Santorini

As we woke up in the wee hours of the morning in our Athens hotel room, the music and the party still seemed to be on. However, we would soon be on our way to Santorini by the 7 AM flight. The cab took us to Athens airport well on time. The airport was large and beautiful, and we thought how wonderful it would be to spend some time here, explore and feel the touristy vibes. We were in for a surprise. As we showed the downloaded boarding passes on our phones to the security at the gate, their scanner refused to read the code, as much they trieid to. And worse is that no one was in a mood to help. We went to the Ryanair counter to ask for a printout which was a thirty second job. Instead they told us that we need to pay the check-in amount which was ridiculous. Then they directed  us to a person who after much coaxing and finally out of sympathy provided us the print outs. We were relieved though only for a short while as to add insult to the injury, the people at the Ryanair desk told us we better hurry up or else miss the flight. Sure enough we were late now as we had to walk for twenty minutes to reach the boarding gates despite there being moving walkways. Needlessly we were put into this mess in the wee hours of the morning for no fault of ours all because their scanner failed to read the code from an iPhone screen. Halfway through the walk, we almost gave up as it seemed never ending. At the end however, we miraculously made it and while cursing Ryanair and the airport (which we were so impressed with a short while back), we were finally on our way to the gorgeous island of Santorini.
The weather at Santonini was not that great and we knew it. It was not ideal for an island of which you had only seen sun-kissed photos and hence anything else would be a dampener. Thankfully, it was not raining. The rains had just subsided a couple of days back. The sun was still playing hide and seek but the biggest deterrent was the cold wind. Not something which one would like on an island. There was hope though. We would be here for three days and each day it would be getting better. We were booked at the town of Fira and our taxi duly took us there though the driver pulled off a trick and did not drop us till the door when it could have. He told us that we need to walk the last stretch as the path was not a drivable one. Well, there was certainly one. We had to bear the cold winds for a while as we guessed which way would be the entrance to our Hotel Kaiferis. Finally, after a longish walk up the slope we reached and found some respite from the cold.  All the troubles were forgotten as we checked in to the room and got the most gorgeous view of the Aegean Sea. Due to the cloud cover, the blue colour still was not quite there but such was the beauty it hardly mattered. We had our breakfast in the room in the small balcony with the gorgeous sea as the backdrop. A photo which my wife so longed for. It was still quite early, so we rested in the room and caught up on some sleep after which we set off towards Fira town center at around lunch time. 

The weather update was encouraging. While it was cold and windy, the rains stayed away and it would only get better. We walked ourselves through the ‘white’ lanes of Fira. The island, as is well known, is completely ‘whitewash’ed. Rather every single building is whitewashed which makes for many a beautiful picture. The season was yet to start, and one could see many a labourer frantically completing their whitewash as the tourist season was officially slated to start the next day on the 1^st of April. We found ourselves a restaurant overlooking the sea and had another amazing Greek meal. The place was not fully buzzing yet. It could be a combination of the weather and it being a Sunday as well as the fact that it was not yet the season. Nevertheless, it was enough for us to check out souvenir shops whatever was available. We were told that from the next day all would be business as usual. After hanging out in Fira town for a while we decided to move on to the more touristy village of Oia. This was the main village of Santorini most famous for its gorgeous sunset. The sunset would be the same everywhere, just that the one viewed from Oia was the ‘branded’ one and marked as a special tourist attraction.
We walked ourselves to the bus-stand and boarded the bus to Oia. It was a half hour bus ride which provided us a glimpse of the whole island. The towns were located on cliffs so from the distance one could view some of the beaches and the coastal routes. On the way we stopped at a village Imerovigli which we would visit the next day.
Oia was a gorgeous little village and should be known for much more than just a sunset. It was of course all white. It was a much smaller place than Fira and one could walk the entire length of it. We duly did so. It was lined with shops and cafes all along and made a beautiful spectacle. Most of the iconic photos of Santorini i.e. the blue domes are located here. We walked through the lanes, walked up and down the stone stairs and each time got a gorgeous view of the sea with the volcanic island at a distance.  The weather was cold and windy but the clouds were clearing which made the sea somewhat close to its blue. And most importantly, we would actually view the sun as it sets. As soon as the time for sunset came nearer, the buzz around the place went up. You could feel the mood changing as hordes of tourists, mostly Japanese, disembarked from buses along with the tour guides and marched their way to the point of viewing the sunset.  As we walked towards the viewpoint, it was gorgeous. Not really the sunset which was normal as expected but the view of Oia. Beautiful white structures on the cliffs stepped one below the other, this was surely one for the ages. The photo would be the cover of our Facebook page for the next six months. The sunset should still be credited for bringing in the crowd and provide and amazing stadium type atmosphere. One could almost feel as if a sporting event was about to unfold. Post sunset, we saw the crowd disperse. The Japanese tourists were almost business like. They clicked their customary selfies on their sticks and now with the job done they wasted no time to board their buses.  We hung around for a while and then took a cab back to Fira as it was already late and the last bus had left. On return to Fira, we settled for dinner at an Italian restaurant, followed by a round of drinks at the PK’s bar and then took a cab back to our hotel, thus retiring for the day.


