Santorini Day 5 - Oia / Fira / Firostefani

It was our last day in Santorini but it feels like there's still so much to do that we could have easily spent another week or so exploring the island. Our last day was spent pretty much just chilling and wandering places for one last time, until our next visit someday, of course.
 
Prewedding photography: We've seen quite a few of these during our stay. How they kept cool or not drenched in sweat while in their finest threads under the scorching sun, I would never know. My spaghetti straps are soaked within 10 minutes of walking around in that heat.

We read about this restaurant named Aktaion in Firostefani being the oldest restaurant in Santorini and were looking forward to try it, but it was closed the first time we went there. So we went back again on our last day hoping to catch its opening hours.

We were the 2nd last guests that afternoon, and were very glad we made it! We had The dish of the trip during that lunch - Octopus in Ouzo. We mopped up every single drop of that orange coloured sauce. It was SO good! The moussaka next to it was pretty awesome too!

After our late lunch, we manage to fit in one last gyros from Obelix before making our way back to Oia to join the crowd for a bit of sunset cheer on our last evening there.

Santorini is definitely all that we've heard about and probably more! Someone commented on Tripadvisor that it is a must see if this is your first time to Greece. We couldn't agree more!

See you again Santorini! 

Ate: Aktaion

Santorini Day 4 - Oia / Fira / Perissa Beach / Ancient Thera

Oia can get really busy but with an early start, before 9 am I'd say, you can have the whole place almost to yourselves. That's what we did, got up really early (by vacation standards anyway) and wander around before the busloads of tourists arrive.

Peaceful, empty streets in Oia. Lovely!

Hardly anyone at the sunset lookout point at this hour.

This old couple is celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary and and their daughter has taken them to Santorini for a DIY wedding photoshoot.

We had to move out of oyr hoyse to the one upstairs for the last 2 nights. It was peak period and the other villa was pretty sweet, so it was alright. A worthy mention: Our Bulgarian porter, Vasillis, who helped us with our check in and out, and carrying our bags up and down millions of steps!
If you're interested in staying here, please note that the bedroom is a loft and you need to climb up a flight of stairs to get to it. Also, I don't think the bedroom has aircon.

The best thing about the villa was probably the balcony. We loved the hours spent out here having breakfast, evening drinks and nibbles or just enjoying the view.

Took a bus to Fira town after moving to our new villa. I highly recommend taking buses when in Santorini. They can get really packed but they are convenient, cheap and the bus conductors are pretty entertaining!

A colleague recommended Lucky's Souvlaki for gyros before coming here which is located on the main street in Fira - on the left in this photo. The gyros was pretty good, but we would soon discover that Obelix, somewhere inside Fira town was even better!

Lunch stop at Restaurant Nikolas, located in the heart of Fira.

Friendly staff and good food. Beers we've had so far: Mythos, Alfa, Fix Hellas... all good!

Strong, garlicky, delicious! This is how I like my Tzatziki now!

Looking for another excursion around the island after lunch.

Got the bus to Perissa beach. It is a black pebbled beach with nice cool water.

Located a walking distance from the beach is Ancient Thera archeological site that sits on top  Mesa Vouno mountain. We only made it to halfway since the path up was very windy and flip flops were not the best footwear to climb a mountain.

Back to Fira for sunset.

Dinner time at Obelix.

Really good gyros and pork on skewers! We're still dreaming of this now!

Ate: Restaurant Nikolas and Obelix in Fira
Stay: Pori House Oia Villas

Santorini Day 3 - Catamaran Sunset cruise

We booked to go on a sunset cruise the day before with Sunset Oia Sailing at Ammoudi bay. It was our honeymoon splurge since it costs about 70 euros each at that time. I had a look at the website and it's apparently 95 euros now. Either we've got a discount then or the price has gone up hugely!

Had ourselves a bit of lunch at Taverna Katina in Ammoudi bay before the 5 hour cruise which starts at about 2:30 pm.

