Santorini was the second island that our travel group hopped to. It was also the farthest away from the mainland. Even by high speed ferry, the journey took us about 5 hours! When we arrived at port, the first thing I noticed was the giant cliffs right in front of us! Santorini is known for its cliffs and its extensive volcanic history. I enjoyed this island the most out of all our stops.
Santorini is one of the most visited of the Greek islands. It appears in calendars and its name rolls off the tongue. Some of the things I enjoyed most about it were its culture, beauty, and lack of crazy parties. There was plenty to do here... almost too much! I decided to do it all which made me really ready for Ios by the time we got there. (I'll explain later...)
The first day in Santorini we received an orientation/overview of the island by tour bus. We visited a church at the highest point of Santorini which commemorates the prophet Elijah. Next, we visited a town and walked its winding, steep alleys to another church and another view. We had the opportunity here to do some brief shopping. Our next stop was a winery! I tried a sip of a friend's dessert wine and found it incredibly delicious. To be honest, though, the views were worth drinking in more than the wine!
Believe it or not, that was just the morning! After lunch, we hopped on board another ferry which took us over to a volcano! This very same mound of land was the same volcano which had erupted thousands of years ago to form Santorini as we know it now. It was a little unnerving to know that the volcano was still considered to be active (!) but the tour guides assured us that it was safe to be there. We worked up a sweat on our hike but thankfully the next stop was a swimming spot! The boat stopped a short distance from shore and anchored there while we jumped off and swam into a volcanic hot spring! The hot spring was more of a warm spring, but it was still exciting to feel the pockets of naturally warm water, see the bubbles, and put volcanic mud on ourselves.
Upon arrival back at the main land we were presented with several options of how to get from sea level up to the town at the top of the cliff. I decided to ride a donkey instead of taking the gondola or walking. It was an exciting, and slightly frightening, ride! At times I thought my donkey would surely throw me off the cliff or try to scrape me off along the stone wall, but he brought me all the way to the top in one piece.
I capped off Santorini on the last day with an ATV ride to some black sand beaches and a hike along the caldera out to a plateau with some amazing views of the island! That hike was much longer than advertised and the temperatures were the highest of the entire trip but worth the effort in the end. I'm proud to say that I did it!
Santorini is perhaps most famous for its blue domed churches and sunsets. Both can be found together in the little town of Oia (pronounced E-ah) at one tip of the island. Believe it or not, the blue domed buildings are hard to find! I always thought that the entire scenery in Greece would be dotted with them. I was wrong. The three in the picture above are basically the only ones! They're not easy to find either. If you don't know where you're going, you might never find this photo op.
Oia put on a show for us later that same night. As the sun set over our last day in Santorini, we relaxed on our private balcony, sipping drinks as the sky lit up with hues of orange and pink.
When we arrived in Ios I was ready to relax. Good thing too because there wasn't much else to do. The main town in Ios caters more to the party crowd and less to the tourist crowd. There are literally no shops open during the day! Everything stays closed until the sun sets and then opens up for an entire night of revelry. Good thing I did most of my souvenir shopping on the first two islands!
I can't complain too much though because laying by the pool, swimming, eating amazing food, walking on the beach, and getting a massage at the hotel spa were all pretty wonderful. In addition to all that, I also spent one day on a sail boat which anchored at one of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen. The water was surely the clearest blue I have ever encountered and the beach was clean and quiet - unmarred by other people or the trash they often leave behind. We spent the afternoon playing games, relaxing, and eating a picnic lunch under the pavilion. Hopefully they never decide to make a road to this beach. I would love to see places like this remain undiscovered for as long as possible!
The picture above is a good summary of what this trip meant to me. Great weather, amazing food, diverse and fun travel companions, and a talented trip manager who held us all together. I will never forget this adventure in the Greek islands. The Greeks know how to do life right and I'm glad I got to take a lesson from them!
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