Come fly with me and explore GREECE! PART II - SANTORINI

Ah yes, the one and only, SANTORINI. Blue domes, white building and bougainvillea. Picturesque, just like in the movies, magazines and ads. Breath taking. Staying in NAXOS was absolutely the right choice for us, however, not to visit Santorini would be a crime and full of regrets. I knew Santorini would be a hustle and bustle, full of shops and tourists who are there for the same reason as us, white buildings with blue domes! I knew the place is going to remind me Capri, shops after shops after shops. But again, we weren’t staying there, we were just visiting for a day. Places like Santorini, calm down by the evening, big ships are gone and now only tourists who are staying on the island, HOWEVER, still not for me on this vacay. Perhaps, ONE day, yesssss.

So, to get to Santorini we took a boat. Quite easy, relaxing and enjoyable - two and the half hours. Made a short stop at Paros, small, charming island to collect more travelers and off we went. By the way, a small note, next time I’m in Greece, Paros is on my list. The first hour we sat outside, enjoying the sea, the wind and the sun. The rest of the trip was inside, comfy reclined chairs and the good old air conditioner. As we were approaching Santorini, that is where the anticipation began. The long row of white buildings was on the horizon. I found a small pathway on the boat where we were the only ones standing outside and no one was on the way to take perfect pictures. To our luck, as we were approaching the coast, there were no large ships yet, which meant less tourists to deal with.

As we exit the boat, we were met by two busses. Oh boy, did we get lucky with our tour guide, Joanna Gaitanou from Rapsody Travel Agency. She was incredible, funny, full of information and lucky for me, sommelier. What are the chances. The first stop was Oia. To be honest, it was quite of challenge to get there. Us and dozens of other busses now, had the same idea, but after a short stall, we made it. NOTE: If you have bad knees, or a heart condition, or a stroller, my recommendation to stay behind.

OH MY, my dream came true. The blue domes were in front of us. Every alley we went to was as picturesque as the previous one - cliffs, domes, flowers, simply stunning. Every picture we took, was worth thousand words. Crowded? yes. Hot? Yes. Filled with shops? Yes. Was it and is it worth to walk up? ABSOLUTELY. Down to the meeting point, Joanna had recommended a gelato place, Lolita. Ah yes, gelato please, as it was over 90F and there is so much water you can drink. I’m not much of a dessert person, I’m more of a cheese and wine kinda gal, but their pistachio gelato was out of this world. YUMMM!! NOTE: When travelling to Santorini remember they are not known for pistachios or olives, they are not really known for agriculture, they are known for blue domes. So, if someone wants to sell you a bag of pistachios as a souvenir to take home, they are not from Santorini.

Next stop - Fira, the capital of Santorini. Same old, same old, crowded but absolutely beautiful and most certainly worth visiting. Quite a lovely place to stop and have lunch on the very top where the whole city is at your feet. If you love fried zucchini or fried tomatoes, the town is for you.
After a long day of experiencing something so incredibly beautiful mankind created, a full belly with Fira’s delicacies and wine, you sit back and relax in the comfy reclined chair going through pictures you took. This is the moment where you say, CHECK, I did it. Th blue domes are crossed over from my bucket list.

Next stop - Sailing experience to Kato Koufonisi and Rina Cave!!