Santorini, Greece
I came in from Athens after a day trip to Delphi. I technically arrived in Santorini on day 4 of my trip. We were scheduled to arrive at 12:15 am but high winds made it too difficult to land and we circled the island for about 30 minutes before it was safe to land. If we had been up much longer the plane would have turned around and gone back to Athens. The landing was a bit bumpy but we made it just fine.
The airport is small. So small you can see the guys who are loading your luggage onto the conveyor belt. It takes no time at all to get out of the airport. I booked a room at the Santorini Royal Suites using hotels.com. I booked the room because they had a 70% off sale. My room was 75$CAD a night. I would have booked cheaper but I really wanted to spoil myself on this trip. I had scheduled an airport pick-up. Normally I find my way to my hotel or hostel but at 1 am I was happy to have someone take me directly to the hotel. The other thing is that Fira is full of small walking roads, it’s like a maze. I never would have found the hotel, never, I would have spent the night on the street.
Day 4
The hotel room was very nice. The room door was from an outdoor terrace. I had a balcony overlooking the caldera. When I woke up in the morning I had breakfast delivered right to my door. It was a tray with fresh bread, jams and spreads, yogourt, nuts, juice, milk, and coffee. Some fresh fruit would have been nice, but overall it was a very nice breakfast.
I asked reception for a few recommendations about the island, where to go and what to do and I took off from the hotel. My first direction was down. I headed down the stairs to the old harbour. It was small and many things were closed for the offseason. There were a few cafes and gift shops. There were also a few shops selling different boating adventures. I looked at a few but I had a different plan for the day. Instead, I took the cable car back to the top of the cliffs.
From there I began to follow the trail that leads from Fira to Oia. It’s expected to be about a 3-hour walk so wear good shoes. My shoes were okay but didn’t cover the top of my foot so that part of me burnt and hurt for a few days. But the walk was beautiful. It mostly goes along the cliffs from village to village. There are markers in places so you can check that you are on track. A few time the trail seems to vanish or merge with the road. Just keep going. There are also places where you can stop walking and catch the bus if you run into trouble.
Oia is a beautiful town. It is where the pictures of Santorini are from. It has blue domes on top of white buildings. I found it amusing that while I was there (in early April) the island was getting ready for the tourist boom. They were renovating, cleaning, and putting on fresh coats of paint to make the colours bold and strong. I walked around Oia from shop to shop. Then I stopped at a restaurant with a balcony to have lunch.
I spent some time in the shade in a church courtyard. There were lots of people who had the same idea sitting in the shade watching people go by. When it got closer to sunset I went back to a place I found that I thought would have great sunset views. There were a few other people there but as it got closer there seemed to be hundreds more gathering to watch.
The sunset really was beautiful, reds, yellows, and oranges stretched across the sky. Clouds over Oia were dark and foreboding. After sunset, I joined the crowds headed back into the centre of Oia. I followed people until I found the bus station. Then I got on the bus that would return me to Fira. Once there I entered the maze that are the paths of Oia. I found lots of great places but they were not my hotel. It took a few tries until I found the bar I had passed the night before on the way to the hotel. From there I could find the hotel, but first I sat down to enjoy a drink.
Then it was back to the hotel and to bed to prepare for the next day. In the hotel room was a huge Jacuzzi tub, it was nice to relax in, but had no heating element so the water had cooled off a bit. Then it was the sleep of the tired and sunburnt.
Day 5
I was woken up this morning by breakfast being brought to my door. I took it out to the balcony to eat and enjoy the view. Breakfast had ice cream included this morning, but the ice cream didn’t melt and wasn’t really ice cream. It wasn’t bad, just strange and I didn’t eat very much.
After breakfast it was down the hill again to get to the old harbour. From there I bought a ticket for a full day boat tour. We left at 10am and headed for the volcano. We hiked up to the top and our guide shared with us how Santorini and the other island came to be. Then we hiked back down.
We went to the hot spring. Now I’ve been to hot springs, I expected to dock the boat again and go for a bit of a walk to find a spring on another small island. That was not the case. This hot spring is heated by sulphur in the water that is said to be good for the skin. But this hot spring is not hot. It is open to the sea so the temperature of the water depends on the season. You also don’t just get into the warm water. The spring has to be swam to.
The boat anchors in deep water and the brave and foolish dive off the boat into the freezing water and swim to the slightly warmer water. The spring is fine but the chemicals in the water have left a thick coat of slime on the bottom that you may not want your feet to touch. The hard part is getting up the nerve to swim out of the warm water and back into the cold sea to get back to the boat. Then you dry off in the wind.
