Santorini

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Sunday 22nd May 2011 contd

We had a short stroll around the immediate vicinity early in the evening just to loosen our legs a little. We looked in the tourist shops but didn't spend any money.

Did a little surfing in reception and that was really it for the day.

Monday 23rd May, 2011.

Plan for the day, get back to Iraklion, book ferry for Santorini for Tuesday and find accommodation for the night.

We packed up our stuff paid the bill, retrieved my passport and left about 9.30.

We stopped at a little roadside cafe along the way for some coffees but basically drove straight through arriving 1230 ish.

We had missed the port turn off so ended up coming off the main road at the airport, drove past and took the lesser road back to the port.

At the port we went into the terminal and booked a ferry to Santorini for 0945 tomorrow. The ferry is Flyingcat 4 and costs €51.50 each with Hellenic Seaways due to arrive at 1150.

Next stop was to arrange some accommodation for tonight. We were shortly to be on foot so the nearer the Hotel the better. We had looked around as we drove into the port and there appeared to be some Hotels on a rise overlooking the area.

We drove up and the signposted hotels appeared shut, but just around the corner was the Pasiphae, which had people at the entrance. We made enquiries and arranged ourselves a room for the night at €50. It wasn't the best hotel in the world but the close location to the port was the important thing for us. They were certainly very friendly and we found later that the shower had plenty of hot water.

We moved our stuff out of the car into the room and the next job was to drop off the car at the airport. So we drove back found the spot, left the keys and made our way to the bus stop.

We had time on our hands now and knew the town wasn't far from the port so stopped off in the centre and pottered about.

Lunch was next and Pat spotted Izmir Kebabs which she knew would appeal and we sat down. Pat had Pork Souvlaki and I had the Gyros, both came with chips, salad, pitta and yoghurt and were very filling.

Then an amble through the shops, finding a Starbucks we had coffee and watched the world go by again. Then a stroll down past the port and up to the hotel.

We had wireless internet access in the room but the system crashed so we got some stuff done but not all we would have wished.

We went out for another stroll later on and ended up in the centre again doing some more people watching and having another coffee at Starbucks.

Back to the hotel and another day gone.

Tuesday 24th May, 2011

Alarm set for 0750, up and showered and heading down to the port on foot with our luggage.

We made our way to the Passenger station to find out where to go and we were directed to the ferry itself along the quay. No fancy checking in here.

We went along to our Hellenic Seaways catamaran, Flying Cat 4, and after waiting a while went on board. Our tickets actually had a seat allocation in airline style seats which we duly found.

General pandemonium on board with people wandering all over the place trying to find their seats and so on. The vessel was pretty full so it didn't allow for people to sit whereever they wanted.

Departure was due for 0945 and we set off around that time, an American lady called Sandra travelling on her own sat with us and we spent most of the journey talking with her about various things. I have to say that with all our chatting the two hour journey flew past and the sea conditions were very calm.

Soon enough we were in Santorini or Thira which ever you prefer, the famed home of the Atlanteans as some believe.

Arrival was due for 1150 and again we were on time, getting your luggage and off the ferry was chaos but for us straightforward.

The quayside was full of a great number of people, some meeting others, some selling hire cars, some selling accommodation, tour operators, and also hundreds of tourists milling around not knowing what the hell they are doing or where they are going. Other vessels were in at the same time to add to the fun.

We were not to sure what to do next overall, but getting up to the town was important so we found the local bus for Thira - the main town - and at €2.20 each we got ourselves up to the town.

At the bus station we decided to look around Thira first for accommodation and decide later what to do next if that didn't work out. So we wandered away from the centre a short way and saw a likely place straight away called Nemesis Appartments.

They had a one bedroom apartment for one night then a different smaller room for the second night and full other than that.

The place was really nice so we said OK. Our bags were taken up to the room while we were checking in and that was us sorted.

We went out for a look around more or less straight away to get our bearings and so on.

We walked along the edge of the caldera through the town for quite some distance. We had a lunch in a rooftop restaurant called Ampelos overlooking the volcano and had our expensive Santorini lunch. We had a Greek salad, Lamb and Pork steak. A class above our recent standards and of course a wonderful location.

We walked for several hours taking in the fabulous sights and eventually turned round and headed back stopping for an ice cream on the way. There is a Carrefour supermarket not far from the hotel so we popped in to pick up a few bits and pieces and ended up back at the room about 5.30.

Again our room has wireless internet so we caught up on some more stuff and generally relaxed.

The weather was cloudy today but the sun came out now and again, later in the day there were spots of rain but not what you would call a shower.

We had done enough for the day so that was us finished.

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Photos

Santorini
Looking back towards Fira

Santorini
Flying Cat 4