Blogs from Santorini, South Aegean, Greece, Europe - page 42

Santorini had been a destination I had always wanted to visit, the beautiful architecture of the cyclade islands and the deep blue of the Mediterranean. Unfortunately our flight out of Heathrow was cancelled. It being the last flight of the night, meant that Mum, myself and Liani were put up at the Radisson Heathrow for the night, rather than arriving in Santorini the next morning. It wasn’t until the next afternoon that we finally got a flight out of London and were on our way. Because we hadn’t shown up for our connecting flight out of Athens, Aegean Air had cancelled our flights! Therefore we ended up having another night in Athens and getting a connection early next morning to Santorini. Upon arrival into Oia - the most beautiful and least commercial of all the villages ... read more

Ahh ... San-to-rini. Discovered by the Germans in 1904, they named it Santorini, which in German means a whale's .... but no I was just trying to impress you. Scholars maintain the translation was lost hundreds of years ago" (Ron Burgundy - Anchorman). Ok so no more movie quotes and I can tell you that Santorini is in fact named after Saint Irini, although the Greeks call the island Thira. Whichever name you use it is a superb island and perhaps one of the most stunning places I have ever visited. The island used to be much larger but it had the centre destroyed by a volcanic eruption in 1650 BC, leaving a ring of islands around a huge caldera. Lonely Planet reckons it was "probably the biggest volcanic eruption ever" and that the caldera it ... read more

Leaving the wind in Mykonos and arriving in sunny, calm Santorini was marvelous! This has always been one of our favorite Greek Islands in spite of the crowds and popularity. There are so many ways to detach yourself from the hectic pace and just truly enjoy what the island has to offer. One of the ways that we do this is by staying in the beach town of Kamari which is on the opposite side of the caldera portion of the island. There are fewer people, wider streets, flat terrain, and a beautiful black sand beach to enjoy. Mesa Vouno is the large mountain at the end of the beach which we love to hike. A paved switchback road takes us to the top of the saddle. From there stairs and a steep trail lead to ... read more

Samos Island: One Night So I arrived in Samos home to the Temple of Hera (The Alpha Chi's know what that's about!) but unfortunately I didn't have time to pay respects since I was just in town for a night. I got off the port without any accomodation set which I didn't really care cause I heard rumors that there are hostel runners who wait at the port like paparazzi with rooms ready. I get off the port...no hostel runners...not good. Luckily I booked my trip to Mykonos for the next morning at 6:30 am and the ferry bookers also booked my room in Samos for 18 euro... so I arrived to get a single hotel room right next to the water!! Amazing view...crappy room. The shower was pretty much over the toilet and the TP ... read more

We arrived at Santorini just before 6am & were lucky to make it. We just woke up in time to do a frantic pack & exit the boat before it departed again. We didn't even have time to deflate our $2 air beds (yes we did purchase air beds after being taught a lesson in simple comforts on our first ferry experience). It was early & we had to make our way from the dock to Perissa, where the hostel was. The local bus network didn't start until 8am & even then there was confusion over whether it would go all the way to Perissa. The hostel did provide transfers but not at that hour. Our options were to get a cab or hang about for a bus they may not even be able to help. ... read more