Santorini
There are a few ways to arrive at Santorini. Mom and I took the ferry from Naxos, only an hour or so away by ferry. The fast ferries that run in Greece are very efficient with how they work. When we boarded the ferry in Naxos there were a number of racks, labelled with the ports you could board the boat at. As you walked to the stairs at the back of the boat you left your bag in the correct area to easily find it again.
The boat was full of walk-on passengers, so the racks were full. People’s bags took up an entire side of the ferry. The thing that amazed me most was that they didn’t roll and fall everywhere while the boat was in motion.
Once we reached the port there were taxis and busses waiting to take people from the bottom of the caldera to the top. I decided that mom should experience the local bus, so we bought two tickets to Fira. Going up the caldera could make a person nervous if they were afraid of heights. The views, however, are well worth the climb.
Once we reached Fira we stayed at the bus station and caught the bus to Oia. We wanted to drop off our bags and were excited to see the hotel room we booked.
The Hotel
Once we reached Oia we were attempting to find the hotel based on Google Maps but the hotel was not on a road. Also, not all the paths in Santorini are on Google Maps. There were many small roads, twists and turns, levels of road, and we became thoroughly lost. We checked the instructions to find the hotel on the app, but there were none. Mom asked at nearby shops but they had no answer for us.
We were getting frustrated. We had a phone number but needed to find somewhere with WiFi to make the call. As we were starting to find a place to eat when we were asked if we were looking for Virginia’s Cave Villas.
Lucky for us, Romeo was looking for another couple of people who were set to arrive. We looked lost enough he thought it was us that he has been in contact with. The other couple was nearby and overheard us being asked and approached. They were the ones who had been in contact with Romeo.
We followed Romeo to a small room, that served as a reception, and were checked in. After we were escorted a short ways away to our room. This room had been our splurge on the trip. We wanted to relax and enjoy the views and paid extra for it. Our room was very impressive.
After taking a bit of time to explore our room and unpack a bit, mom and I headed off to find lunch. There were many places to eat and shop. Santorini was much more expensive then Naxos. With more tourists places can charge more for the same service. We eventually found a restaurant where mom liked options on the menu.
Oia
Oia is mainly a long shopping street with hotels and residences off on side streets. After eating, Mom and I walked the streets exploring and enjoying the views of the caldera.
Mom and I were happy with everything we had seen for the afternoon. We headed back to our hotel room. We wanted to make use of the hot tub that came with the room.
Once we had spent some time in the tub, we noticed the sky begin to darken. We wanted to head out and be near Oia castle for the sunset. We got ready to go out and join the hundreds of others in watching the sunset.
It really was a beautiful sunset and Mom and I stayed until the sun had completely sunk below the horizon. Then we waited for the crush of tourists to leave. After, we returned to the main shopping area. It was still well lit with bright lights.
Mom and I found a restaurant that had a really good dessert menu. Once we finished wandering and shopping we returned there to have a treat before we headed back to the hotel for the night.
Fira
The next morning, we got up and took the bus to Fira. Mom and I wanted to explore the town as well as go down to the old port.
Fira is easy to get lost in. The paths twist and turn. They are on different levels as they approach the edge of the caldera. They have levels again as they descend the edge of the caldera.
Mom and I wandered around and did some shopping. We wandered and found a McDonalds. I tried to use the washroom but were told we had to make a purchase. We lined up to buy a simple breakfast. Except we waited in line for over 5 minutes and it never moved. No idea what was wrong at the front of the line but no orders were taken. Frustrated, Mom and I left and went to find somewhere else to use the washroom. Eventually, we used the public washrooms that you pay to use.
We found a nice place to have breakfast. We ate on the outside patio on the second story. Occasionally, bubbles would come from somewhere below us and float around for a bit. Some of the children eating at the restaurant would run around and pop them.
After breakfast, mom and I made our way to the path down to the Old Port. Starting from the top there is a long stairway full of switchbacks. The path was carefully carved into the side of the cliff to allow access to boats that would bring goods to the city. Now you can travel up or down the staircase by donkey.
Old Port
Mom and I chose to walk. I hadn’t done any research on the way that the donkeys were treated and didn’t want to chance supporting the industry if it was unethical. By walking we were also able to stop and take pictures as we desired.
When we reached the bottom, there was a small area where there were a number of shops and restaurants. There were also places where you could book a boat to ferry you back to Oia. There were tour companies that had wooden boats and catamarans that left on tours.
After Mom and I took the time to explore the old port, we decided to take the cable car up to the top, rather than walking. Once we returned to the top of the cliff Mom and I continued to walk around and explore Fira. Mom even made a new friend.
Mom and I debating staying to watch the sunset from Fira but decided to catch the bus back to Oia and find dinner and watch the sunset from near our hotel.
We found an area a bit farther away from the main tourist grouping at the castle. We walked around the area exploring and taking in all the sights and sounds from the evening.
After the sunset, we found a nice place to have dinner and then walked around Oia until we were tired. There were many little shops that mom and I bought trinkets and souvenirs from. We could feel ourselves winding down from the long trip, preparing to return home.
We returned to the hotel and packed our bags in preparation for our flight the next morning. When we woke up we had time for a nice breakfast and then we went to catch the bus to the Fira and head to the airport.
