The Greek Adventure Part 2 - Santorini

It was on Day 3 that we boarded the ferry at Piraeus (and, on the drive over, it was clear that it was truly a port town. Every second storefront housed some sort of massage parlour or strip bar!) We were lucky to have even gotten out of Athens. As I said in my previous post, due to high winds, the ferries had been at a standstill all weekend. There was a few people on the bus who had been stuck in Athens over the weekend, and were just glad to be taking any ferry, despite having to change their travel plans.

Well, I have to credit the Greeks - efficiency is number one on the agenda. If the boat was set to leave at 8am, it was already out of port by 8:01. I was actually quite shocked by how quickly people, suitcases, and cars were unloaded and reloaded. So, it was imperative that our bus reach Piraeus on time, so we would not miss our ferry. Well, there were lots of moments of drama in the lead-up to the port. Why? Our bus left Athens later than expected because we were kept waiting at the hotel for one of the passengers to board. And, as expected, we encountered heavy traffic to the port (I imagine the weekend delays brought more passengers than expected). Still, we made it with 10 minutes to spare.

And what a sight to behold - dozens of ferries (from low to high speed) dotted the port of Piraeus.



Because our ferry departed so early (7:10am) we were able to catch the sunrise. And what a sunrise it was.



We were booked on a high speed ferry, so our trip to Santorini was set to take 5 hours (with stops in Ios and Paros to drop off and pick up passengers). On the regular ferry, this trip would have taken 10 hours! You can just imagine how fast the high speed ferry actually went. For most of the ride we had to stay in our seats because passengers were not allowed to go onto the deck for fear of going overboard, and also for turbulence (it was really rocky at times, I almost fell a few times during the ride when walking through the cabin. Don't even get me started on going to the bathroom!) In this pic, I really had to balance myself so that I wouldn't get blown off!



Safe arrival in Santorini




At the harbour, we were picked up by a tour bus which would drop us off at our hotel. The harbour, of course, is down at sea level, while the rest of Santorini is perched atop a large cliff (the caldera).



So, how were we to to get to the top of the cliff? By driving on the steepest, windiest road I have ever been on.



Well, we made it to the hotel (a 5 minute walk from the town of Fira) and promptly set off to explore Santorini. The view from our hotel was spectacular. We looked onto the volcanic island of Nea Kameni which was visible from all angles of the island. This was taken in the waning moments of the day (around 5pm)




We headed into town before dinner, and enjoyed some time on a patio overlooking the deep blue sea and surrounding islands. It was a great spot to take some fantastic photos of Santorini.



Well, Santorini didn't disappoint. I saw an absolutely brilliant sunset on the very first day.











And some brilliant night scapes of Fira.



It is purported that Santorini is, in fact, the fabled lost city of Atlantis. That the land and its peoples were lost during a volcanic eruption, which Santorini suffered in 1500 B.C. With that in mind, we headed over to Nea Kameni (the volcanic island) and beyond. It was a glorious day. The sun was hot and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. I know, cliched, but that's just how it was!

When we arrived at the boat dock, I felt like Johnny Depp was going to pop out from below deck, and greet us for our 3 hour tour (which was actually more like 6)! You can see why:



What greeted us when we arrived was a inert volcanic island. However, it must be bubbling underneath because there is very little vegetation on the island. We saw one plant during our walk around the island.











From there we reboarded the pirate ship, and made our way to the natural hot springs (of which we had to swim about 100m to get to - Sean helped me with the swim because I found it very tiring with my limited swimming abilities). And it should really be renamed a "warm springs" because mixing with the cold sea water made it tepid at best. Still, very refreshing. There are churches absolutely everywhere!











Again, we re-boarded the pirate ship and made our way back to the big island, heading toward the northern tip of Oia, featuring the classic blue domed roof lines and church bells of Santorini. Also, home to a great English language bookstore, Atlantis Books.



































This town is famous for its spectacular sunsets, so we made our way into town and headed for a spot to take it all in. Well, we were lucky to get a seat somewhere! We ended up at an outdoor lounge, and settled in with the 20 other people to watch the sunset complete with our glass of wine, and cameras at the ready. And boy did I take a lot of photos during that 2 hour period! The sunset was truly stunning, and, hands down, the best of the trip (although the sunset on the south coast of Crete did come in a close second - more about that later).











