SANTORINI

I don't think that anything I could say about Santorini would do it justice. I loved this place. We ALL loved this place. Here's what we did:

DAY 1, Wednesday

We arrived to Santorini Wednesday evening after our very disorganized and chaotic ferry ride from Mykonos. It wasn't horrible, but not great either. But, it was the fastest and cheapest way to get between these two islands. We went straight to the village of Oia and our condo, Oia's Sunset. We were very warmly greeted by Panos, the owner. He had a bottle of wine chilled for us and insisted we sit down and enjoy the sunset from the patio before taking our luggage to our room. Panos was definitely a great host and great addition to our three days in Santorini.

After the sunset, we headed out to see Oia and find dinner. Santorini was very different from Mykonos and we were awestruck by the dramatic scenery. The cities are all perched at the tops of cliffs, formed by a volcano. Almost all the buildings are white. We ended up at a restaurant called Skala, mainly because of it's great patio with views. Dinners in Greece are very long. The service is slow and they do not bring you your bill until you ask - even if it's been an hour. And, if you wait long enough, they often bring you something free. After dinner, we went to a bakery and had the best Baklava! We also sat long enough to be treated to Santorini's famous sweet wine. Loved it!

Day 2, Thursday

We spent Thursday exploring Oia. We split up some and went our separate ways and also enjoyed time together. The shops in Oia were great - lots of vintage/antique shops! Tonya and I separately wandered to the Oia Castle and ended up there together! We enjoyed great views from there. The four of us went to lunch on a patio with a view. This is the restaurant where we had our first tzatziki (a cucumber/yogurt dip) in Greece. It was excellent! I enjoyed my first Greek salad of the trip as well - yum! We all spent some time lounging around the pool at our condo that afternoon. I also managed to fit in a hike down to Ammoudi Bay, a fishing village located below Oia. It was pretty down there and I enjoyed the exercise!

We made Thursday night our nice dinner night. We went to a highly recommended restaurant, Ambrosia & Nectar. It was very cute and the food was so good. They've been highlighted on the Food Network for their Baked Feta. It's feta wrapped in phyllo, baked and drizzled with honey. It was amazing. I tried the Greek dish Moussaka. It's an eggplant dish that looks like lasagna. I generally don't like eggplant, but wanted to try this and figured this was the place to do so. It was okay. We enjoyed sitting on their patio for a long time, which resulted in more free sweet wine!

Day 3, Friday

Sean's Birthday! Panos helped us start the day off right by giving us a bottle of champagne for Sean's birthday. We then jetted off in a rented Jeep to explore the island. We visited a red rock beach then later had lunch and laid out on a black rock beach. I enjoyed my first, very quick, dip in the Mediterranean Sea - it was still a bit cold and no one else was in at the time. I get freaked out when I'm in the ocean by myself! We also visited the Santorini lighthouse and enjoyed hiking around the cliffs there. We stopped at a couple of random road-side food stands and picked up Greek treats to bring home with us. We also visited 3 wineries. So fun doing the tastings! First was Boutari winery, where I purchased 2 bottles of their Santorini sweet wine - I love that stuff! Galvanas Vineyards was next - it was a very cute place and the owner took us on a fun tour. I also think they had the best wines of the 3 we visited. Finally, it was Santos Winery where we enjoyed more wine tasting, cheese plates, and an incredible sunset! On our way back to Oia that evening, Tonya and I convinced Elizabeth & Sean to let us stop in the city of Fira to shop. We negotiated to 30 minutes. It took Tonya and I a little longer than that and we could have shopped much more! But, we were very efficient and both got new European leather purses!

Dinner our final night in Santorini was back in Oia at Roka - another great Greek restaurant! It was home-style Greek food and it felt like we were eating in someone's house! I can't remember what I ate here, but I do remember it was good!

Day 4, Saturday

Only 1/2 of Saturday was spent in Santorini, so I woke up early to enjoy my final hours there. I decided to take a walk on the "path to Fira". I thought it was just a walk on the path along the top of the cliff. Before I knew it, I was at the top of the mountain. It ended up being quite a hike! But, the exercise and views were worth it!

After my hike, I ran to a couple of more shops, grabbed a baked omelet for breakfast on a cafe patio, then met back up with the group for our ride to the airport.

Santorini was incredible! See my pics HERE!

NEXT UP: Athens!