Santorini (Σαντορίνη) is the largest island in small circular archipelago made from a volcanic eruption. The white and blue signature buildings were painted as such during the Ottoman rule where the Greek inhabitants living on the island were forbidden to fly Greek flags. Contrary to tourist photos, guide books photos and even my own photos, there isn't actually a high abundance of these blue domed buildings but only a modest amount.
All in attendance: Kristen and David
From Athens, David and I took the metro down to Piraeus port early morning. Piraeus, it turns out, is actually its own municipality right next to Athens. We took the 36€ ferry towards Santorini - a brutally boring 8 hour journey where we ate awful croissants and decent hazelnut cookies. The alternative was the 56€ ferry which took only 4 hours - unfortunately no night ferry were running on the day we chose to travel.
Since we were still in the "off season" our 6.60€/night hostel (John and Katerina's Room for Rent - HIGHLY recommend) came to pick us up from the port on Santorini. Along with us were 2 Americans, 1 Aussie and 1 other Canadian. Off we went to probably one of the nicest hostels I have ever stayed at (especially considering the price).
Since the 8 person dorm was full - David and I got our own room all to ourselves with a private bathroom and air conditioning. It is especially pleasant to share a room with a Canadian because that means you can crank the AC to the coldest temperature and know that everyone is happy with that decision. As in Athens, the bathroom shower was once again no higher than the ankle which resulted in a sloppy soggy mess after each use.
The first night was a relaxing one where we ate at the most delicious (and cheap!) Greek restaurant down the street from the hostel (which smothered all the delicious meat skewers in a rich lemon sauce), a visit to the 24 hour bakery also across the street and a cold dip into the sea by the black beach, walking distance from our hostel. In May, we had the full beach nearly all to ourselves for sun set - minus 2 Japanese tourists taking ridiculous photos and splashing in the water.
The next day we rented an ATV to zipzip along the island. It is 11€ to rent one and it cost another 11€ to fill it up with gas. Since David and I shared the ATV, it was am impossibly excellent deal. I guess the only risk would be to crash into something and the damages that could arise - or renting them in the summer where the streets of the island are probably full of tourists on ATVs and rental cars.
Highlights include epic red beaches, Santorini vineyards that grow on the ground in bushes - not vines, cave houses we found abandoned on cliffsides, a lighthouse, eating Moussaka and a really cute woman in a really cute store selling olive products.
We were staying in the cheaper town of Perissa but we rode all the way to Fira by the afternoon. Fira has the signature white smooth buildings that everyone thinks of when they think of Santorini. Tourists over-population was at an extreme in this town. We walked around, popping into all the art shops, ceramic shops, glass shops and knick-knack shops along the way. Food was twice as much as it was in Perissa. We also saw a cute couple about to get married too.
We took the ATV a bit further down the road and found the hiking path from Fira to Oia. We parked the ATV and took a walk which was extremely beautiful and gave you a good prospective of the shape and outline of the island. We arrived in Oia in a much shorter time than we thought (less than an hour) and decided to double back to where we left the ATV to drive it to Oia so we could stay there and watch the sunset before driving home.
The sunset in Oia is world famous and crowds gather at various vantage points over an hour before the actual event takes place. People even clap when it is over and done with.
Then David zipped us back to Perissa as I hung on for dear life at the back of the ATV. We had a few drinks with the people from our hostel and ate at that same restaurant down the street before snoozing in bed after a long sunkissed day.
The next day, sunburnt and a bit tired, we decided to take a 20€ tour around the island. The tour takes you to the Nea Kameni, the island with Santorini's volcano and we did a small walk around there. We also went to swim in some hot springs (which were lukewarm at best) and then stopped on the island of Thirassia for dinner. Dinner this night was a large Greek salad with astoundingly delicious feta. I should mention that the waves on this day were extremely pronounced and I nearly got seasick for the first time in my life.
On our last night, we explored the town of Perissa, marveled at all the small churches perched precariously into the cliffside, visited the Church of Timiou Stavrou and spent a last night with the friends we made at our hostel. The next morning our hostel even drove us to the airport on Santorini where we took a 40€ flight back to Athens.
Thing to do next time:
- Go to Ios, Crete, Mykonos + another island
- Visit a Santorini Winery
- Visit Ancient Thira in Perissa
- Visit the White Beach (accessible only by boat!)
