Arriving in Santorini we found an affordable hotel located near the beach of Perissa (one of the more famous beaches on Santorini complete with black sand) and then went out to explore the small town there and grab some food. After lunch we organized a scooter rental for the following 48 hours that we planned to stay on the island and we took off to explore the rest of the island.
Our first destination was the magnificent red beach which is a small beach covered in black sand but completely surrounded with dark red cliffs. We parked the scooter and followed the small path a couple of hundred meters to the beach and then spent the next half and hour or so just admiring it. Unfortunately by this point in the day it was really too late to enjoy the beach so we just walked along it and took some photos before heading off. Our next destination for the day was the light house located at the furthest southwest point of the island. Along the way here we also stopped off at a few view points to admire the rim of the caldera, take some pictures, and let Lianne have a go at driving the scooter (she did pretty well for the little that she rode it). From the lighthouse we went back up the island to the main town of Fira where we wandered around the touristy alleyways that were perched up on the edge of the caldera before enjoying dinner on a rooftop terrace while watching the disappointing sunset. After dinner we just returned back to the hotel where we quickly fell asleep for the night.
The next morning we enjoyed some breakfast before jumping on the scooter again to explore more of the island. We tried to find the site of Ancient Thira, the remains of an ancient town located on top of a hill on the island. However we first ended up the wrong road which took us to a monastery (and army base) located at the highest point of the island. While here we spent some time gazing out over the island with the near perfect views that we had. Afterward we eventually found the site of Ancient Thira and after climbing up the hill for an hour to the actual city we were disappointed to find that it had closed about 30 minutes before we got there. We were able to see some of the ruins through the fence and again the views were phenomenal so it wasn't a complete waste of time. Leaving Ancient Thira we made our way back to Fira where we wandered around the town for another hour or so to see some churches that we missed the previous evening. We then continued up to the most northwest point of Santorini to Oia where we planned to watch the sunset. Oia is a famous spot for watching the sunset on Santorini and we definitely weren't alone as it seemed most of the other tourists on Santorini were there watching it with us. The sunset was beautiful when we finally saw it, much better than the previous night, but it was slightly ruined by everyone applauding the sun as it disappeared below the horizon. After the sunset we returned to Perissa to enjoy dinner along the beach for our last night on Santorini.
The following morning we just had time to return the scooter and grab some food before we left for the ferry terminal and eventually our 5 hour ferry ride back to Pireaus (Athens). The ferry ride thankfully seemed to go fairly fast although it wasn't that pleasant and we found ourselves in Athens in the early evening. Arriving in Athens we quickly made our way to the bus station and caught a bus out to Delphi, our next destination.
Standing in front of the magnificent red cliffs at red beach.
A view along the caldera rim from some point at the southern end of the island on our way to the light house.
A view of Fira perched right on the rim of the Caldera.
A church that we stopped off at in Fira on our second visit there. Most of the buildings on Santorini look similar to this and it makes it quite beautiful.
A view of Oia looking back along the caldera rim the white in the background on top of the cliffs is the town of Fira.
A windmill located in Oia.
The sunset that we saw from Oia.
No comments:
Post a Comment