I must say that Greek salad is now one of my favourite salad! The calamari was lightly battered, fried and seasoned to perfection! 

Grilled fish drizzled with olive oil and lemon juice emulsion. Something so simple yet so good is mind boggling!

This baklava, which is complementary by the way, is THE BEST baklava we've ever had. Ever.
Maybe we've not been exposed to that many baklavas but a good one IS a good one!

Right on time, our vessel awaits! Gosh I was so excited!

Our cruise starts off from Ammoudi bay in Oia, stopping at Nea Kameni's hot spring, followed by Red and White beach at Akrotiri and then back to Oia in time for sunset.

First stop: Nea Kameni hot spring. We did not have a waterproof camera back then so this was the only photo we took there. We jumped off  the catamaran and swam towards the beach where the water was warm and orange due to the high iron/sulphur content. We slathered orange mud all over our shoulders and faces for its therapeutic functions and ended up looking hilarious! One of those times I wishes I had a waterproof cam! It was probably my favourite stop of the cruise. The crew gave us a good hosedown before letting us back onto the boat to avoid getting sulphur stains all over their lovely vessel.

Next stop: Red beach. Unfortunately due to some reason, which I had somehow forgotten, we were not able to stop closer to get to the beach. We still had a lot of fun jumping off the boat and swimming in the deep blue waters from where this photo was taken.

Next was the White beach. Again, it wasn't a beachy stop but more jumping off boat and swimming.
Our lunch being prepared while we swam to our hearts' content! No complains there.

Lunch is served! I could do this right now. Hmm...

Preparing the sails for our journey back to Oia for sunset.

 
Party boat! There are cheaper alternatives for island tours/cruises. If we had a few more days there, we would probably go on one of those that don't serve food for less than 20 euros.

 Making our way back to the Ammoudi bay.

We can see our villa from the boat!

Another day well spent on the island of the gods! :)

Ate: Taverna Katina, Ammoudi
Sailed: Sunset Oia Sailing Itinerary

Santorini Day 2 - Hiking in Santorini Oia to Fira

Some notes from our hike from Oia to Fira:

1. The trail is about 11km long and takes about 3 hours depending on your speed, and it is Gorgeous!
We both agree that Santorini was probably the most beautiful place that we've ever been to!

2. Wear proper shoes instead of flip flops like we did. We thought it was going to be a leisurely walk in the park kind of trail. We soon learn that it wasn't! There are certain stretches of the trail where the roads are steep, or gravelly  or is a tiny path with loose rocks and big drops down the cliffs.

3. It was probably easier doing the trail from Fira to Oia - less uphill climbs, but we were staying in Oia and back to 1. we did not expect it to be anywhere as tough.

4. Do the Oz thing and Slip-Slop-Slap! We were there in August so it was scorching hot! While I did not exactly Slipped on a shirt (was working on my honeymoon tan haha) I made sure I Slopped on my SPF 35 and Slapped on a wide brimmed hat for protection, which is not something I do very often - I have this notion that I don't need as much SPF because I am Asian and is used to the sun... it was probably just laziness.    

5. Bring enough water! There is a small cantina probably a couple of hours into the hike before you reach what seems like proper civilization (after being on the rustic trail for a bit) which is Imerovigli.

6. There are donkey caldera tours if you prefer not to hike, but those things look scary especially on narrow paths.

We passed some locals on their way back after church; the men on their donkeys and the ladies with bouquets of herbs.

 

 View of the opposite side from Oia.

 Oia from up here.

The caldera.

 

 


Beautiful village of Firostefani.



 A well deserved break!
 

 We're almost there Fira!

 Cable car that takes you from Fira to the Old Port.

Good advice!
 
 
We had a wander around Fira, and somehow decided to take a bus to Pyrgos, the highest point of Santorini.

 

 
 

Waiting for the bus back to Oia at Fira's main bus station.

Home sweet home after another awesome day in sunny Santorini - our little villa, second teracotta coloured house on the right.