After we headed to Thirasia Island. This island has a small village at the top of a new hundred stairs. You can normally walk the stairs to have a meal with a view but because we were there in April nothing was open at the top of the hill. There were three places on the harbour that were open. The menu’s were mostly seafood. I ended up having stuffed veggies. That means a pepper and a tomato stuffed with rice veggies. After that we had some free time on the island. I ended up having a bit of a nap on the rock beach. I added a sunburn on my nose to the increasing sunburn on my feet.
From Thirasia the boat headed to the harbour at Oia. You could get off the boat there and watch the sunset and then take the bus back to Fira. I stayed on the boat and took it back to Fira. At Fira I took the Donkey Taxi up the stairs. I spent time walking around the streets of Fira looking at what you could buy in the shops. I stopped at one of the restaurants on the edge of the cliff to have a drink. Then I headed back to the hotel and enjoyed the sunset from the comfort of my balcony. Then I went out and found a pharmacy and bought some sun screen and some aloe.
Santorini isn’t really a party island but you can find some bars and clubs. They like to try and lure you in with free shots or discounts. It’s not a bad way to get a few drinks. Then you can go dancing and drink a bit and end the night however you like.
Day 6
Today was my tour day. After breakfast, I headed down to the bus station. My first stop was Akrotiri, the red sand beach. The bus drives through the town and down the hill and comes to a stop at the water near a cafe. No red sand or beach nearby at all. You have to follow a small road away from the cafe, make a bit of a climb up and around the corner and you get to red cliffs.
I am not sure what the usual access to the beach looks like, or even where it is. When I was there all access was roped off. It looked like a landslide had taken out the path. There were area’s where you could see a metal guard rail that stood alone like either end had been ripped away. I stayed only a little while and took a few photos. Then I headed back to the bus stop and the cafe. I sat by the water and had fresh juice and waited for the bus to come and take me back to Fira.
Back in Fira, I decided to take a different bus to the black sand beach at Perissa. This area was much more built up than the red sand beach. They had beach chairs out and seaside restaurants. Not everywhere was open but there were a few nice places. The beach was quite long and you could go for a walk along the water.
I walked for a bit and found a pretty empty piece of beach. Then it was nothing to lay there and take in the sun and have a nap. To be clear though, I had my nap covered with 3 layers with of sunscreen.
After my nap, it was time for lunch. I went to one of the open restaurants. They had mostly seafood options. I ended up with salmon and pasta for lunch. After lunch, I went onto some of the lounge chairs that the restaurants had on the beach.
I decided to take a walk down the road along the beach. After a short while, I was approached by a man on a bike. He wanted to stop and chat. Where was I from? How long was I in Greece? Could he have my number? Did I want to get drinks when he finished work? Situations like these make me uncomfortable. I like to meet people and I like to talk to them, but when there is an expectation going along with that meeting I want to be small and as far away from the situation as possible.
Eventually, I said that I had a late night flight back to Athens that night (rather than 8 am the next morning) and I was headed back into town to pack and head to the airport, unfortunately before he would be able to finish work and come to town. I know it’s wrong to lie but I really hate things like that.
Maybe it comes from growing up in a small town and knowing everyone. Maybe it’s just me. I like to meet people through work and friends and get to know them before there is anything more. If I don’t feel comfortable around the person already I am quiet and a bit unsociable, it makes for bad dating.
After I finished my walk I headed back to the area of the beach where I would catch the bus. I spent some time on the beach until the bus came and then headed back to the hotel. My flight was early in the morning so I packed my bags and then went to the rooftop restaurant to have a drink. I found out that as a guest of the hotel I was entitled to a 50% discount on menu items, including drinks. So I sat on the open roof of the hotel, had a few drinks and watched the sunset for the final time in Santorini.
After dark, I went and wandered into the shops to buy my few final souvenirs. I end up buying myself a nice set of jewellery and a Santorini hoodie. I bought other knickknacks to give to friends and family when I get home. They going the ones I already shipped from countries like Jordan, Egypt, and the Philippines. Then it was early to bed.
Going Home
My alarm went off at 5:30 am. I packed up my laptop and other last minute things. The sun was rising so I watch it as I left my keys at reception and was on the road by 6 am. I took a short walk down to the taxi depot and got a cab to the airport. Thira Airport is tiny and easy to pass through. Then you sit and wait for your flight to come.
