Blogs from Santorini, South Aegean, Greece, Europe

Europe » Greece » South Aegean » Santorini » Ia October 19th 2023

I have only been to a few. Here are mine, out of the top 30 listed by "Far and Wide" article. Tattered Cover (Denver) Tattered Cover Book Store is the largest independent bookseller in Colorado, with six locations around the Denver metro area. Joyce Meskis, who owned Tattered Cover from 1974 until her retirement in 2017, was a high-profile activist for literacy and freedom of expression. The stores sell a mix of used and new books, and host over 500 literacy and community events each year in-store. The current owners continue Meskis’ mission to defend free speech and build knowledge and intellectual curiosity through books and reading. The Last Bookstore (Los Angeles) When owner Josh Spencer opened his now iconic bookstore in downtown Los Angeles in 2005, he was certain it would only last three years ... read more

Day 16 - Santorini, Greece

Europe » Greece » South Aegean » Santorini October 17th 2023

Thira on the cliff top

Karnen

Santorini is probably the most popular island destination for tourists in Greece. It is actually the smallest of the Cyclades island chain, but it is special because it was formed by volcanic eruption. The three cities of Santorini sit high on top of the cliffs that form the caldera of the volcano, with three small uninhabited islands in the middle, one of them an active volcano. There are three other volcanoes near Santorini, all undersea, so they are not visible. Since they are all active, with the last eruption in 1950, I was a bit uneasy the whole time. One of our drivers said that when the experts begin to see activity, the locals will have three days to completely vacate the island and hopefully make it to safety before it erupts. It is geologically very ... read more

Day 20 - last day on Santorini

Europe » Greece » South Aegean » Santorini July 26th 2023

jewel89

I have awful wifi again so photos will have to wait :( Today was pretty uneventful. I really am not feeling the chaos energy of Santorini lol. Like, yeah it’s pretty and yeah I can see how it would be a great romantic getaway (if you got $$$)… but idk, it was just ok. I’m glad to have come once, but I def much preferred Crete. I went to the Heart of Santorini - it’s a short little hike down the cliff side where it used to be a heart shaped hole in a cliff you could see the island through… now it’s basically just a roundish hole lol. Still nice though. Since I was early in the day, I parked in Megalochori — to avoid the tiny rocky parking lot at the start of the ... read more

Day 18 - Thira to Oia

Europe » Greece » South Aegean » Santorini July 24th 2023

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jewel89

Gorgeous Santorini day today! Still hot as anything, but gorgeous. I headed out early to do the hike - I knew I was only going to do Thira to just past Imerovigli - I didn’t have the oomph in me to do the second half without any shade at all lol. My timing was pretty good - I’d say 80% of the walk was in the shade (other than when I deviated a bit to try and find photos). But even in the shade… that heat still gets you as you mostly walk uphill in this part. (Side note - as I was leaving Thira I timed it as the donkeys were on their way down. They didn’t have the usual donkey silly energy to them. I feel so bad for them… poor things basking in ... read more

Day 19 - Santo Wines! And just kicking about

Europe » Greece » South Aegean » Santorini July 24th 2023

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jewel89

Got my rental car and naturally first place I went to was a winery…? Lol. Ok but first my car rental guy (Dmitri from Avance) was the sweetest funniest guy ever lol. He was so jokey and then was like are you in lovvvvvvvvvve? I’m like no lol. Then he started gushing about my energy and my smile and why am I not in love?! And all that. Made me laugh, good start to my day at least lol. From there I headed to the famous Santo Wines! I absolutely forgot there was also a tour in what I booked lol - so I did get to learn quite a bit as well as enjoy the drinks! They were saying Santorini is one of the only places that hasmt been hit by these bugs that eat ... read more

Day 17 - And off to Santorini I go!

Europe » Greece » South Aegean » Santorini July 22nd 2023

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jewel89

Alright let’s do this! Off to Santorini today! Early start with an 8am ferry departure. (Was supposed to be 8:45am but bumped it, ugh) One good thing? The 15min walk to the port was quite nice at 6:45 without the blaring sun lol. (Not so happy side note, the morning is always weird travel wise - so many half dead maimed pigeons on the roads and other days when I was driving around always so many giant rocks on the road and/or dead animals - I mean that’s like anywhere w roadkill, but still, sad and ew.) ANYWAY. This ferry was… different? I took Seajets. It’s nice that they have giant racks in the car deck to store your big luggage. Onboard was nice but we had assigned seats (airplane style seats w absolutely no obvious ... read more

Santorini

Europe » Greece » South Aegean » Santorini June 9th 2023

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gtimmermans

Santorini is probably the most spectacular island in Greece and a geologic wonder. Several of the villages we visited (eg. Fira, Oia, Akrotiri) sit next to cliffs atop the caldera and offer spectacular views of the crater created from a 16th-century BC volcanic eruption. According to archaeologists, the first human presence on the island dates back to the Neolithic Period. Santorini hosted a significant civilization around 3600 BC. Discoveries made near Akrotiri revealed the existence of an ancient Minoan colony. The settlement was similar to those found on the island of Crete (like Knossos), with many wall ornaments and pottery depicting naturalistic landscapes of animals and humans of the same ancient Minoan style. In ancient times, Santorini Island was known as Strongili, which means ... read more

Checking Opening Hours Would Really Help My Knees

Europe » Greece » South Aegean » Santorini June 7th 2023

Chapel of Panagia Katefiani

waterfia

It's the last day of our holiday, so the last chance for Baklava for breakfast, the last chance to chill by the pool and the last chance to see any remaining sights in Santorini. My wife and daughter opted for the middle of those three options. I opted for the other two. The last item on my checklist from earlier in the week (see ) was the walk up the trail to the ruins of Ancient Thera, which could be reached by foot from Perissa, although it is a particularly arduous walk. I set off as soon as we had had breakfast, so as to be back before it got too hot, and I headed up the steep, rocky path. It took about half any hour to get up to the entrance to the ruins and ... read more

The Only Toilet Available is 3,600 Years Old

Europe » Greece » South Aegean » Santorini June 6th 2023

Random Church

waterfia

I had booked the Archaeological Bus Tour for today, so after a Baklava breakfast (and today there was also tiramisu that was also bizarrely added to my breakfast selection) I left my wife and daughter for the day. They had already planned their day without me on the beach, by the pool and getting a massage each. It turned out that even the tour buses leave early yet, so luckily I've learned now and always get to bus stops at least 15 minutes before I need to. It was a small shuttle type bus to take us (there were three of us) to the main meeting point. We were dropped in the middle of nowhere with just an instruction to wait for Bus 19. After three quarters of an hour and lots of other busses coming ... read more

From Looking Like an Influencer to a "Squashie"

Europe » Greece » South Aegean » Santorini » Fira June 5th 2023

St. John the Theologian Church

waterfia

I got up early for the morning sunrise as per usual, but more out of habit rather than there being any particular Perissa setting I wanted to photograph. There wasn't really anything to photograph, but to be fair it was pleasant, peaceful, there were no crowds, no rivalry for the best positions and actually just great to watch and enjoy it. Perissa is very different from Oia in ways that are good and bad. Breakfast was a buffet in the hotel restaurant, so after four mornings of being able to just go out onto our terrace when breakfast arrived like slobs, wearing what we liked and in whatever state we liked, this morning we would need to be in some sort of semi-presentable condition before going down. The buffet included one of my Greek favourite, Baklava. ... read more

Brief history of Greece

Greece achieved its independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1829. During the second half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century, it gradually added neighboring islands and territories, most with Greek-speaking populations. In Worl...more history

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