Santorini

After spending all night lying on the cold floor in the airport, it was finally morning and time to get up and check in for our flight. We went through security and then were off on our half an hour flight from Athens to Santorini. We landed and gathered our things, and then we were met outside of the airport by Stathis (the man who’s place we are staying through airbnb). We chitchatted as he drove us and then when we got to the place, we found that it was the most beautiful home in the side of the cliff.

Here’s some picture of the outside and inside of our home for a few days.

We collapsed into the big, comfy bed and took a quick nap before going out to explore. The place we are staying at is about a ten-minute walk from the town of Oía. So after getting some shut eye (since we hadn’t gotten much in the airport the night before) we walked down there. On our walk to Oía, we crossed paths with some donkeys that were busy hauling different materials.

Here is a picture of the donkeys hard at work!

Once we got to the town, we found it full of little shops and restaurants. Many of the restaurants have patios that are right on the side of the cliff overlooking the ocean. These were great places to just sit and enjoy the views, which is exactly what we did for a lot of our time in Santorini. But at this moment, we decided to enjoy the views of the other side of the island.

We grabbed a pizza from one of the restaurants and took it back to eat at the table on the roof of the place we were staying. Here we could look out over the vineyards, which unfortunately were in the wrong season for us to see the vines covered in grapes. But regardless of that, the views anywhere on the island are still fantastic.

We sat up on the roof and enjoyed some local wine with our pizza, and before we knew it, the sun had set. Now just like in Rhodes, there isn’t a lot to do here after the sunsets since it is the off-season, so we went in and got ready for bed.

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We woke up early on our second day in Santorini, and got dressed and ready for a hike. There are two big towns on the island, Oía and Fíra. We went to Oía yesterday, so today we decided to go to Fíra. There is a path you can hike right along the cliffs edge and it connects the two towns. We found the start of the path and were on our way.

We got lost a few times on the way because it is not marked very well, but while we were out climbing around on the edge of the cliff, we were able to capture some nice pictures of the towns. Check them out below.

After walking for way longer than we thought it would take (about four hours when we thought it would only take two), we finally made it to Fíra. We were starving from all of the walking and climbing on the cliffs when we got there, so we ate at the first place we saw. It was an Italian restaurant, so to switch it up from the pizza I had last night, I decided on a calzone. Okay, okay, I know they’re basically the same, but I just love that kind of food so much that I could eat it everyday!

After refueling our bodies with some food, we walked around the town for a bit and realized it was all the same kind of shops that were over in Oía. We didn’t want to buy anything over here and carry it back if we could buy it over there, so we left and started our walk back.

Now this time, since we knew where we were going, we didn’t get lost and it didn’t take as long. But it still took about three hours, and by the time we finally got back to where we were staying, the sun was setting. We went in to Oía quick and grabbed some groceries, and then just had sandwiches for dinner. Then, we watched a movie on Netflix and both fell asleep early. All of that walking really wore us out!

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Our last full day in Santorini was spent enjoying the good food, wine, and the views.

We woke up late and made ourselves some pasta for lunch before we went in to Oía to do a little shopping. I pick up a magnet everywhere I go, so after looking at a few different places, I found one I loved! We also ended up getting a Christmas ornament, so we can put it on our tree every year and remember the great times we have had in Greece.

We also needed to get new books for our next flight, so we found a bookstore and went in and picked out two new ones. I got another John Green book and Brad got some popular sci-fi book that the girl working there recommended. Once we were done with our shopping, we walked around on the little paths that led down the side of the cliff, and stopped to take a bunch of pictures. 

Here are those pictures from in Oía.

We were just killing time until the sun would set, so we could experience a famous Santorini sunset. There is a popular spot for viewing it, so when it was close to that time, we went over there. We sat there and enjoyed each other’s company as we got to watch the sun set over the water.

Here are a few pictures we took while watching the sunset.

After the sun had set, we went back to the place we were staying and made ourselves sandwiches for dinner and then cuddled up and watched a movie before bed.

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Today we fly from Santorini back to Athens, but before we had to go to the airport, we had time to go back in to town and sit on one of the patios and enjoy the view one last time. We both got fish for lunch and once we were done eating, it was time to go back and pack up. Then Stathis’s wife drove us back to the airport, and we were on our way back to Athens.