Ferry to Santorini

Sunday, October 02, 2011
Oia, Cyclades, Greece
Santorini - October 2 - 5
Leaving Crete Sunday morning, we walked our roller bags and backpacks the 1/2 mile to the ferry port, boarded the "Fast Cat" catamaran ferry and rode in relatively calm seas for 2 1/2 half hours to Santorini.  
 The island of Santorini has some old ruins but it is best known for its beautiful views of a very large "caldera" created by a gigantic volcanic eruption in 1625 BC. The resulting tidal wave might have been one, if not a primary reason the Minoan civilization collapsed in Crete. It remains an unstable piece of real estate with a big earthquake in 1956 with devastating destruction and a subsequent rebuilding.  

While under Turkish occupation the flying of the blue and white Greek flag was prohibited. The Greek island people developed a subtle form of displaying their pride and the colors of their Greek flag by painting their homes, churches and businesses a solid white with blue trim. The current building code seems to require everything to be painted in white and trimmed with blue roofs and window and door frames.  

As you enter the caldera and near the port, the towns of Thira and Oia are visible and from a distance the white houses and hotels flowing over the hillside look like white paint poured on the top and running down the sides. The views of Santorini as we entered the "caldera" and neared the port are spectacular. This place is a photographers dream. I wish I had the skills to give it photographic justice.

At the port, cramming ourselves into a rental Toyota Yaris illustrated just how far we had fallen in status and space capacity since leaving "Boss" Saab in Thessoloniki. We managed to fit and Spiradako, our car renter and a real entrepreneur, offered steep discounts on a sailing trip in the caldera. The drive through Thira (not much to offer) convinced us to drive on to Oia to find a hotel. The views are better in Oia and accordingly the prices are a quantum leap higher. But as we are are on the home stretch of our trip, we pat ourselves on the back for being frugal for too long so we decide to spend some of the grandkids inheritance and live it up in Oia. We succeeded.  

The prime hotels in Oia are situated with cave like rooms dug into the hillsides with great verandas to enjoy the view. Rooms are scarce. After a couple of no vacancies, a problem we have not run into, we selected the Canaves Oia, a top end hotel. The only room available was room #1, a very large suite with two bedrooms and extraordinary views. We occupied the two bedrooms the first night and for the last three nights of our stay, John and Kathy took another room while Mary and I sadly occupied the suite alone using our large veranda as home base.  

Not much to do in Santorini other than stroll the shops with a "gazillion" tourists from the cruise boats (did I say I really love cruise boat destination towns), watching the spectacular sunsets, eating too much, relaxing in the sun (of which my dermatologist says do not do) and taking a caldera sailing cruise. We did them all.  

Our deeply discounted Spiradakos sailing cruise actually did save us about 150 euro for Mary, Kathy and self who took the cruise. John has been feeling a little sick and decided to stay land based. The cruse turned out to be more than expected. There were only two other passengers and we had a 42' catamaran with a 4 person crew. Swimming in the hot springs, snorkeling in the very clear waters of the Aegean and a wonderful lunch were all included. The best bargain we found on Santorini
 

Dining was an experience from best to worst on Santorini. Some great restaurants and our worst for the trip, a taverna in the small harbor below Oia. The harbor was a setting for a beautiful sunset but a lousy meal. Owned by an Albanian immigrant, we decided the restaurant was a startup that might finish real quick. A debate over the bill that we won (you do have to watch and "discuss" your restaurant charges in Greece) and a less than satisfying quality resulted in designating this restaurant as our award winning worst of the trip. 

Overall Santorini was relaxing and well timed in our trip that has thus far been go go and on the run. Others in our group of 4 may disagree, I wouldn't want to miss Santorini, but now that I have seen it, I have no great desire to return. If I did, it would be overnight and 2 days versus the 5 days we were here.


Gearing up now for the party island of Mykonos.  

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