Iceland etc 2015 – Page 5 – Honzee / Oz Tourist

September 30, 2015October 1, 2015

Santorini – day 4

Sadly, our last day in Santorini. This place grows on you so quickly – only a few days back we were a bit aprehensive about the lack of footpaths, the millimetre gaps between passing cars/buses/vans and the huge number of tourists… but now? We feel as we’re the locals.

For our final day in this Greek paradise, we didn’t have a lot planned but we were keen to get a nice lunch in Oia, see where the donkeys are and if we can ride one and do some further exploring before heading to Katharos Lounge for dinner to watch the sunet from apparently one of the best spots on the island.

Well we basically nailed all that and more…

We started off by checking out a location we spotted which we thought would be good for photos. Which spot isn’t, really… but this one gave a different perspective. What it did do was provide a pathway down to the harbour area and a whole new part of Oia we hadn’t seen. It also gave us a look at donkeys!!

We made our way down to the harbour, passed by the donkeys and learnt it was 10 euros to have a ride back up the 170-odd very wide steps up the cliff face. We had a drink at the bottom, centimetres away from the water and watched the nautical world go by. We had a nice chat with a young couple from Kentucky before preparing ourselves for the donkey ride!

Soph got given a white donkey to ride up – I got given what looked to be a clydesdale’s larger brother (poor thing clearly had some weight to carry up that cliff face) so no wonder it was a massive horse/donkey/mule combo. The 170-odd steps up were hilarious – it was non-stop laughing the whole way up. The steps are very wide/long, so you’re taking a good 2-3 strides per step and the donkeys know how to minimise effort so they go side-to-side and traverse the path. This meant lots of competition between the donkeys as the owner rode a 3rd donkey behind us. It was neck and neck up the hill with Soph’s steed narrowly winning. It was seriously amazing fun and something quite different – super pleased we did it!

From there, we fought the eastern European crowd who’d just got off a cruise liner and decided it was time for lunch. We found a great spot, tucked into more local cuisine and had a million dollar view to go with it.

The afternoon was a bit of a chill time, had a swim in our private pool, read a book and before we knew it, it was time to make our way down to Katharos Lounge to have Greek tapas, a drink and watch the amazing sunset. Unlike the previous night on the boat, there were no clouds so we were treated to what the locals call the “best sunset in the world”. I’m not sure about that, ours back home are pretty amazing, but with the clifftops and boats out in the blue waters, it’s not too an outlandish claim!

What a great way to finish our time in Santorini. Just a spectacular place and it offers something for everyone. Highly, highly recommend it and would love to come back!

September 29, 2015September 29, 2015

Santorini – Sophie’s birthday! (day 3)

We may or may not have fallen asleep at 9pm the previous night, so a 6:30am start to Sophie’s birthday was an unusual start for us both! Opened a couple of cards, Glen made breakfast and we sat outside whilst watching the sunrise strike the nearby island cliff faces. Soph read her book whilst Glen explored a nearby deserted church in the middle of nowhere.

My birthday present to Soph was a “semi-private sunset cruise around the island” but that didn’t start until the afternoon, so we had the morning to explore further. We headed back into Oia but went a different way along the clifftop and found a whole new set of cute shops, tiny laneways and of course, more amazing views! In fact, some of these were the best yet, particularly as on this side of the island, the accommodation snaked its way down the cliff deeper down than what we’d seen eariler. Just amazing architecture and skill to build houses on such incredible slopes.

But the highlight of the trip thus far was the sailing. We had booked a Santorini Sailing tour where we got picked up from our accommodation and taken back to the other end of the island to the port where our catermaran was awaiting us. It was a maximum of 12 people which made it quite intimiate and a great opportunity to chat. Tony, our skipper, was an expat Englishman who had sailed the Greek Islands for 20 years and was an outstanding host. Super funny, quick-witted and knew his stuff. The tour was for 4hrs, included an incredible dinner onboard consisting of some of the best prawns, chicken, steak and sides we’ve eaten as well as drinks.

We toured up the side of Santorini, being shown where one of Brad Pitt’s Santorini houses adorned the cliff top (he has 2 on the island). We learnt the whole island arrangement is because this is the top of an enormous volcano – and it’s 23 years past its erruption due date. But – given it’s a submerged volcano, all it does is push the island up higher out of the water. As it’s been doing this for hundreds of years, there’s a distinctive layering of the sides of the cliff as what used to be submerged now sits above the waterline.
After an hour or so sitting on the bow of the boat, drinking beer and wine and chatting to the other travelers, we stopped and had a swim in the super salty but quite warm waters near a recently formed island. Back on board, we ate our delicious dinner and really got to know the other people on board. Some super nice people, all of whom turned out to be American – a couple from LA, another from Washington DC and a couple with his parents from New Orleans. By the end of the trip we were all besties and swapped contact details so we now have a few places in the US we’d love to go and stay, and more than happy to be hosts to any of them who are keen for a trip to Adelaide.

All in all, one of the best things we’ve done we decided. It was super well organised, good value and was a pretty unique experience that won’t be soon forgotten!

