Church of the Transfiguration of Christ

“There's never one sunrise the same or one sunset the same.”
Carlos Santana
Phone alarm went off, then the room phone rang – I was taking no chances with falling asleep again! I’d booked a taxi to Heathrow for my morning flight to Santorini. Bag drop done and through security and passport control in plenty of time. Probably best part of twenty years since I’ve flown ‘alone’, so nobody to double check I’ve got everything. Use the reliable “spectacles…” I learned from ‘Nuns on the Run’ with Robbie Coltrane many years ago, and it works – basically just four things to remember and I was good to go.
Three and a half hours or so later it was touchdown on Santorini, let the holiday begin. I’d booked a pickup at the airport to get me to my ‘hotel’ at Megalochori, a few miles south of the capital Fira. Quieter there, but with a caldera view from my room and the terrace I could enjoy the sunsets without jostling for position with the other tourists.
As we arrived my host was out the door to greet me, grabbing my bags from the taxi and taking them in before me. A brief explanation of the folder of information (local services, tavernas, bus timetables) and a welcome bottle of local wine and I was ready to go. A short recce walk to find the pickup for tomorrow’s excursion, then a wander into the village to find a taverna for a meal. Haven’t tried tzatziki before so what better place to start my education into Greek food, so good and refreshing. Friendly place with a mixture of tourists and locals.
On my way back I passed the church near where people gather to enjoy the sunset, not enough to make it busy but enough to mark it as an ‘occasion’. Made me wonder whether that was the reason for siting the church there, for the view of the sunset. Sat out on the terrace to watch the sun go down, drink in hand (lemon tango, I’d had my beer at the taverna – don’t drink alone). Perfect welcome to the island.