Sun, Sea, Santorini

Hello! 

So today I wanted to write about something slightly more cheerful than my surgery and that is my recent trip to Greece including a day trip to Santorini!

Back at the end of May/beginning of June both, my mother and myself set off on a trip to Greece. We both have a love affair with Greece, Crete in particular and I can't explain why apart from the fact it is a stunning place with such raw history and amazing memories. The highlight of this holiday was our trip to Santorini and that is what this blog post is going to focus on.

Santorini has always been somewhere I wanted to visit but there were several aspects stopping me. Firstly the cost; as it is such a beautiful and popular destination, nothing is cheap. Secondly I felt it could be claustrophobic - I need my space whether its laying on a sun-bed or looking around the shops. Therefore because of these drawbacks or worries I jumped at a chance of visiting the island for a day to give myself an idea of what it was like before spending the money on a full holiday there.

The day began very early with a coach pickup as the sun started to rise. As we were staying in Elounda it took several hours to get to the main ferry port in Crete. We chose to do a group excursion with SeaJets to have the benefit of a coach, minimal stress and a slightly cheaper trip.

Once in Santorini, our first stop was Oia. This is on the north side of the island and is a beautiful old settlement. As you can see from the photographs below, it really is a beautiful place. 

As it is build into the side of a cliff, every building is very packed together. We were very lucky on the day we visited because there were no cruise ships in port, however It was still extremely busy and hot to walk down the small paved alleys but it was worth it for these views. 

Our second stop of the day began at Firostefani. We took a 20 minute walk down some very pretty cobbled streets, very close to the edge of the caldera into the capital Fira. From here we could see the volcano and Thirassia Island. Our tour guide was full of information (I have never met someone who spoke so much in my entire life). Whilst I found the background information very interesting, we did end up ditching our group as we were barely left any free time to explore the place ourselves!

The capital of Fira itself is again gorgeous with plenty to do and see. As you can see from the photograph above, there is an old port which you can walk/ donkey ride/ take a cable car down to. There is also plenty (and I mean plenty!) of shops for my fellow shopaholics. In the end we only had time for a bit of shopping plus the best lunch I have ever had (pic below) however given more time there is plenty to do here!

Going on this day trip for me, really affirmed the fact that I want to come back here. There is something magical in the way this island was formed and there is undeniable beauty in the little cobbled streets with houses painted white adorned with bright blue shutters. I do recommend going on a day trip here however I would suggest doing your research and going yourself in a group because it can be very annoying to feel restricted to a tour all day. If you are going to do this I would also suggest, find out what cruise ships are in port and pick a day where there isn't any. 

Personally I do think one aspect of staying on the island (despite the high prices) is that once the tours and cruise ships have left for the day, you are left with just the people staying on the island and lets be honest, exploring in the daytime is very hot anyway! So Santorini.. I will be back. 

Ttfn. 

Hannah

xoxo