Advertisement
Hello again.
Just for something different, I'm adding even more to the travel blog! Despite enjoying being able to show you all the pictures of the places we have seen etc, a lot of time & hard work goes into creating the travel blog, & I sometimes feel a bit tired when we come home from somewhere amazing & I pretty much sit straight back down at the computer to recount the tale. It's really rewarding though, & now that we have a new digital camera, hopefully some of the photos will be much nicer for you to look at. Don't forget to give us an email sometime - we still miss you! Our recent visit to Santorini (in the Greek Islands), was certainly beautiful & unforgettable (especially for Vaughan). It was fantastic to finally get there, as it was a place I had always wanted to visit to take photos - it ended up being probably the best place we have visited (in my opinion). I can imagine retiring there, or buying a holiday home if I win Lotto - cross your fingers for me! Read on to see how it went.......
Day 1 - Nothing much
happened here - we flew in late at night via Athens. The trip wasn't too long, but the second leg was on a much smaller plane, & my fear of flying certainly seems to be increasing by the day. I wasn't a happy bunny, but was grateful when I could see the lights of Santorini below. It was much larger than I had anticipated! And we were both surprised at how easily you could see other islands dotted offshore - there must have been about 6 or 7 close enough to see even from the ground. We managed to get through the airport (nice & easy this time as it was just a domestic flight from Athens) & were met by a taxi driver we had organised in advance. We were staying in an area called Oia, which is on one end of the island. On the way we got to see the main town of Fira, which was still full of people eating out late and shopping in all the tourists shops (also open late). The road from Fira to Oia was very high up on the cliffs (well, caldera - click
here if you want to know what
a caldera is - there’s even an aerial shot of Santorini!) & it was a bit of a windy adventure getting to where we were staying, but it was a nice drive & we made it to the hotel easily. We stayed at a hotel called Finikia's Place, which was fairly high up on the hill, giving it a great view of the lowlands in front of it, even at night time, & faces the perfect direction to see the sunset (although of course, it was dark when we arrived). Finikia's was set into the hill & had all different wee levels, so it was really interesting. Vaughan & I had paid for a larger unit than usual so we had loads of space, as well as a small outdoor area of our own which looked out of the pool towards the coast. It was a bit breezy but still warm enough to sit outside when we arrived. As it is still the quiet season over there it was really pleasant to have quite a few vacant rooms around us as well. Nice!
Day 2 - We jumped up in the morning & went for a walk down the
road to a vehicle hire place close by. There are only a couple of shops in Oia, but enough to get your transport sorted out, & to buy a few things in the convenience store. There are plenty of restaurants all over the island so there were quite a few there too. The guy in the rental place was a bit of a jerk, & I wasn't allowed to hire a scooter, as they don't accept non-EU licenses (Vaughan has a UK/EU one), so I was really disappointed for a while because I had been able to hire one with my license on one of the other Greek islands last year. Oia has a couple of traditional settlements built into the hill, so it was nice to wander around there taking photos, while we decided what to do about the scooter thing (it must be a pain to live there though, with all the tourists constantly coming up to your house & taking photos!). In the end we got a two-person scooter - & decided on the biggest one we could get (200cc). Most tourists went for the soft option of 4-wheelers, but we still wanted to hoon around the
place a bit more, so the big scooter still worked out well. After we got sorted on the scooter we went for a cruise into Fira & had a look around the tourist stores & restaurants. Fira is built right above the cliffs, & the streets (pedestrians only, as there are lots of steps) are steep & windy, but there are fantastic wee restaurants nestled in all the corners & hanging over the sides. So many places to choose from! I particularly enjoyed all the fine local jewellery stores as well. We walked right up to the highest point of Fira where a cable car travels to the cruise ships right down the bottom. The weather was gorgeous too & we had a great time just exploring for a while.