As expected, the weather went one step ahead to being the perfect one for Santorini. The sun was shining with just a nip in the air, pleasant enough. Just outside our hotel was one of the most iconic photo points of the island – the blue dome with the three bells, overlooking the volcanic island not very far away. There are boat trips that take you to the island but since the season had not started in full steam, the boats were few and very time bound. So, if one missed the one at 10-30 AM, the next would be at 2 PM. We were in no mood to be dictated by public transport timings so we dropped the idea of vising the island or the beaches that were around. We thought that with the time in hand it was better to walk around and explore the lanes rather than using up a whole day travelling. We followed the trail along the cliffs away from our hotel towards the village of Imerovigli. It took us around twenty five minutes to walk through the lanes and reach a quiet village. The lanes were lined up with restaurants, mostly filled with just enough people. The cliffs were lined up with whitewashed houses which were mostly hotels and shops.  We found our way to the main road where we located a restaurant to have our lunch. Another sumptuous Greek meal followed after which we planned to go to Oia to watch another round of the ‘famous’ sunset, this time in clearer conditions. The roads wore a deserted look as we walked to the bus stop and waited for the bus from Fira. An elderly couple was waiting there as well and they updated us that they had arrived a few days earlier and found the worst possible weather with storms. We just realized how we ‘weathered’ the storm and escaped with minimal damage to our plans.  Oia looked more beautiful with the sun beating down and the skies blue.  We made our customary walk, then took a snack and ice-cream break at a restaurant and then walked all the way past the sunset point through the lovely lanes and steps on the cliff reaching a windmill. I cannot say if it was functional or just there as a heritage value to add to the scenery of the place. We got the gorgeous sunset view of the place. The sunset was normal just like anywhere else and I am sure it would be the same from our hotel room but the sight of the crimson hue falling on the buildings was indeed a sight to behold and one for the postcards. It remained the cover picture of our Facebook page for the next six months. After a round of coffee, we were on our way back to Fira by the last bus. We settled for dinner at Fira at the same Italian place and retired into our hotel.

Sunrise

We were on our final day, planned to board the flight to London Gatwick at 7 PM. The weather was at its brightest and it finally felt like Santorini (weather-wise).  The sea was shimmering in the gorgeous sun-shine and we felt thankful that even if for a few hours, we managed to taste this. We walked around Fira town. It was much more buzzing that it was two days back. Shops were all open and so were all the bars and restaurants. We had another round of Greek lunch at the same place overlooking the sea where we had two days back and after a bit of souvenir shopping went for a couple of drinks under the sun in PKs cocktail bar. The whole place seemed be a totally different place to what it seemed two days back. Post drinks, we had a round of ice-cream before bidding good-bye to the gorgeous island.  We headed back to the hotel from where a taxi took us to the airport. The Easyjet flight was as comfortable as it can be as it had less than half occupancy which enabled us to convert our seats into beds and catch-up on some lost sleep.