Irini Nomikou

I grew up in Emporio, in the south of the island, one of the old Venetian castle villages with narrow alleys built to confuse pirates. After studying geology in Patras I came home and worked with the team that monitors the Santorini volcano, measuring gas and ground movement. So yes, I will explain the eruption of around 1600 BC, and yes, I will tell you it is being watched. I lead the caldera walk from Fira to Oia, ten kilometres along the rim with the island dropping into the sea beside you, early in the morning before the cruise crowds arrive. I also run a history morning at Akrotiri, the Bronze Age town buried in ash, followed by Emporio and Pyrgos, where you see how people lived here before tourism. I like to stop, point at rocks and explain them. I speak French thanks to a year in Clermont-Ferrand, another volcano town. Now I show Santorini live on a video call, phone in hand, and I answer questions as they come.