue domes that have become so closely associated with the island.

 

Fira

 

*To read about Santorini, tips, tricks, and things to do, click here!
*To read about ANNY Studios where we stayed in Santorini, click here!
*To read about Piraeus, click here!
*To read about Athens, click here!
:)