After sunset, there was a full moon, and it was just as stunning as the sunset. WOW! It really lit up the night sky and shimmered beautifully on the water. Breathtaking.














Our next day was spent exploring the town of Fira. This was our opportunity to sleep in, and take things easy. In itself, Fira is a beautiful little town, but compared to Oia, it was lacking something. On reflection, it would have been nicer to stay in Oia, but there is always a next time. I did like Santorini enough to return (just not for as long - maybe a couple of days at most).














It was while walking down to the port (on each of the days we stayed in Santorini there was at least 5 cruise ships in the harbour!), and dodging donkeys and their droppings, that we happened upon an Aussie pub, The Tropical Bar!









Of all places. You wouldn't think a lot of Aussies would be travelling to Greece, but the pub did a great business. It had great views of the sea and surrounding islands. Sean was able to indulge in his favourite Aussie brew - VB (of which I had brought back a couple of bottles on recent trips Down Under), but here he was able to have as many in one sitting! He was in heaven, and we promised to return a second time before we left Fira.














It was truly a relaxing day, and we decided to head back to the hotel for a picnic lunch, stopping at the Champion (truly, the best name for a grocery story) for some meats, cheese, and, of course, olives!

We woke up to yet another fantastic day! Warm and sunny, we decided to rent a car and see more of the island. Since our car was a standard, Sean was designated as the driver of our Fiat Panda! We decided to head first to the south west point of the island at Faros, where we had great views of the whole island and the sea beyond!











From this vantage point, the island looks like it is snow-covered, but it is in fact just the Mediterranean white-washed architecture. Gorgeous!











Santorini is well-known for its beaches. The best of the lot is the Red Rock beach near Akrotiri, although most tourists come for Perissa Beach, which is a beautiful black sand beach, but too populated.





















At this point, it is afternoon - let the wine tasting begin. You wouldn't think that vines would grow in such a harsh climate (only about 1cm of water a year), but, alas, they do! We visited three wineries (of the 11 on Santorini). Of those three, the best wines, in my opinion, were from Boutari. Santorini is famous primarily for whites, but Boutari is experimenting with red wine production (they need to keep experimenting, in my opinion).











However, the best Vinsanto was to be had at Antoniou Winery, a small boutique winery with gorgeous views of the caldera! Vinsanto is a dessert wine that tastes a lot like sherry, but is not fortified, nor as sweet.














Happily finished sampling, we made our way back to the hotel to quickly change and to make the mad dash across the island to Oia to view our last glorious Santorini sunset. Picture this, me in heels and a dress, Sean in dress shoes and pants, we park our car in what we think is Oia, but alas it is not. We have parked a few kilometres way in the adjacent town, and have exactly half an hour to get across to the coast to view an unobstructed sunset! Well, we made it, battling our way through crowds, and actually found a sparsely populated viewing point, where I was able to take some amazing shots.





















We had dinner on the terrasse at 1800, one of the top restaurants in all of Santorini. After a fantastic meal consisting of local sea bass, I had a glorious dessert of baklava with olive oil infused ice cream. Heavenly!




















Another wonderful day in Santorini, with only one day left.

It was our final day on the island. I had left my shopping until this last day, so set off in the morning to search for some must-haves. A print by a local artist, jewellery, and some other trinkets. Having been impressed by the frescoes in the Orthodox Cathedral in Fira, I set off to find a print by this local artist, Christoforos Assimis. Success!

We did indeed return to the Tropical Bar, and stayed much longer than intended. We began talking to a fellow patron in the table next to ours who happened to be an Australian, who had not had an Aussie beer in the three weeks he and his wife had been travelling in Europe. His wife later joined us, and we began talking to this couple. He was a retired lawyer from, by coincidence, Toronto, NSW! What a character. He was regaling us with stories of his wakeboarding, barefoot, kite-sailing, and anything else that can be done attaching a rope to the back of a boat! And, he was still doing this well into his 60's! Sean was duly impressed, and could only hope to be doing these same things when he reaches his 60's. What a great afternoon. We were sorry to leave, but had to return to our hotel to pack up and meet the ferry, to continue to our next destination, Crete!