Santorini 1

Well, this certainly was a good choice for our last stop. What a beautiful place.

Last week on Crete I got looking at the place we booked in Santorini and something about it did not sit right with me. So I cancelled our reservation and booked this place which is so nice. It is bright and clean, has friendly staff, a pool, is a five-minute walk to the beach, and breakfast is included. It is the only place we have stayed that is not an apartment.

We are in a little town on the opposite coast from the port, but the island is only five miles wide. Yesterday we had thought we would go into Fira and walk on the trail that goes from Fira to Oia. But we got up late and decided to just go into Fira and look around then take the bus to Oia. But we were sitting in a restaurant having lunch when we saw a group of what turned out to be German hikers with backpacks and hiking poles clumping by. We found ourselves following them and ended up walking the whole trail. It is nine km and not very hard, just a few climbs. So glad we did it. The views were stunning and it was quiet with not too many other hikers other than the Germans. We kept stopping to let them get by (there seemed to be about 15 or so of them), then they would stop to take pictures and we would catch up. We finally took a long rest to be sure they got way ahead of us.

I can't describe how beautiful that walk was, with the views over the sea to other islands and the white buildings spilling over the cliffs. It was warm yesterday but there was a wind all day so it was just right for a walk.

The sunset in Oia is world famous, apparently. We did not stay to watch as we were a bit concerned about getting the bus back but people were gathering already at 6:00 or so, huge crowds coming in on gigantic tour buses. It is all tourism here. This is a good time of year as it is warm but not too crowded. Like Crete, many places are not open yet. There is a lot of painting going on.

We are just going to hang around today and maybe take a boat ride to the volcano tomorrow.

Top photo is on hike, bottom is our hotel.