Santorini Day: a three day trip
Tuesday
Up at 5am for a 6.15 pickup and then we are on our way. The Blue Star ferry line will take us to Santorini, stopping at Piros, Naxos and Ios on the way. We were assigned seats in one of the many seating areas and we noted that these areas were not full. but the boat was busy - all of the public areas - lounges and cafes were full. Obviously a lot of people only paid the basic fare - 20 euro, why wouldn't they; there was plenty of room.
The trip was supposed to take eight hours and it did, even though the load and unload at Naxos took longer than expected - too many commercial trailers. The ferry was unlike any ferry we had been on before, it was like a huge airport lounge, plenty of seats and slick bars and cafes - even a duty free store. The prices were as high as airport prices but good quality. All in all a good travel.
Arriving in Santorini was a rush (crowds of people) but the driver was waiting and we sat on the minibus with another couple as he climbed the six hundred metres up the hairpin road to the top road that bisects the Island and where our hotel was located some two kms from the biggest Town; Fira. We visited Fira last night as we wanted to see what real prices were like as opposed to Hotel prices. We don't mind paying higher prices for the convenience of not going into Town but HIGHER prices are the norm in the hotel. Place looks OK - typically touristy and we ate in a place where the boss enticed us in with the offer of free wine. Despite that the Hotel location was georgeous - hanging off the cliff.
Fira seems to be fast-paced, filled with traffic and the usual tourist stores abound. But the outstanding feature was the way the Town has been built on the cliff and the connecting lanes - very picturesque. A bottle of wine was purchased in a really nice store filled with local goods - wine and the like. As we paid up the salesclerk offered us a couple of plums - tasty and unexpected. We will be back in Fira Wednesday, we only have one full day here, we return to Athens on the ferry leaving at 2.30pm Thursday. Back at the hotel we drank the wine and watched the sunset, this is what the tourists pay big bucks for.
Wednesday
After a breakfast fit for a Queen we set off and walked the 2.2 kms to the Town of Fira. Using the MapsMe app on my phone we followed the road that followed the coast line and discovered, to our delight that was the connecting alley for all of the villas, hotels and homes that are hanging from the cliffs. Wonderful pics to come. Unfortunately I had forgotten to pack the sd card reader that I use to transfer the pics to the netbook. Looks a pile of work to be done back in Athens. At this time I am fighting the internet, we are staying in a five star hotel and normally we do not complain about a thing whenever we travel, except if it really bad, but staying in a five-star these things are not supposed to happen. The front-desk just shrugs and says "The Island internet is not good, slow and goes off" Well I guess it does. But if the internet is the only thing we can find to complain about it must be all about us!!!
But back to the walk this morning - we found the Santorini of the guide books and films. Luxury villas and hotels hanging from the cliffs, restaurants begging for business and tons of tourists - four cruise ships were in Port today - just like yesterday and the day before. So fighting our way through these small streets we did find cheaper stuff than the goods just by the disembarkation point at the cable car. These folks, cruisers, have a choice to get up the cliff - a cable car, donkey rides (mules really not donkeys) or walking. A two hour walk around the streets covered all of Santorini's merchandise and we settled down in a local Taverna to await the shuttle back to the Hotel. The accumulated loot was three Tshirts a tea towel and a top for Doreen. These items were just more plentiful than having to look for them in Athens. Impressions of Santorini: a really picturesque place, a good place to spend a week by the pool and go out at night but the cost of doing so is far beyond the average Joe's vacation pay.
Thursday
Back on the ferry: but not after a huge breakfast, courtesy of the Volcano View hotel, but before that we had taken a trip to Oia (pronounced) eeyah. This village is much the same as Fira in design and appearance but smaller in size. The quality of the goods is higher. Almost as though the people who arrive here are richer and can afford the prices. Doreen had wanted to see white cottage with blue roofs, just like the tourism pics. The only blue roofed buildings were the churches. There were enough to fulfill the fantasy and it was worth the trip.
We managed to fit the day trip in because the public buses were really good and prompt. These buses, just like tourist buses but with a label on it that said "local bus" were cheap and available. A taxi to Fira (10 euro) a bus to Oia (1.60 euro) and the hotel shuttle back to the Volcano view and it was all done in a four hour period. When travelling to the tip of the Island the terrain shifted. the road was on the edge of the mountain and we overlooked the flatland by the Coast. We certainly saw the Northern part of the Island from this bus. The fields shared some crops - vines and tomato bushes with the hotels that abut right up to the beach (not a nice beach, you want that, go to Mykonos).
Fira seems to be fast-paced, filled with traffic and the usual tourist stores abound. But the outstanding feature was the way the Town has been built on the cliff and the connecting lanes - very picturesque. A bottle of wine was purchased in a really nice store filled with local goods - wine and the like. As we paid up the salesclerk offered us a couple of plums - tasty and unexpected. We will be back in Fira Wednesday, we only have one full day here, we return to Athens on the ferry leaving at 2.30pm Thursday. Back at the hotel we drank the wine and watched the sunset, this is what the tourists pay big bucks for.
Back on the ferry: but not after a huge breakfast, courtesy of the Volcano View hotel, but before that we had taken a trip to Oia (pronounced) eeyah. This village is much the same as Fira in design and appearance but smaller in size. The quality of the goods is higher. Almost as though the people who arrive here are richer and can afford the prices. Doreen had wanted to see white cottage with blue roofs, just like the tourism pics. The only blue roofed buildings were the churches. There were enough to fulfill the fantasy and it was worth the trip.
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