Santorini, Greece: Day 1
The Arrival:
We took an 11pm flight into Santorini. The plane ride from Athens was only 30 minutes in the air. After a very stressful boarding process with Ryan Air in Athens, I was excited we had made it on time. We arrived at midnight, so as we flew in, all we could see were the lights from below. We got off our plane, and onto a little bus, which took us to the tiny airport. We were dropped off at arrivals, which was just one room with a small baggage claim. Derek and I were surprised by how comically tiny the airport was. We knew were were now living the island life. Our transportation was waiting for us, and we took the ride through the streets to the hotel.
We arrived at Costa Marina Villas in the darkness, but we could see the hotel was beautiful. The Villa is located in Fira, the capital of Santorini. We had read in our search that this was the place to stay if you wanted to stay in Santorini for a good price. We were greeted with a warm welcome by the owners best friend Lila. She showed us to our room which was beautiful! We will be writing a blog about the hotel itself because the experience was so wonderful, so stay tuned for that post!
After a long stay in Athens, and late night travel, we decided to hit the sheets and wake up fresh to explore the island in the morning.
Day 1:
We woke up the next day and took a look out our window. We had a wonderful view of the island. The view gave us a boost, and got us excited about the day we had ahead of us. We decided to tackle the hike from Fira to Oia in the first day. This was one of the things we had read we absolutely must do while in Santorini. The hike goes a long the coastline from Fira in the center to the north of the Island. Oia (pronounced ee-ya) is the famous village of Santorini where most of the famous pictures of the island are taken. We were excited about the hike and the views that we would see. After getting some tips from Marina, the owner of Costa Marina, we made our way out in search of a day of exploring.
We knew we needed to fuel up for the walk, so we decided to grab some breakfast. Our hotel was only a 5 minute walk from the center square of Fira, and right in the square was a little breakfast place called Corner. The sign out front advertised waffles, Derek's favorite breakfast food. Derek ordered a waffle with syrup, and I ordered the bacon and fried eggs. We both got an orange juice. The food was delicious. The bacon was unlike the bacon here in the US, thick and sweeter than what I'm used to. The eggs were farm fresh, with an orange yolk. The best part of the meal though was the juice. It was the best orange juice I have ever had. It was so fresh and non-acidic. We were in love with Corner, and went back for breakfast every morning we were in Santorini, ordering the same thing each time. Our waitress got to know us, and memorized our order. I loved her, and wondered if I could bring her home to be my best friend. The friendliness of the people in Santorni was overwhelming!
We took off for the walk to Oia, up through the square in Fira and to the coastline. This is where my jaw dropped. Santorini is beautiful. From where we stood, and really anywhere you stood on the coastline, you could see the entire western coast of the island. We could see every village along the cliff. It was awe-inspiring.
We explored Fira as we walked through it. The shop keepers were friendly and welcomed us to their village. We could see windmills in the distance and the traditional white buildings. We walked past the cable cars down to the old port, and then found the start of the hike.
The hike was absolutely beautiful. It took us through the villages of Firostefani, Imerovigli, and the cliffs of the island which were beautiful. It was difficult in the 85 degree heat, but it was well worth it. We will be writing a more detailed post about the hike itself and some tips and tricks, so stay tuned for that blog post!
Along the hike we stopped a couple times. The first was at the Spilotica Bar in Imerovigli. We were already hot from the hike, and knew we wanted to do the extra hike out to Skaros, the famous rock in Imerovigli. We were craving beer so we both ordered a Mythos, which was very refreshing in the heat after our hard work. The view of Skaros was beautiful.
After checking out Skaros, we stopped for a cold drink at Rocka Cafe Bar. Derek got another Mythos, and I opted for a banana juice. Banana juice was available all over the island, and it was so good. I wish I was able to get it here. It gave me that little nudge I needed for the rest of the hike. I had been craving the sugar during the hike when my energy was running low. The view was amazing, overlooking the island, pointing towards Oia. As great as the view was, the owner was just as great and talked to us about where we were from and how his family was from the Boston area as well and his uncle was a Boston Lawyer. Just another example of how great the people of Santorini are.
