Santorini

Gateway to Skaros church
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On an overnight ferry from Athens, scheduled to arrive in Santorini at 8 am, we woke up in time to make our way onto the deck and see the ship approach the island. The view was surreal and breathtaking and the island was covered in a misty haze, slightly shrouded in mystery. This island formed by the explosion of it's volcano in 1500 B.C., is believed by some to be the site where the advanced civilization of "Atlantis" once stood. The explosion of Santorini was the biggest explosion ever witnessed by human beings, 36 km in height, sending debris throughout Turkey and the eastern Mediterranean and probably caused the end of the Minoan civilization on the island of Crete.

Donkey trail, Santorini
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Upon arriving we took a taxi from the port and it seemed it would never stop climbing the winding road up the cliff, until finally we saw the whole island in front of us and made our way to the hotel. We had a troublesome time after seeing the room we booked on the web.  We asked for a refund and made our way to another hotel nearby. What a great decision, because for the same price we ended up with an outstanding room with a shared but secluded balcony and an amazing view. The room was of the "cave" style, very common in Santorini, and the owner was Maria, a senior lady who was just sweet and adorable, and although her English was about as good as our Greek, we managed to make friends with her.

covered in a misty haze, slightly shrouded in mystery

View of Firostefani from our balcony
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The walk from our hotel in Firostefani to the main town of Fira took about 15 minutes on a cliffside path with outstanding view and chalk white buildings. The path was not too difficult but we were constantly going up or down...we called it the stairmaster.

Although Santorini is not renowned for it's beaches, we were surprisingly happy with our day at Perissa beach with its smooth black sand and its bistros with cheap and good food. The best part was the clear, salty water and the flat surface below it made of cooled lava, which seemed like it was a smooth slab of concrete. Getting there was easy with the excellent bus service from the main town.

Church at Skaros rock
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We also spent an evening in Ia (Oia), the northernmost town on the island and had dinner while watching the sunset. Ia is a marvelous little town, beautiful but peaceful with a vibrant afternoon/evening but dead after 9 pm. Although it is renown for it's sunsets, we found that the sunset was in no way better than the ones we saw from elsewhere on the island.

We cannot express how beautiful Santorini is with it's breathtaking, plunging cliffside views. Although the main town of Fira can be a little overrun with tourists during the day, it offers a variety of fun options from cool beaches, to hot springs and donkey rides.