Santorini, Greek Islands

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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 on Santorini, we were met by Melanie, our host from Atrina Traditional Houses. The view from our canava house was spectacular, the deep blue water, sunny early morning sky and white washed houses. We had finally arrived! Melanie had taken the liberty of ordering our breakfast for us, so within no time at all we were sitting down on our private balcony enjoying a delicious home cooked breakfast.

Luke and Carmel were staying up at the youth hostel, so it was nice to have them come and spend some time with us. Santorini was extremely hot - a little too hot for Mum: Liani and I spent most of our time sunbathing by the pool and in the evening wandering the beautiful little streets and paths of the village.

Oia is famous for its spectacular sunsets, so on the second night there we took ourselves off, armed with some beers and nibbles and went to watch the sun disappear over the horizon - a beautiful sight to see.

Liani and I went into Fira one evening and wandered the streets famous for its jewellery and local arts. After taking some night shots of the houses dotted along the edge of the caldera, we ended up having a delicious seafood meal on one of the terrace roves overlooking the water.

Luke and Carmel hired a quad bike one day and took Mum for a spin down to the Red Beach - made up of volcanic red cliffs. Santorini also has a Black and White Beach - all of various colors of volcanic rock.

I have never tasted Greek salad like I have in Santorini and fell in love with Oia. Hopefully Liani and I will return again next year for a visit……

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