Saturday 11 July 2015

Top of my Bucket List - Santorini!

We were so fortunate, that on our last day in Athens, I got a message from Mikaly, my friend from Japan who was in town. We headed over to his hotel to catch up with him. In the morning, we caught a very early flight to Santorini. Santorini was my pick, and was actually the top of my bucketlist.
I had had a hard time choosing between Mykonos and Santorini, but now, I am so happy with my decision! As soon as we got into the taxi from the airport, I saw a blue roof, and a donkey and I was so, so excited! I hadn't had much say in where we stayed, so I really wasn't sure how we were going to get around the island. Mummy had chosen us a cute, cute hotel which only has 3 hotel suites, but it wasn't avaliable for us to check in for several, several hours. We were all pretty tired, but Daddy agreed to
rent a car and we could drive over to Oia. It seemed that without a car, or renting an ATV, it was pretty difficult. I was so glad he just agreed on the spot to rent a car! Compared to our great map in Athens, the maps in Santorini were so vague! We did make it to Oia, and after finding a parking space, and wandering around wondering where the town was, we made it to the town. And it really was every photographer's dream! We got there super early, and there weren't many people around yet.
We heard from some of the shop owners that the morning was the best time to visit before all the tour boats and buses arrived. We had such a nice time exploring the town, especially climbing up on the roofs, and following little alley ways to get the best view of the blue domes.
I was searching for the perfect photo spots! On a postcard, I had seen that there was a windmill somewhere on the island, and after getting directions, we headed over towards that part of town. It was a little cheaper there, and much more touristy, but we did find the windmill which was great! Santorini is full of lovely villas, that look over on top of one another, private pools and super cute, fancy restaurants. We had a really lovely time exploring all over. After a spot of tea,
we headed back into the car and drove to a couple little towns that some people had reccomended to us. It happened to be the cute little town that "Sisterhood of the travelling pants" was filmed in. It was a super quiet town, with barely any people around, but it was super cute! We even had a chance to stop in a bakery (mainly to use their loo in the basement!) but everyone was super lovely!
I think the main draw in Santorini really was the pretty blue and white houses. You can really see how much effort must go in to maintain it all! It really was exactly what I had expected and wanted to experience!





No comments:

Post a Comment