We headed to Santorini from Brussels via Aegean Airlines. There were 2 stopovers, a 4-hour wait at Thessaloniki, and then at Athens. Initially we didn't find anything (restaurants or shops) at the Thessaloniki Airport and did not want to risk missing the next flight by heading into the city, so we just sat at a corner and took turns to sleep. 2 hours passed... very slowly... Finally lc decided to walk around and he found a restaurant upstairs on the second floor!! Can't believe we just derped downstairs in that secluded area for 2 hours while everyone was enjoying good food upstairs haha.
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We had grilled tope shark (and I didn't realise it's actual shark meat until right now) and grilled squid which was really nice. The portions were pretty small. Would have been nice to have more of the grilled vegetables, especially eggplant. We had another sausage after this, before heading to our next flight.
We arrived at the Thira Airport late at night, after 10 torturous hours in transit. It was dark and quiet and cold outside the airport. And we had no idea how to get to our villa. Lucky for us, our hosts from Agapi Villa came to fetch us. I would strongly recommend you to contact your hotels/hostels/etc to arrange for airport transfer. It would be so much more convenient. Or take a cab if you arrive at night.
The villa was located somewhat near Fira, but it was still a 25 walk (about 5 minutes by bus). We went out to explore a bit, after dumping our luggage in the room. Found a place right beside that sells souvlakis (which are just sticks of meat with herbs that are grilled). Only 1€ for 1 stick! And it tasted quite heavenly.
Lc got me a present from London :D Hehe. Kind of makes up for the one I lost at Paris I guess! <3
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7th October 2014
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Being lazy pigs, we woke up late, ate our breakfast at the villa, and took a bus to Fira. The sun was scorching, despite the temperature being maybe only about 24°C? First things we had to do were to get cap/hat and sunblock! Heard that you could get very bad sunburns at Santorini in a few hours.
Look at Fira! It's amazing! This is the city centre of Santorini, and all bus services to the other parts of the island start from here, so I would say that Fira is the best place to stay, if you are coming to Santorini. There are a LOT of restaurants, cafes, and souvenir shops. We walked around, took pictures, scouted for food, and decided on a Chinese restaurant. We had the set meal for two, which consisted of a soup, a dish of chicken, and a dish of mixed vegetables, for 18€. It was a relatively cheap meal in Fira. We walked around Fira until late afternoon.
We headed to Oia for sunset via the local bus. Oia was further than expected, and was up on a hill. The road was pretty hard to drive and we got a bit dizzy from all the turning. But it was all worth it. Oia is really beautiful, and you'll find just what you see on Google images when you search for Santorini!
As the sun began to set, people gathered around to wait. It got a little too crowded and we didn't have the patience to wait another hour for the sunset, so we went to look for food again :P Found a restaurant that has a balcony with a great view of the ocean, and we sat down to enjoy our food!
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Lc had lamb with potatoes, while I had the calamari with Greek pasta that looked a lot like rice! The food was delicious, but a little pricey (I think they added up to about 32€).
Little did we expect to get lost and get stranded in the ulu Karterados village. Later on we found out that we were almost on the right track, and our villa was actually only 5 minutes from the Karterados crossroad, but we took a wrong turn. Anyway, we felt really tired and desperate and cold, and we started to flag down any car that passed by (there were so few!!) to ask for directions. We ended up in a friendly local's car, and he drove us back to our villa. Phew. Never felt so good to get back to our room haha.
8th October 2014
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We decided to rent an ATV to move around the island cos it looked cool and would be more convenient. Our host helped us contact a vendor and a lady came over to explain to us how to drive it. Took a while to learn and we were about to sign the rental contract when we realised that we had to have a driving license with us in case we got stopped by a police. Lc didn't bring his to Greece, so we had no choice but to take bus again :( ATV is not very cheap but not very expensive either. The price ranged from 15€ to 25€ and you have to add the petrol yourself, which would cost about 15€ for one day of travel.
We had a few destinations in mind for the day, including Kamari Beach, Perissa Beach, and Akrotiri Excavations. However, the most troublesome thing about getting from one place to another was that we had to take bus back to Fira first, then to the next destination. So imagine you want to go all 3 places in one day, you'll be back at Fira so many times! I guess that's the biggest motivation for tourists to rent scooters/ATVs/cars.
So we took the first bus that came, and landed in Kamari Beach. It was so empty and quiet, quite unlike what I had imagined. Probably because it was past the peak season (May-Sept I believe). The beach does not have sand, but pebbles, which were not golden or orangey, but a bit grey-ish or black, due to the volcanic activities nearby. There are tours to the volcano and hot spring but we did not go.
We wanted to go to the Perissa Beach as well, since it was soooo close to Kamari beach, but was separated by a hill. And the only way was to go back to Fira and take another bus to Perissa, which is really quite stupid. We got back to Fira, and decided to stay there for the afternoon and sunset.
We found the donkey trail, which stank from the faeces, but was also super fascinating. The donkeys were so well-behaved and stayed at their spots without much movement. And they knew how to dodge humans if you happen to walk into their paths or vice versa. That said, I don't think you wanna get too close, in case they kick you :P
The donkey trail led us to the Old Port. There were a lot of people gathered around and heading to a luxurious cruise. The port is quite small, and not much to see. We headed back up the hill in cable car (5€ per person) and then saw this:
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I'm not a huge fan of peanuts, but this was really so good. The peanuts are coated with honey and sesame. It's definitely a must-buy, and it's cheap! 1€-1.50€ for 100g.
This time, we got home safely. And quickly. On our own. :)
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9th October 2014
We went back to Oia for sunset again! Had lamb and stuffed octopus for dinner. The Alpha beer is very light, and very much like the 青岛啤酒 in my opinion!
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We decided to take the 8-hour daytime ferry (Blue Star Ferries) from Santorini to Athens, instead of the 6-hour midnight ferry (departing on 11th October), as it would probably be very exhausting and we kind of explored all the places we were interested in at Santorini. We bought the 42€ tickets that gave us airplane-style seats. The basic 37.50€ tickets had no reserved seats, so you might end up sitting on the floor, or in the restaurants on the hard chair for the whole day :/
The ferry was delayed by half an hour. It was quite big, with 8 storeys, and we sat on the 6th storey. There were a few places to eat on the 6th and 7th floor. I got quite sick after sitting there for 2 hours, probably because we were inside the cabin and it was too stuffy. Usually I don't get seasick. The ride wasn't very rocky, but it was definitely not as stable as a cruise ship. Later on I slept for 3 hours because I was feeling nauseous and my boy was a bit sad that I didn't accompany him :P
The ferry sailed on the Mediterranean sea, and we passed by Paros and Naxos (if I don't remember wrongly) en route to Athens. They look like nice destinations as well. Save them for next time then!
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We arrived at Athens Piraeus Port at about 12am, and took a train to the Akropoli station to meet our apartment host.
And that marked the end of our journey to Santorini. I must say I really loved it. And I hope to be back again in the next few years!
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