September 29, 2015

Santorini (day 2)

(Our first glimpse of what the travel brochures have on their covers. No photos do this place justice)

What a day! After a 9hr sleep or so on the comfiest bed possibly ever made, albeit anything would have felt good after 2 days of not being in a bed, we started off on checking out local Santorini, specifically, Oia. We’re in the northern part of Santorini, and for an island, it’s pretty damn big.

I must say it’s much bigger than I imagined. I’m not sure either of us really thought much about how far things were, size of the islands or anything like that when we chose where we were going to stay, but it’s pretty bloody big!

We begun by walking up the 1.5kms of pure hill which gets the heart rate going as well as the sweat glands. Even though it was only 10am, it was still rather warm and our backs were beading with sweat. Still, good way to kick off the day!

When we got to the top of hte hill and into Oia itself, we found what can only be described as stunning scenerey whichever we way we looked. Pure white rendered houses, apartments, hotels with sheer cliffs and deep blue seas at the bottom, it was almost surreal. We wandered up the cobble stone and then more paved paths, Soph wandered through more than a few small shops selling clothing, leather goods and so-on while I worked out how to use my new camera to its best capabilities.

We stopped for beers and people watched for a good hour before pressing on, seeing two models try and take photos of themselves on timers as they sprinted from the camera to then pose in front of stark white walls of a local church.

Keen to not have to walk everywhere all the time, we hired a car. It was tempting to hire a scooter or quad bike, but it was starting to rain and it all became too hard. Just as we were choosing, the car hire guy allowed us to drop the car at the airport as we left the island, so that sealed the deal. In our possession was a beastly 1.2L Hyundai i20 with a super high clutch point and a handbrake that, well, didn’t really brake. But – it was small and on these tiny roads, you don’t want much bigger!

After a short drive, we began to walk through Fira which is mid-coast on Santorini. Home to the sheer cliff drop-offs, amazing apartments and where ships dock and send in their guests who then can either climb the million steps, get on a donkey or go up the cable car. We found this part of Santorini to be a bit, well, too touristy. Lots and lots of cruise ship tourists being catered to by lots of shop owners keen to make a buck. It all works and it’s great and all, but Oia is so much nicer I guess we were already spoilt.

From there, we were keen for a driver further down the island when Santo Winery popped out. “Fancy a drink?”, “Why not!”. So we stopped, found that the winery’s tourist area had possibly the best lookout over all of Santorini and settled in for a 12 glass wine tasting session with accompanying palette cleansers, such as cheese, crushed fava beans and of course, olives. The wines were fantastic, quite different to our usual wines at home (a sweet red for instance), but the view trumped any of the wines.

Afterwards, we made our way back to the accommodation, grabbed some wine and beer on the way and watched the famous sunset from our pool whilst enjoying a beverage. This place really is hard to beat!

September 29, 2015September 29, 2015

Santorini – including getting there (day 1)

(Our accommodation we rocked up to – makes the travel time worth it!)

Simply put, today was travel day.

We departed Adelaide at 9:50pm local time after getting to the airport early due to the possible strikes. No problems encountered, but it was a 3hr wait before tripping off in an Emirates 777-300ER.

Not the roomiest of layouts but when you score exit row seats like we did – it certainly helps!

The flight was reasonably painless and uneventful. The food, staff and timeliness of Emirates is pretty top notch – really hard to fault.

We arrived in Dubai after the next part of 13hrs in the air arriving at 5am local time. Our only bitch would be if you don’t score a flight with a skywalk into the terminal, you’re basically catching a 20 minute bus ride. That’s not an exaggeration. The airport is beyond belief in terms of its scale and sheer acreage. It’s enormous. One flight attended commented that her house is at the strart of the runway and it takes her 20mins to drive to work!

The Dubai-Athens leg was also easy. It ain’t no Emirates aircraft but it’s a 30min flight. It’s also 23:00 Adelaide time Friday, so a good old 28hrs since arriving at Adelaide Airport.

Our accommodation, Katharos Villas, is just awesome. Private pool, great size (2 bathrooms, 2 bedrooms, full kitchen including an oven and cooktop) and away from the business of Oia village. Highly recommended!

What we considered to be an epic effort, we got changed into semi nice clothes and walked up the 1.5km of criss-crossed roads up the cliff to where the tourists are 5 deep trying to get a glimpse of the sunset. By the time we got there though, it had cleared out and we had a delightful drink overlooking nearby islands. To be a true local, we tucked into Mousakka and Souvlaki with local beers and a wine. Tough start to the trip!

The actual holiday begins tomorrow! More to come…

September 29, 2015September 29, 2015

Our 2015 European trip

Soph and i are doing a 3 week tour of Europe in September/October. We’re spending 4 nights in Santorini, 7 nights in Iceland, 5 nights in Norway and another 5 in Switzerland with friends Biddy & John.

This is our travel blog for our trip. Whilst I hope it’s of interest to whomever reads it, it’s more for our memories so apologies if it’s a bit indulgent!