Santorini Greece

 

We arrived in Santorini Greece by plane, but it looks like lots of people come by cruise ship. This was a short 3 day and 2 night mini vacation after needing to be in Athens for a work conference. It's been on my list of places to go for many decades.

Popular pics of Santorini make it look like the hills are filled with blue domes. They're around, they're on the churches, but they aren't everywhere. It's still picturesque even with a smattering of them. The buildings are all whitewashed, which is another iconic part of their look. Our breakfast waitress said it's often redone twice a year.

The towns on the coast are all connected. We had a hotel in Firostefani, which was great for walking to Fira without staying in the chaos of Fira. It's also central for walking to Imerovigli for a hike to Skaros Rock and the church below it. It was a good area to spend 3 days and 2 nights.

There's more on the island with beaches and ruins, but we came for the famous cliff side views of these hilly towns. Walking the pedestrian roads and the stairs upon stairs was tiring enough without exploring the rest of the island. There's a point where relaxation becomes work if you try to see and do too much.

We dropped our bags and explored before our room was ready. You can get cheaper rooms without a view, but the views are the thing. The boutique Hotel Galini was a nice place to be and relax. They had a cafe with breakfast and a view and we had our own little balcony overlooking the caldera for their famous sunsets. Here's most of the small room...

...but here's where we had the large view for the Santorini sunsets!

It was a lovely night in Fira followed by morning coffee as the sun rose behind us.

sun hitting another little island

Our hiking destination for the day...

It wasn't down there, but to the rock above.

A "different angle, different light" (our picture mantra) revisting the 2nd pic in this post.

A "between" town path, but it's all essentially connected.

What's the cloth? Oh, just one of many women getting pictures taken. It's a tourist thing. 

Another photo session.

There's our destination out in the wild, down the path, just past the pools, hotels, and other stuff built on the side of the hill.

It's just a warning sign, pay no heed and follow the herd.

We came down from there. What goes down must go back up.

What's that? How'd that church get down there? It didn't look like an easy place to build.

Doing my part to perpetuate the myth that blue domes are EVERYWHERE here!

There's just a few when you zoom out.

There's other stuff like some neat little art studios and shops to see. Or donkeys. They bring people up and down from the ships because the cable car lines can be too long. Watch where you step when the donkeys go through town at the end of the day. Also not a great smell when you're eating.

Day 2 ends so sit, relax, and enjoy the show. Ahhh....

All that and the moon.

So many steps and an outdoor concert.

Santorini nights.

They redo the whitewash about twice a year.

We came at the end of tourist season. I don't know that I'd want to visit at the high point of the season.

One last shot of Santorini before our car takes us to the airport. We took a cheap bus to the hotel because we we weren't in a rush. It's better to arrange a shared ride with your hotel and pay the money to make sure you get to the airport or go ahead and do that both ways.