Greetings from Crete: Santorini Is Therapy for the Photographically-Challenged

Seriously. If you want to boost your picture-taking self-esteem, head over to the Greek island of Santorini. I am convinced it is not possible to shoot a bad photo of this place, which is essentially a rim of a volcano. Even I was able to score a few good ones and I am a really impatient photographer.

The white buildings against the deep blue sea, the shocking cliffs, colorful fishing boats, wrinkled men on donkeys, broken pottery randomly placed on ancient staircases, old women in black gossiping on benches… It is almost as if they staged everything perfectly in place just for your picture-taking pleasure. (Which, they probably do just before the cruise ships dock there each morning.)

As beautiful as the island is, I can’t honestly see spending more than a day or two there. And that’s not just because my new favorite coffee drink–frappe–costs $5-6. Ouch. It’s so damn picturesque, it’s kitschy. There is only so much beauty one take take before longing for the comfort of ugly chaos if you ask me. Still, the fast ferry from Crete today took only about 90 minutes and cost about 30 Euro, which made it a great day trip.

Greetings from Crete: One Too Many Frappes

The coffee junkie that I am, I must confess that the frappes here in Crete kick ass. I am on my third one as we speak.

The drink goes like this: you take spray-dried instant coffee. Yeah, I know. You wonder how anything made out of Nescafe (aka “no es cafe”) can make a decent drink. Really though, it does. Except, you can’t use the Nescafe sold in the US because it is usually freeze-dried, which ruins the formula. Sorry.

In Greece, they have been drinking them way before Starbucks found a lucrative market for fluffy coffee drinks, specifically since 1957. That’s 50 caffeinated years! And I mean caffeinated. Some sources say, a frappe has four times the caffeine as an espresso.

Wikipedia has a great blow-by-blow chemical explanation of exactly what’s happening, but suffice to say, this stuff is an excellent summer drink.

Recipe:

2 teaspoons instant coffee
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1 tablespoon evaporated milk (optional)
Cold water

1. Place coffee, sugar, and 5 tablespoons of water in a drink mixer. Shake vigorously for 30 seconds to produce a thick, light-brown foam.

2. Place three ice cubes in a tall glass. Slowly pour the coffee foam into the glass. Add milk. Fill with cold water until the foam reaches the top of the glass.

3. Insert a thin, flexible straw (colored) and gently stir. Serve with an accompanying glass of cold water.

4. Drink in the company of old, tan men smoking cigarettes.