Oia, Greece

Part of being on holiday in a place like Santorini is watching the world go by, and from our little perch on the cliff we see people negotiating curling pathways up, down and along. We see boats from large cruise ships to inter island ferries off loading clusters of day visitors and local charter sail boats gliding backwards and forwards to the volcano center. In the evening just before sun set the larger boats sail off into he sunset for their next destination, freeing up the narrow streets and shops from an over load of tourists.

Breakfast on our prime location deck today was particularly enjoyable as we got fresh homemade donuts drenched in honey sauce with a few seeds on top. They were warm, crunchy on the outside and chewy soft in the middle – just like my omi used to make flavour wise. These really are a far cry from commercially produced donuts and we mopped up every crumb in the last delicious wipe of syrup. So worth the calories and after all we had another day of goat tracks to trek as we explored the jewel of the crown town; Oia today.

Oia is up the top and offers some of the best views of the island, and it’s real estate. It has a couple of traditional wind mills and a zillion, well maybe not that many, but certainly plenty of churches with old brass weathered bells. On that note ( no pun intended) the church above us chimes out a lovely tune similar to the glockenspiel in Munich, albeit much simpler and shorter. Its a little tune, not a ding dong bell! It is also reputedly the best place to get your ‘sunset’ shot.

You can walk to Oia but it takes nearly 4hrs from Firostefani and is not an easy walk either fitness wise or in the heat – so in interests of time we took the bus which we picked up at the top of our stairs, costing €1.60 each.

To stay in Oia is a lot more expensive, and the shops are too but it is free to walk around and really experience the Santorini charm and get some wonderful photos. Rick Steves says that if you cant get a good shot in Oia, give up photography! I would say that was true – every twist and turn provides a photo opportunity and totally draws you into the place and what its all about to experience it. I have loaded lots of photos, and they are just a small selection. I apologise if they are boring and understand that it is probably only meaningful if you have been there.

We enjoyed strolling around, although after a few hours the heat was really baking it up in the little lanes to the point we would do ‘the bird’ (lift arms out like wings) when we got to an open section and there was a hint of breeze. We met a nice English couple at one part and reciprocated photo taking each other. They also love to travel and we had a lot in common – I love these impromptu meetings with strangers that you leave feeling like friends – its strange but cool and weird at the same time. It happened a few times on the last trip we did too.

We had a simple patisserie lunch saving ourselves for a special last meal on the island which we had at a family owned restaurant at the top of our stairs. It turned out to be excellent – our best on the island so far and not too expensive €33. One photo of the two entrees wont load up, but we had local wild greens sautéed and served with a light yoghurt cheese sauce, and another mixed vegetable bake with a chorizo style sausage and then egg scramble through. They were both very tasty and healthy. We just shared a main of slow cooked lamb, potatoes(not chips) and a sweet wine gravy. It was very succulent and delicious. Complimentary was a couple of shots of a drink – didn’t get its name but it tasted like a dry sherry and was ok.

After dinner we wandered down to Fira to get some money for tomorrow’s taxi as we were out of cash and perhaps shop but the time we got there all we felt like coping with was getting the cash and a little ouzo bottle as we totally had to try that before leaving the island. Up till now I had been drinking complimentary 1/2 bottles of Rose (one in each of our rooms as a welcome gift from the host). It was a pleasant drop for sure. They make several wines here and I would have liked to have bought some but is around €40 per bottle for the sweet one (double that for NZD) and the others not far behind and I don’t think they are worth that much. Made me appreciate the welcome gifts even more which I saw it at the supermarket for €13 each (a half bottle). The ouzo was a lot cheaper €1.60 for a mini 50m bottle – we enjoyed that with local orange juice.

So that was our Santorini experience! Even though we set out to relax our days were still very full and tiring in the heat. I didn’t manage to catch up on my blogs as I would have liked due to connectivity problems but enjoying the holiday does take priority. Santorini was bigger than we expected and in some ways prettier and unique than the impression I got from photos before I came. Would I rave about it? No, its nice, its unique, but there are places more appealing to me. There is little to do other than walk, explore, sit in the sun and eat and drink. Beaches are hard to get to and not really for swimming so you need a place with a pool. These cost a bomb. We had a hot tub which I did enjoy one night, but a pool would have been great. Getting around the island is only for the fit and sober. We saw older people and not so old struggle a lot with the steepness and heat. Its definitely not a place for children due to danger, nothing to do, and its quite cramped – and we were there shoulder season not peak! I cannot imagine the heat in peak season, well I can and it would not be nice by any means. We are pleased we came and experienced it, but unless you got a cheap package and added it to something else or visited it on a cruise then I would not do a special or long stay here – 3 days was plenty.