Santorini Part 1

Day one was pretty much consumed by travel. We were told that the  Santorini experience was not complete if you did not arrive by ferry, due to the scenic islands that lined the way. So we grabbed a 7am ferry and took in the ride. Liz and I had two distinct ways of appreciating the journey: Liz parked herself in her seat, with her eyes glued on the window, taking in every bit of the scenery. I found my own way to enjoy the trip; I passed out across 3 chairs and slept through the entire thing (otherwise known as enjoying it Rozmaryn style).

Like this, just on a ferry

Once we got in and rented our car (25€ a day, thanks negotiation class), we were off to Oia. We will be discussing the beauty of the island in a different post, so I will jump right to the hotel, Oia's Sunset. It was exactly what we were looking for. It was located in the heart of Oia, and for $85 a night we got a one bedroom apartment with a kitchen, living room, and a cute outdoor sitting area. The hotel property was completely enclosed and our windows  opened up to the adorable courtyard. There was a bar, a pool, and a Stavros. Stavros is the man. He and Paros make up the entire day staff at the hotel. Anything you want they will get you, and refuse your money. They got us water, beer, directions, tickets, and even ran to the store (even though we told them not to) to get us a book of matches. Stavros knows all the ins and outs of the island and happily told us where to go and when. He is just the man.

The Hotel

The Hotel

The Man

After getting situated, we watched the gorgeous sunset from the hotel balcony, and then headed off to Fira, the capital of Santorini. We got to Fira at 8 pm, and the town was bustling. All of the shops were still selling the local art and tourist crap. Walking around Fira was a cool experience because the shops line both sides of the tiny walkways that can't be more than 5 feet across. So even though you are outside, it still has the feeling of being indoors.

Oia's actual sunset

We stopped for a quick drink at the Highlander pub, a Scottish bar that was staffed with Greeks wearing kilts. From there we went to Franco's bar, one of the top 3 experiences of our trip so far. The bar was built into the side of the mountain and was basically empty, so Liz and I lounged on couches, staring at the breathtaking views of the Caldera (coast), listening to classical music, sipping on our tea, just soaking in the  atmosphere. It was one of the few perfect places that I have ever visited.

The view from Franco's

The next day, we decided to tour the island's black and red beaches. It turns out that this plan was much more complicated than we had originally imagined based on one small issue: the roads on the island don't have names. I have to say that navigation becomes much more difficult when your directions consist of "Ok, take the squiggly one until you see that diagonal one then go three more roads, then make a left at the straight one - if you go up the mountain you went to far. Long story short, we went too far. Note to self: when you are on a one lane, two-way road, on top of a mountain, dodging goats, alongside a cliff, you have gone too far. On the one hand, we had amazing views of the island, on the other, we had to add two pairs of pants to our laundry pile.

Not the black beach

Following two hours and approximately ten miles of actual distance, we arrived at Perissa, the black sand beach. The atmosphere of the area was very laid back, with bars lining the boardwalk and beautiful views of the sea. Each of these bars had a path to the beach leading to lounge chairs under straw umbrellas. The problem was that the "black sand" turned out to be black pebbles, and it was just not that comfortable.

What? It's black enough

After laying out for a little while we decided to give the Red beach a whirl. As was the case with the trip to the black sand beach, what should have been a ten minute drive stretched into an hour and a half. Once we arrived we had our first encounter with an unwritten rule of Santorini, the surprise exercise.  It turns out that the good people of Santorini were not happy unless you preface every activity with soul crushing exercise. Want to go to the beach? Scale a mountain. Want to see the Amoudi pier? Climb 223 steps. Want to take a dip in the hot springs? Swim a mile through the rough seas. Lord I hate these people.

With only 3 miles left until we reach the beach

Once we finished our mountain climbing adventure we got to to the beach and realized that just like the black version, the red sand consisted solely of rocks. Since there were no chairs around, it took us about five minutes before our asses went completely numb and we were headed back up the mountain. Shabbat was closing in so we packed up and headed back to our hotel.

We spent the majority of Shabbat walking around the city of Oia and the beautiful, and physically draining Amoudi pier. On Sunday we took a boat trip from the pier to the volcano in the middle of the cove, the hot springs, the island of Thirasia, and finally back to the pier. The trip was fantastic, if uneventful. The next day we got back on the ferry and headed back to Athens.

Its ok, I got in her picture too