After our visit to Fira we ventured back to Oia & had more of a look around there, as well as down on the low lands in front of where we were staying. The land on Santorini is mostly farmland, but it spreads out in step-like formations as it comes down the mountains, so that the land is still flat. There are a lot of donkeys around & apparently
you can go for rides on some parts of the island. From there we headed down to Ammoudi Bay, near Oia, right at one end of Santorini. It was absolutely beautiful, with just a couple of restaurants clustered at the bottom of these huge red cliffs, & a settlement perched at the very top. The water was crystal blue, with a few old fashioned & brightly coloured fishing boats anchored nearby. They would go out & catch fresh seafood & bring it back to the restaurants who would BBQ it fresh for you while you could watch from your table - so pleasant! After that we just decided to head back to Finikia's for a glass of Ouzo before heading back to Fira for dinner later on. We saw the sunset, but there weren't any clouds so it wasn't very colourful, but still very nice. We went exploring around all the different levels of the hotel & then I went back to the room to read my book, with all the doors & windows open & the fresh air coming in. So relaxing! Vaughan kept exploring around the place & after a while I heard him screaming out my name
from somewhere below (by the pool somewhere). I could tell that something was wrong but I wasn't sure what - when I found Vaughan he was sitting on some steps holding his chin which was covered in blood. The proprietors of the hotel were very kind & took Vaughan to A&E over in Fira, even though it was very late. It turns out that Vaughan had fallen on the steps but landed with his face on one of the rocks in the rock garden next to the pathway, splitting open his chin (he needed stitches), & shattering his two front teeth. Very painful! So the poor boy didn't get back until late & was in a bit of a state when he returned. Never mind - I suppose it could have been worse.
Day 3 - The next day Vaughan seemed ready to sulk in bed, & I was a bit worried about going too far on the scooter as it was a bit big (heavy) for me to ride by myself when I have only been on a scooter once before! By the time I got sorted out & ready to go, Vaughan decided he didn't want to
ruin the holiday so he came out as well. We had to go into Fira to pick up all kinds of prescription medications for him, so we were able to get some 'gyros' to eat (little pieces of shredded pork in a souvlaki thing) - at least Vaughan could eat small bits of stuff, so we just took our time before heading towards the other end of the island for a bit of a look. We went back past the airport & stopped at Kamari, one of the main tourist areas of Santorini. Kamari is basically just a flat (low land) beach area where people come to sit in the sun. There are several restaurants & places to stay located along the beach, but it wasn't that nice really - the sand was black & the water was the same beautiful colour as the day before on the other side of the island, but the 'sand' was really just big painful pebbles, & it was too hot to walk on. We decided to go up over the huge hill in the middle to see the ruins at Ancient Thira, but had a mission trying to get up the hill, which
was very rough & zig-zagged the whole way - we only got a short distance up there when I suggested that we go around the long way, after we turned one corner too sharply & would have fallen off if not for a very large effort from both of us with legs out to stop from tumbling off on the road with the weight of the scooter. Quite awkward really. So we headed back down the hill & went around the long way, catching some great views of the other end of the island & the low lands on that side on the way.
We then ventured on over to Perissa, probably the main tourist area on Santorini - it was pretty dead since it was the off season though. It mostly just seemed filled with outdoor clubs/cafes, & there was volleyball on the beach - the beachfront area was quite long (it was actually 3 beaches in one) & the drinks seemed cheap (although we didn't have any), so I guess it's the place to stay if you're single or quite young. However it's pretty far from Fira & there not many other shops around (there's a few
at the back but it could take some time to reach the stores you wanted if you were after anything specific, because of how long the beaches are). The sand was still black, & mostly quite rough there as well, so it wasn't that spectacular. I much preferred where we were staying, or being in Fira itself. We headed back to Finikia's after that so Vaughan could rest & have some more medication. He looked very tired & unhappy so it was nice for me to just relax & sit in the sun reading my book while he had a big sleep. When he woke up he announced that he was hungry, so I had a go on the scooter & just went a few minutes down the road into Oia & picked him up some munchies - the hardest bit was getting up the steep driveway at the beginning. It only occurred to me later that I could have walked just as quickly, but I kind of wanted a try on the scooter myself. Turning it around was the hardest & I really felt like the scooter was much too heavy for me by myself, so I just had
that one go on my own which was enough.
Vaughan sat in the sun for a short time with me before deciding that he was willing to go into Fira & try & find something he could eat there (at least there's more to choose from). We went in on the scooter & had a drink at the Aussie bar (Tropical) which cost a sweet fortune for a drink each, although watching the sunset from the balcony overlooking pretty much all of the caldera was amazing. We moved on quickly though, & began looking at all the menus for the restaurants - we found two nice ones opposite each other, picked one & then went upstairs for dinner on the rooftop as dusk came on. It was a bit windy but really nice. We both ate local foods including the starters, & Vaughan did a good job on his even though his mouth must have been really sore. Once we were finished we headed straight back to Finikia's - Vaughan had made a really good effort for the day & he deserved a better sleep. I sat out on the deck chairs by our room again just enjoying the
peaceful surroundings. Finikia’s was a great choice as it was really close enough to the action to be able to do & see all kinds of things, but away from the madness so that it was still quiet & relaxing - excellent!
