Photographers Paradise

Thira township
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We had chosen Santorini because it summised Greece to us with its blue and white landscape and spectacular island views. Also because we needed somewhere to indulge in some R & R before flying to Africa and back onto another safari. Stupidly if R & R was the go then why did we opt for the slow ferry across.

Economy class in a Greek ferry means you find a seat in the area with no seats and fight everybody for it. Eventually we submitted to sitting in the burger cafe for eight hours having our peace destroyed by a white trash Greek kid with nothing to do. As the boat docked we flew out the doors and straight into the sanctuary of our bus transfer to our bargain basement price villa in Santorini's capital Thira. A reward to travelling Santorini in September means that the crowds have gone and hotels drop there prices three-fold.

Not our hotel, but some rich bastards
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Soon we were in love with the place. Sitting perched on the ledge of the caldera (volcano) watching the sun set, wine in hand. Many of Santorini's hotels and restaurants thrive on this exact idyllic moment so having taken in the view and spent my lives savings on a drink we retreated back a few streets into the town away from the view to continue our time. Santorini certainly moves at a different pace and unfortunately this pace is usually only reserved for rich people. Throughout our stay we were snubbed for restaurant bills, coffee and even service at the mini-market because quite frankly we could wait. My righteousness was at its brim and on numerous occasions the derelict Greek shopkeepers caught the edge of my tongue.

A common postcard shot
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Given the photogenic quality of the place every waiting angle was a magic shot. However once you've walked the main towns streets a million times you find there is no more photo opportunities. Therefore I pulled Emma away from the pool for a day to jump on the back of an ATV to explore the island. On the eastern edge of the island the black sanded, well stoned beached hold their own. Cheaper and less popular to the caldera cliff towns these villages offer a different lifestyle on Santorini. And as per the cliches of Europe beaches this involved a lot of nudity. At Kamari and Red Sand beach, Emma and I opted away from the 12 euro loungers to scorch ourselves on hot rocks and be completely disgusted by the worst on show. The lack of shame in the part of the world is embarrassing and quite frankly their needs to be some sort of patrol to order old, leather skinned ladies to put their clothes back on.

Emma and I on the ATV
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Away from the beach we scrambled our ATV through the wineries. We pulled into one to see they had some wine tasting for 5 euros. Debating the value of this experience we were caught in a quandary only before we saw the actual vessels you got for 5 euros. Five minutes later, Emma and I are quietly enjoying a three goldfish bowls of Santorini wine overlooking the cruise ships coming an going in the caldera. Luckily we weren't far from home so we went back to our abode mid-afternoon to sleep of the tiddly feeling before jumping aboard our bike again for Oia.

Sunset through the bouganvillea
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Oia, i don't know how to say it, is synonymous with photos of Santorini. A plush little village at the northerly tip of the island famed for its Aegean blue church domes and multiple layered hotels. It is said sunset here is the best anywhere in the world and on arrival it seemed that 2,000 other people were in on the tip. Revelers crammed every square inch of lane way in the already miniscule streets of Oia. Anyone with a Platinum American Express enjoyed the scenes from a restaurant or bar but for us poor beggars we joined the scrum to watch the sun fall. In all reality it was pretty good and once the last skerrick of sun dropped everybody pushed and shoved there way back out of the town and onto the perilous road back to Thira.

The Oia sunset
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On our last day we had nothing planned. So we booked in our books and the poolside to entertain us. But as all good plans do, they turned to custard as we run into a couple of friends from Christchurch and another couple who was with us on the Middle East. As luck would have it we did adorn the poolside for most of the day but the only reading being done was on the side of a Mythos bottle. The night turned out to be good value and signed off a relaxing time in Santorini with style.