Greece - Santorini

28jun-1jul15, Santorini, Greece.

 

They say that sailing into Santorini is one of the great memories of Greece. Well we weren't on a sail boat, but even the Hellenic Highspeed 4 made for an impressive arrival. It had been easy sailing.

Chris dropped the boys and myself at the Crete port in Heraklion, returned the rental car nearby and was back with us boarding within the hour. After our 1:50hr crossing we made a swift military style exit from the boat, any dawdling got yelled at (we were).

 

Soaring above us was Santorini’s multi-coloured cliffs, some rising over 300m from the Aegean Sea. Santorini is what now remains after one of the biggest volcanic eruptions in history (16^th century BCE).  
We were to stay on the main island for three nights. No secret to tourism, the painfully expensive accommodation in Santorini lead us to simple accommodation, ‘Hotel Manos’ in Karterados near Fira.

After a quick unpack, we were straight off to Fira, the capital. Fira’s whitewashed cubist houses lined the cliff tops. They spilled over and down the terraced rock, the views over the underwater caldera were magical.

We decided not to participate in a donkey ride. While it was fascinating to look at the mass of donkeys brightly saddled travelling up and down the steep steps to the sea, we couldn’t help but feel sorry for them.

We enjoyed the wander through the picture perfect town, stopping for dinner to enjoy the famous orange sun set, the reflections and glow were spectacular.

As night came the boats on the water displayed their underwater lights which cast a mesmerising glow through the deep water. The depth of the caldera, at 400m, made it impossible for any but the largest ships to anchor in the protected bay.

Fira, Santorini

 

 

Fira, Santorini

It was a pretty awful night’s sleep, a huge fight broke out by the pool between a drunken versus a sober group that went on till the early hours of the morning, plus someone accidentally stumbled into our ‘locked’ room at 4am.

The following day we travelled by bus to Oia, the postcard-perfect village at the north of the island. Also famed for its sunsets, it was pleasantly less hectic than Fira.

 

Oia

 

 

 

After wandering through the small town, past the windmills, we made our way down the steep steps past more donkeys, to Ammoundi Beach.

Here we enjoyed a lovely lunch looking out over the strung up octopuses at the blue water and back behind us at the steep red cliffs encased in their white buildings.

After walking further along the water’s edge we came across to a rocky swimming spot. Lachlan was completely gorgeous asking for help to climb higher and higher up the rocks with only his jandals on his feet – he had many admirers.

Chris and Jarvis built up the nerve to swim across to a cliff top diving point. With a mother's protectiveness I hoped Jarvis would take the safe option and climb back down.

On the other hand, I wanted him to do it because I knew that conquering that fear will make him feel fantastic about himself and give him an unforgettable memory, which it did.

Much higher than it looked, Jarvis was thrilled at his accomplishment, he overcame his fears and plunged in a little after Chris. A highly exhilarated Jarvis swam back to shore fully recharged.

 

 

 

 

Ammoundi Bay

Ammoundi Bay

After the stresses of public transport travelling to and from Oia, slow and irregular service, we decided to rent a car for our last day. The banks had now closed down for the week. The man we hired our car from asked for cash as he

wouldn't be able to get the money out if it was paid by credit card. Greece’s economic crisis was in full force (a billion euros had been withdrawn in a day from the banks), I was pleased to have euros in my wallet.

 

Santorini is not known for its beaches, but we still decided it was worth a look. We travelled to Kamari, which is probably one of Santorini’s most touristy beaches. Not prepared for the dark volcanic sand, we were pleased to find that

there were wooden boardwalks on the beach and multiple cafes which rented out covered seats. They provided some protection from the burning, radiating sand. Here we ate and lounged around.

There was a nice stretch of shops on the beachfront. From one of these I bought Lachlan a toe ring for his finger, it sparked the realisation that he was still so little and that it wouldn’t last for much longer.

Kamari Beach

 There was an incredible popular cliff walk from Fira to Oia, but at 4-5hrs it was too far for the boys. So for our final early evening we did the beginning of it.

This was the last time we got to walk through this spectacular town, along its cliff edge, past its beautiful people posing for that postcard shot, past its white cube houses and blue domed chapels and into its flamboyant romantic sunset.

The following morning, we boarded our early ferry to our final destination in Greece, Mykonos.