Day 4 - Vaughan had asked me if I wanted to go on a cruise to another island, or out to other parts of the Santorini caldera, but I was kind of enjoying just doing nothing (which was also good for Vaughan so that he could rest after his injury too). We decided that we would just stick around on the mainland, but that we would visit Akrotiri, on the very far other end of the island (past Perissa where we had been the day before). Vaughan was still very sore but he was feeling a bit better so we headed off in that direction. Akrotiri was fairly small, so we kept going around the end further & found a lighthouse, with a lookout you could climb to (Vaughan was very careful on the rocks). From there you could see many of the Greek Islands, as we were up quite high - even from that height you
could see the clear blue colour of the water. So pretty! There were many yachts sailing around that area as well, with the usual run of cruise ships in & out of Fira, below the gondola. From the lighthouse you could see Oia all the way across the other side from us (the island is kind of u-shaped), with Fira in the centre. We were close to the other small islands that made up the caldera, & probably had the best view of ‘the plug’ from that end of the island as well.
As we had spent most of our morning just on the scooter, we decided to head back through Fira where I could buy my tourist goodies & then head all the way back to the other end of the island, past Oia & back down to Ammoudi Bay for a fresh seafood lunch - Vaughan got himself a whole red snapper & I ordered calamari, which were both grilled on the BBQ. I have never seen so much calamari in my life, & it was pretty cheap. I usually love it, but ate so much that I don’t need any more for a really long time.
It was fantastic though, & the BBQ flavour made it just a bit different. We really enjoyed it there, as it was just so pleasant to be next to the water & in the sunshine (well, in the shaded bit while we were eating, but still outside). After rolling ourselves back to the scooter we headed back to Finikia’s for another sit in the sun. It was our last evening in Santorini & we were a bit sad because we had enjoyed ourselves so much - it was great to stay somewhere so much nicer than we often do, & I even went for a swim in the pool after getting a bit sunburnt in the afternoon.
It’s certainly a nice, relaxing way of life where no one is really in a hurry, & everyone speaks English because it is a tourist destination. I’m not sure if we would have had the same positive opinion of it if we had visited with all the other thousands of people in the summer, but we certainly enjoyed ourselves. We had to return the scooter in the evening so we headed back to Fira where we picked up a whole pile of
‘gyros’ for Vaughan & then headed back to warm it up on the hotplate we had in our kitchen area, after dropping the scooter back down the road. We watched our last sunset from the hotel & had an early night, as we had to be at the airport at 6am to fly back to London.
Day 5 - Goodbye Santorini! We miss you already! What a great destination - I know I went to take photos mainly, but ended up enjoying absolutely everything about the place. It was a fantastic trip, & a great send-off for my final holiday to Europe before heading back to NZ. I have heard that some of the other Greek Islands are nice, if also a bit overrun by tourists - looks like we went at the right time of year. We arrived safely back in London where it was cold & raining, although the sun did come out in the afternoon. Next of course was the big mission to sort out Vaughan’s travel insurance so he could get his teeth fixed, but wouldn’t you know it, his insurance company didn’t want to know (of course not - it might mean spending money)!
It was quite stressful for a while trying to sort out what we could do about it, but managed to eventually find someone who could get Vaughan in to the emergency dentist, & help us with information about claiming on the NHS (National Health Service - kind of like ACC in NZ, I think), so we now have it down to costing about £200 excess, instead of the full fee which would be around £2000!! The emergency dentist was able to put some temp stuff on his teeth so that they wouldn’t keep falling apart in the meantime, & now he can eat a little bit more easily. I am sure he will be back to his normal self soon enough, but make sure you give him a bit of grief for me about hurting himself on holiday - he sure knows how to make things difficult, but at least he will be OK, & that’s the main thing.
Well, that’s it really - a great trip, great weather, great food, great people, it was…...great! I would return to Santorini in a heartbeat - it really was just so enjoyable. Thanks for reading if you’re still with me. I have a few more places to visit around London before heading off to the States, so if you’re lucky (& if I’m feeling motivated), you might see another instalment before then. Hopefully a weekend trip to Liverpool with Pete & Sueanne is also on the cards, so will keep you posted. I hope this travel blog entry finds you all safe & well, & we look forward to hearing from you soon (please email!) - does anyone think the new camera does a better job?
Love always,
Toni & Vaughan xxxxxx
Advertisement
Tot: 0.082s; Tpl: 0.023s; cc: 7; qc: 28; dbt: 0.0379s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Emma
non-member comment
!
I'm so jealous!!! It looks beautiful! I hope Vaughan is feeling all better now - poor guy. Have fun. Em xox.