Greece: Santorini (Oia)

After spending the whole previous day on our feet we woke up on our last day on Santorini feeling like we needed a beach day.  Since a lovely section of the black sand beach was literally out the front door of our hotel it was pretty easy to talk ourselves into it.

Later in the day we hopped back on the handy local bus and headed for Oia at the tip of the caldera.

Cute, windy cobblestone streets filled with little shops, cafes, tourist traps, and glimpses of the amazing views.

Isn’t this exactly what you pictured Greece to look like?  All white and smooth with pops of blue and adorable windmills!

As afternoon turned into evening we found a spot to relax and wait for the sun to go down…

…then chased the sunset through town…

When we’d exhausted the sun and any further opportunity for photos we took ourselves into a patisserie we had passed (and smelled!) several times for our first bites of baklava. 

We might be willing to go back to Oia just for that baklava.  And the sunset.

Greece: Santorini (Fira)

For our second full day on Santorini we decided to try out the local bus for a trip to Fira.  Just like Mykonos, they use big comfy tour style coaches for their public transit, it’s cheap, and convenient. 

Fira is quintessential postcard Santorini.  The white cliffside villages that everyone expects to see.  The views are nothing short of spectacular!

One of the first things we decided to do was ride the cable car down the caldera (I guess I should explain that the caldera is the massive crater cut out in the side of the island by the erupting volcano 3500 years ago)…

Back up at the top we were able to walk for miles along the pedestrian walkway through Fira, on to Firostefani, and then Imerovigli.  Each village is built along the caldera’s rim!

Once we reached Imerovigli we took a little break and a taxi ride back to Fira where we found a cliffside restaurant with patio to enjoy the sunset.

It might be a wee bit too touristy but man it really is one of the natural wonders of the world.

Greece: Santorini (Tour Time)

After our few days of relaxing beach time on Mykonos it was time to board another ferry for our next destination…Santorini!  This time we were met with a sweet fast ferry.  However it only took us a few minutes to realize that “fast ferry” is just Greek for “get your Gravol on”.

I barely made it through my cappuccino before having to haul out the meds and send myself to sleepytown for this cruise.  Tiffaney said it was one of the worst boat rides of her life.  I’m very proud of her for not puking!

Sadly I missed any scenery along the way, but it’s OK because I woke up just in time to pull into the awesome caldera and catch the amazing cliff views of Santorini.

We were greeted by our private taxi right at sundown and got to catch some pretty great views during the drive to Kamari on the far side of the island.

While out for dinner on the boardwalk outside our hotel we popped into a tour company and arranged a bus tour for the next day.

For 25 Euro we scored ourselves a quite extensive trip around Santorini.

A visit to the highest point on the island…Prophet Elias Monastery…

Megalohori Village…

Beach stop near Akrotiri (they’ve never reopened the excavations here)…

Emborio…

Did you know peppercorns grow on trees?  I didn’t.

The highly touted black sand beach of Perivolos.  (The town we were staying in was also along a black sand beach but this was more resorty).

Pumice everywhere!

A five hour tour complete with wine tasting with a view… the wine wasn’t my taste but the view sure was!

Not too shabby for our first day!