Santorini

We had no idea where to head to next, so when Jenna and James dropped us off near the airport we went straight to the nearest ticket desk and asked what ferries were leaving that evening. There happened to be a ferry to Santorini in two hours time, so we quickly bought them and dashed for the nearest bus into town where the port was.

It was quite a long ferry, taking 8 hours to get there and so we didn't arrive at Santorini until 1am. We had no accommodation booked, but luckily there was a local travel company that gave us a lift to a cheap room for the night. We were absolutely shattered; what with a fun packed week, late night from the wedding and a fair bit of alcohol consumption, we needed our bed.

We had planned to camp as much as possible around the Greek islands, however it seemed that the camp site on Santorini, Perissa Beach, had mostly shut for the season. It was deserted, with a little sign requesting any other customers to ring a number to book into the site...but it was going to be 17 Euros for us to camp or 20 Euros for a clean and basic ensuite room. I managed to persuade Jason to go for the room option. The lady that looked after the few rooms in the complex we were staying in was lovely, one morning she even made us complimentary coffee and tea with traditional rice pudding and cinnamon. It was delicious! This room also happened to be near the best bakery we found. To Jason's joy it was also open 24 hours a day. In 3 days he managed to sample numerous spinach & feta pies, ham and cheese pie, orange cake, baklava, pizzas, olive bread, and that's just the stuff I know about...I'm sure there was more.

I've been to Santorini before, 4 years ago with my friend Rach Suttorini, but it was Jason's first time. I'd raved on about my holiday with Rach so much that he had high hopes. We rented a scooter for a couple of days so that we could explore the island at our own leisure. We called in at a couple of vineyards and did some wine tasting, which was nice, but didn't buy any because we've found that the cheap house wine has been delicious so far and for half the price... we are on a backpackers budget after all. We got chatting to a really nice guy, George, that was doing our wine tasting at Bulvari Vineyards and he has recommended a few things for us to do when island hopping. He's recommended we visit Amorgos Island and a restaurant on Naxos for a good cheap eat...we will see if we can fit them in.

On the whole Santorini was quiet; beaches empty, hotels shut and restaurants to ourselves. We quite like it this way, but we had been told that in peak season a population of 12,000 increases to 750,000...it must be packed! When exploring we stopped at quiet little bays to top up our tans and swim, wandered around village lanes to take in the scenery and called in at cafes for wine and cake...perfect sunny holiday days. The only place on the whole of the island that felt remotely busy was Oia at sunset. This is what the island is famed for; spectacular sunsets over the caldera of an erupted volcano. It's the place that is on all of the postcards, white painted houses in cave type structure with blue dome roofs. There's some seriously expensive and luxury accommodation here, where you can watch the sun go down everyday from your private terrace away from the crowds of tourists. We, on the otherhand, had a Greek kebab, grabbed some beer and sat on a wall to watch the sun go down. It had really been a fab few days exploring the island again... I love it here. The only downside was the breezey cold drive home on our scooter in the dark once the sun had gone down to the other end of the island...freezing!

You know me by now and I must end with a food update...unfortunately it wasn't a Greek type of food that got my attention on this island...it was a Mexican salad. George, the wine man, told us to visit Tempranillos Restaurant near our accommodation in Perissa and order a salad. We ordered one salad between the two of us...massive doesn't cover it, the plate was bigger than our heads put together. It was filled with chicken, beans, parmesan, onions, sweetcorn, peppers, tortilla chips and a gorgeous dressing. We only discovered this place on our last day and wish we could have sampled more of their salads.

The ferry leaving the island sails straight through the caldera, where you get a completely different view of the island's volcanic formations and white houses lining the top of the orange rocks. I'd definitely recommend a boat trip from the island because the view is amazing (you can also visit the hot springs from there too).

Taking more of George's advise, our next island is Amorgos.