Some of you may have read my comments about the brightness of the light in Crete. It turns out we were only halfway there. On Santorini Zeus likes to push the Brightness slider way past +100. For those of you that are blondes and redheads prone to getting sunburnt rather than sunbronzed, you’ll know what I’m talking about.
It was windy and cloudy when we arrived on Santorini. Day two dawned cloudy and chilly with a forecast of partly sunny in the afternoon. Geni and I went for a long walk and, without warning, the sun broke through. It was like I’d been pounded by Zeus’ Hammer of Sun. I ducked my head and turned away, but I was surrounded by whitewashed walls. The brightness was amplified as it bounced from wall to wall. Every centimeter of wall seemed to have a particular point of focus on my skin. The intensity felt like real weight on my body.
I pulled my straw hat lower on my head, rolled my sleeves back down and took a deep breath. I stood under awnings every chance I got. Luckily, Zeus took pity on me and he played the Brightness slider in and out of the clouds all day.
