Gremma's Travels: More Relaxation in Santorini

Oia in Santorini

Snow??? Nope.
That's the white washed houses of Oia

Cheers - the first glass of many!

What a spot for lunch - deconstructed Caesar salad

View of Oia from our room

Delicious Santorini wines

Sunset

Sitting on the wall of the balcony

Our first glance of Santorini was through the ferry window, and the whitewashed towns on top of the cliffs looked just like snow capped mountains. The early morning ferry was a breeze, though once again so glad we had a driver waiting for us as it was chaos at the arrivals area! People and cars everywhere, and it was really hot and sunny.

On check in at our hotel Katikies in Oia, we were given a refreshing mocktail, then taken on a tour through the gorgeous resort which is right on the cliff edge overlooking the caldera. The views were absolutely breathtaking, and there were so many stairs! Pretty impressed by the porters carrying heavy bags and everything else up and down the stairs all day.

Our room was gorgeous, but even better was the patio which overlooked the resort and the caldera beyond. We spent a lot of time sitting on the wall taking in the view.

After checking out our room we headed to one of the three pools for the afternoon where we swam and drank plenty of bubbles. Absolute bliss! We had a private wine tasting that evening as the sun set. Who knew Santorini even made wine, let alone that it was delicious! It came with mainly local cheese and meats platter and they recommended which to match with each wine. It was divine sitting there throughout the evening sipping and nibbling the time away as it got dark.

The next morning we managed to secure a double lounger and had the small pool to ourselves for most of the day. Our breakfast was delivered to the pool lounger instead of our room patio and it was so relaxing. Pretty much all we did all day was eat, drink, sit in the sun, swim and relax. More bliss!

We finally stirred ourselves in the late afternoon and headed out to explore the main street. It was super touristy with loads of little shops and galleries, but really nice. We found a cute little taverna for dinner and had more delicious Santorini wine to wash it down.

I got up really early the following morning for a quick dip and to "bags" a lounger by one of the bigger pools. Lucky I did, as it seemed that was the only way to get one for the day. We spent the morning relaxing some more, then the afternoon on our charter boat the Maria Christina. The wine was poured as soon as we got on the boat, and it didn't stop flowing all afternoon. We cruised past the spectacular red and white beaches, then on to a quiet spot where we jumped off the boat and swam in the crystal clear waters. Then it was on to a hot spring. This was touted as being an amazing place to go bathe in the mineral thermal waters etc. We swam into the bay (along with all the others who arrived on their massive tour boats), and although you could feel the temperature getting a little warmer, it wasn't that special, and the water just mostly felt dirty! It was kinda bizarre.

We anchored just off of the island Therasia and Greg and I went snorkling while a delicious dinner was prepared for us. A little table was set on the back of the boat, and we sat in the last of the sun and enjoyed the food and wine. So relaxing! The trip back was spent lying on the top deck watching the sun disappear into the sea, and taking far too many photos of the sunset. It was such a wonderful afternoon, and our only regret was not chartering the boat for the full day!

The following day, after another morning of relaxing by the pool, we went on a wine tour. It was really interesting learning how the grow the grapes on Santorini. They don't do it on what we think of as normal vines. Instead they twist the vines around into a circular basket, and the grapes grow on the inside. This protects them from the harsh wind and sun. When we first arrived in Santorini we saw a sign "Wine Road" and got all excited looking for the vines, then disappointed when we couldn't see any. Once we knew what they looked like however, we soon realised that most of that part of the island wasn't covered in messy shrubs, but instead glorious vines!

The last morning we had some more quality pool time and explored Oia a little more before catching our flight to the last stop on this trip - Athens.