Magic Santorini

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It's already time for my last entry about Greece. I first visited Santorini back in summer 1999 as a one day stop on a pretty nice cruise on the way between Turkey and Athens. This is way before I even thought of blogging one day and actually way before the digital time too!



That day in 1999, I rented a scooter for the day, but we left aboard the Club Med 2 just after sunset. I spent my lunch time in Oia and has ever since that day planned to come back one day, or actually with the idea of this time sleeping on Santorini. This is the middle of the summer and the island is packed with tourists...and forget about a cheap gorgeous place to stay here in the middle of August!



This year, there are no direct flights between Heraklion and Santorini, so the easiest way is simply one of the fast ferry....truly powerful one, and packed with Russian day-trippers! Whatever, this is just a trip short of three hours to reach Santorini...and one more time on arrival, I can't use the right words to explain how beautiful the island is...even packed with tourists!



My original plan was to sleep in Oia. You can compare prices here with any palace in Europe...but not sure you'll have the space and service of a palace! Here, you just pay for the view...amazing view...and yes, for the crowds too! My initial plan was to stay at Mystique in Oia. You can google it, just one of these out of this world places. But I was not ready for the price tag! So I went for plan B...which ended up being a pretty good idea. So this time, it would be the little gorgeous village of Megalochori and the Vedema hotel. The hotel is in the middle of the village, itself not right on the Caldera, but only few minutes walk to it.



Vedema is a little gem. They have only some 40 "rooms" organized like a little traditional village. The hotel is actually a former winery, and they still produce a pretty nice and crispy Vedema white wine! Rooms here would rather be called little houses....and yes, that upgrade that morning was pretty impressive. It doesn't happen that often that I get upgraded to the Presidential suite, well, here it was rather the Presidential villa, with private swimming pool, huge terrace, 3 bedrooms. Mentioning here the price tag of a night here would be pretty out of place. Let say that I just "burned" few points to get a "basic room". and that my bill on check-out was less than 100 euros! The place was amazing, the staff was amazing, the little village of Megalochori gorgeous! What a place! I will never get bored of those crazy upgrades!



Two days and one night in Santorini....time to do a lot, time to relax properly....time to stay put in the gorgeous villa as well as driving most of the roads of Santorini! And yes, time to try to enjoy the sunset in Oia...and the next day, a very private sunset in Megalochori!



This time, no scooter, but an ATV for 24 hours...and some serious fun! Santorini may look like a tourist trap in the middle of the summer, but this place is just out of this world....I wish I was a way better photographer to give back the full picture of the place!



So what about this sunset in Oia. Yes the place is gorgeous, but this is nearly as bad as a metro ride in Shanghai at 6pm. Crowded is not the word, overcrowded is actually more accurate. Imagine walking around in those little cute walking streets, simply insane! Suddenly I was happy to sleep in sleepy Megalochori, and spending just some time in the early evening in Oia.



Next day, I'm flying out of Santorini just before midnight for my next stop East. This two days will always stay with me. Some good friends will understand why...with a smile! I will be back to Santorini....and not in 16 years, maybe this time I'll try to visit either in June or in September....but I will stay again at Vedema...and maybe one night in Mystique in Oia as a little bonus!

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Comments

[Frankardenas]

Nice Greece
Never been to Greece, but this entry helps me to have an idea of where to go; I agree the views are amazing, thanks, Frank