Saturday 31 October 2009

Gorgeous GREECE!!

I guess the biggest challenge Santorini faces is to live up to it's high expectations of being one of the prettiest places. Images of the white houses against the splendid blue of the Aegean Sea are pretty much etched in every one’s mind.

After an extensive debate on whether to do only Santorini or more of Greece, we settled down to do only Santorini in the interest of time. An evening flight took us from London to Athens and an early morning flight took us further onto Santorini. A small airport (reminded us of airport at Leh) - it was much what you would expect from an island.


Heliotopos – Our hotel was 15 minutes from the airport, on the top of the hill in Imerovigli village. A nice, split level studio apartment with the bed on the first floor, and the kitchenette and the sitting area on the ground floor. We had our own private balcony, overlooking the Caldera...a splendid view of the sea, with the island forming a crescent, with Fira, the capital of Santorini on one end and Oia, and another pretty village on the other end.

Imerovigli, the village where we were staying, was effectively at the centre of the crescent. Our short trip of three days comprised a walk of Fira (an hour) and a walk to Oia (3 hours). Both these walks are on established hiking trails, which run through the top of the mountains. So through the walk, you continue to savour the marvellous views of the sea. At one point on our walk to Oia, the trail was so narrow, that we could see the Aegean Sea on both sides. Both Oia and Fira are outstanding – don’t think there are other places like them – as in, the white washed houses, blue roofed churches, all laid beautifully along the hill top and slopes contrasting against the dark blue sea. So, if you ever want to enjoy this view in particular, the only place you can go to is Santorini. On the third day in the afternoon, we took a boat trip to the volcano and walked up to the crater.


The weather kept steady through most of our trip with some rain on the second day. A warm 25 degrees was very welcome from the steadily getting colder London. October is the end of season for Santorini with most of the island and services closing by November.
So, did Santorini live up to our expectations? Well, it almost did – A relaxed holiday, where you can lie back and enjoy how quiet and beautiful the world can be. The only exertion though is for your finger, which doesn’t stop clicking away on the camera.
Our shopping tips – flavoured olive oil, Sesame coated nuts, Linen clothing, Greek mythology dolls.