We started the hike at 11:30 and made it to Oia at 5:30. It took us longer than most people as we stopped a couple times for pictures, beer, and took the detour to Skaros.
We walked through Oia and took in the incredible sights. Oia is very beautiful, but it is also very touristy. Derek and I commented that though this was the part of the island everyone liked to be in, we liked the smaller villages we walked through on our hike more. The sights were beautiful though. All the white buildings with blue domed tops created jaw dropping images. We made our way through the winding streets and found the famous view of the island, where the windmills point out towards the sunset.
Oia is famous for it's beautiful sunset. Marina had told us that though the crowded sunset lookout spot in Oia was beautiful, Amoudi bay in Oia was just as beautiful. She told us that we could walk down to the bay which is at the bottom of the cliff, and enjoy dinner and drinks while we watched the sunset. We took her advice and walked the 300 steps down the cliff to the restaurants. We highly recommend doing this over fighting the crowds at the sunset lookout.
It was hard to pick a restaurant in Amoudi, but we found Demitris, a restraunt that I had read about online. The restraunt was run by a very kind Canadian woman. I ordered the Dolmates as an appetizer and Fried Squid. Derek ordered fries. I got the Yellow Donkey beer, and Derek got the Crazy Donkey IPA and later in the night had a house white wine and chocolate lava cake. The food was decent, but what really stuck out was the Dolmates. They were made of rice, pine nuts and spices and wrapped in Grape Leaves, and the owner told us they were a fresh batch this morning, and the first of the season. They were my favorite thing I ate in Greece.
The Yellow Donkey and the Crazy Donkey that we had were the best beers that we had in Greece. Made by the Santorini Brewing Company, the beer is crisp and refreshing, nice and hoppy with a slight mineral taste, due to the volcanic rock of the island. The Crazy Donkey in particular finished dry and had a great hop aroma as you drank it.
While we ate and drank, we enjoyed the beautiful sunset on the water. The view was breath taking. The boats on the water, and the sailboats coming in to see the sunset, set the mood for the backdrop of the setting sun. The oranges, pinks and reds filled up the sky and we really realized how lucky we were to be where we were sitting in that moment.
After dinner, we walked up the 300 stairs to get to the bus station. I'm not sure I recommend walking up these stairs. It was a bit brutal, especially after the hike. When we made it to the top, we got to the bus station just in time to catch the bus back to Fira for 1.60 Euro each. The public bus was a coach bus, which I found humorous, but very comfortable. The bus ride took about 30 minutes, and was a great, cheap way to transport back to Fira.
We didn't want to go right to bed, so we checked out Two Brothers Bar in Fira. Derek called it a Browski bar, but it was good in that it had Yellow Donkey and 2 for 1 drink specials. I ordered a strawberry daiquiri, and the bar tender gave me two! They would never do that in the bars in Boston. I happily drank both before they had the chance to melt.
We headed back to the hotel, tired from our hike, and looking forward to the next day. We spoke to Marina, and put in our request to rent ATVs for the next day.
Tips for Traveling to Santorini from Day 1:
- Take the bus! It's cheap. For only 1.60 Euro, you can get from Oia to Fira on a coach bus.
- Tip like you would in the US. The staff will appreciate it, and you will get great service if you return.
-Take out cash at the ATMs. Some restaurants take card, but a lot don't. We had no trouble getting money from the ATM's but some shop keepers had a hard time making change for the large bills the ATM gave us.
-Pack hiking shoes if you are going to do any hiking. The hikes consist of a lot of rocks and cliff ledges.
- Do the hike from Fira to Oia, it is so worth it!
-Fira and Amoudi Bay are also beautiful for the sunset. you don't have to view it from Oia's viewing spot.
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