Santorini sunsets

Monday morning we rose and set off for breakfast, this time defiantly going to the place where Ryan tried Greek coffee (and next to the guy we had been to previously who had said "Yes! Today is MY day!"). Us girls had our normal yoghurt/fruit/honey combos while Ryan had a sausage and pepper omelette. Then we checked out and got a ride down to the port to catch a ferry to Santorini.

Another acceptable balcony view

Back on to the little ferry we had been on before, but this time Kat and I were at least next to each other with Ryan just an aisle over and a few rows back. A 40 minute or so trip later we arrived at Santorini, with what seemed like a thousand other people, which was quite different to our arrivals at the other 2 small islands. Kat was flying out a few hours later back to London, so we got a cab up to the capital, Fira, for lunch. Ryan and I were staying in Oia at the north-west tip of the island, so since we had our bags we couldn't venture too far and pretty much stopped in at the first taverna we could get to, which somehow involved the waiters helping us haul our bags and ourselves over the back fence into the place. Not the most gracious of entrances, especially considering our exit just involved wheeling the bags out the front door, but hey, sometimes things are not always best done the easier way.

Oia - picture perfect

Some gyros, grilled squid and stuffed eggplants later, we farewelled Kat off into a cab to the airport, while we hopped in a cab to head up to Oia. The cab drived told us that we didn't need to wear seat belts (although I couldn't see any) because we were "safer without them". I asked him "You're a good driver then?" and he replied "We're ALL good drivers!". So we arrived at Maryloujohn Villas reception where Yannis the young and rather attractive manager was asleep on the couch. But after waking him from his slumber, he helped us check in to our room which had a balcony with postcard worthy vistas.

Oia panorama

We settled in and enjoyed the views, then went for a wander around the town of Oia, which was very touristy but also undeniably beautiful and a photographer's dream. And so we wandered and stopped in at a bar with amazing views for a drink and some baklava, and then picked a place, King's Neptune, with a rooftop terrace for a dinner of lamb and Greek salad as the sun set.

Nice spot for dinner

The next morning we went out for some coffees and fruit and yoghurt and wandered around the town again. For lunch that day we just went to the nearby bakery for some spinach pie and bread, and picked some olives and olive oil and enjoyed it on the villa balcony. We basically spent the next 2 days in  reading and internetting and blogging and just soaking up the glorious view!

Happy Ryan enjoying a Mythos at our villas

Oia's sunset

We finally asked a fellow tourist to take a pic of us

Pool cafe bar - good idea. There should be more of these in Sydney.

So basically we didn't do a hell of a lot in Santorini (except lounge around looking at the view and taking lots of photos!). On the second night we had some lamb and moussaka for dinner (capped off with a complimentary yummy panna cotta for dessert!) and on our last day we spent the afternoon at a pool cafe bar establishment on the western side of Oia where we were in the perfect spot to watch the famous sunset (without the hoards of tourists perched on the hill elsewhere), all washed down with a beer and/or bloody mary. Not bad, not bad at all.

Sunset at the pool bar away from the crowds!

Dinner that night, being sadly our last night in Greece and in fact in or near the Mediterranean, we enjoyed some grilled squid and meatballs. The following morning I set the alarm so that I could watch dawn crack in such a beautiful place. And later that morning we sadly packed and got a cab to little Santorini airport. Not too sadly though, as we were catching a flight to London where we still had another week ahead to cap off the end of this amazing trip!

Santorini sunrise

Aerial view of Fira, Santorini