Yassou from Santorini, Greece!
After a long travel day, we arrived in Santorini in the middle of the night. Landing in Santorini, Greece was one of the more scarier moments of my life. I am not a fan of flying. The landing strip is located directly next to the water, it almost looks as if you are going to land in the water! Fortunately, we made it to land, and I believe we were the last flight that came in that night.
It was about 3:00 in the morning by the time we got our luggage. We had assumed there would be taxis waiting at the airport, but it seemed that everyone had gone home for the night. We figured we would sit in the airport and maybe nap a little, but they told everyone they had to leave the airport, and we could wait outside if needed. So we found a concrete bench, almost big enough for two, and tried to sleep there until the taxis showed up. There were people sitting along the building trying to do the same thing. What a start to this adventure! We clearly did not plan this well. After a few hours the taxis started showing up, and off we went to our hotel.
Where We Stayed
We are staying at the Hippocampus Hotel in Kamari Beach, which is on the island of Santorini, Greece. This hotel is beautiful and all white with blue accents. So Greek. We arrived about 7:00 am, and one of the owners was working. We told him our predicament, and he offered to store our backpacks for us and told us we could relax at the pool until our room was ready. He was so nice and welcoming, and we greatly appreciate your hospitality! We ended up falling asleep in the lounge chairs by the pool. Never in my life have I fallen asleep somewhere public like this! Such a strange feeling. We woke up and went in search of some breakfast. This is a small beach town so we didn’t need to go far. We found the only place that was open this early in the morning, and had one of the best breakfast ever. It was some sort of an omelette filled with fresh veggies and feta cheese. She had some spicy sauce she served alongside for us, and oh. my. goodness. This is exactly what we needed after such a long night.
Kamari Beach, Santorini
We walked down to the beach, which is about a 2 minute walk from our hotel. Kamari beach is one of the most popular beaches of Santorini. It is a black sand and pebble beach. They have lounge chairs and umbrellas to rent, or you can bring a towel and post up for free. The beach sits along the base of Mesa Vouno Mountain where the archaeological site of Ancient Thera is found. So cool. We took a dip in the Aegean Sea, which was cool and refreshing. We swam for a while until we could barely keep our eyes open any longer. Let’s hope our room is ready!
We walked back to the hotel, and thank the Lord our room was ready. We took a much needed shower and a nap. The rooms here are very clean, beds very comfy. We woke up, swam a little at the pool, then off in search of more food!
Right across the street was a restaurant. Perfect. We were still tired and not wanting to go far. It was about dinner time, and it was still bright, sunny, and hot out. We sat outside at this little restaurant, and ordered a few things. The first thing, and the thing that I remember most about Greece, was Halloumi cheese. This squeaky cheese is grilled and served with fresh lemon and balsamic. I could eat this all day. Every day. Every meal. Give me all of the halloumi cheese!! We also ordered traditional Gyros and a Greek Dakos salad, which is the Greek version of a panzanella. Everything was so good. So fresh. The amount of feta and seasoning on everything was perfect. We ended up eating at this restaurant 3 or 4 more times in the few days we were here! After our most delicious dinner, we headed back to our warm and welcoming hotel.
Day Trip to Oia
Day Trip to OiaThe next day we were off to visit Oia! I can barely contain my excitement. This is the little village that Santorini, Greece is known for. All of the pictures you see of the blue roofed houses and the most amazing sunsets, those take place in Oia. This is what we came here for. Kamari Beach just so happened to be a cheaper place to stay, and since Oia is located at the top of a mountain, there is nowhere to swim unless there’s a pool at your hotel. We found a bus that takes you up to Oia, drops you off for a few hours, and brings you back. It’s a 30 minute drive, and it was a very nice bus equipped with wifi and air conditioning. We were dropped off, and as soon as you enter the town, you walk through narrow streets with high walls and whitewashed buildings on either side of you. It gives it this very bright and clean, but old feel. We walked along, stopping to look in stores, or sit along a wall and soak up the views of the caldera below. There were so many people here.
It was hot, and we were ready for a drink! We had read earlier that the sunsets here are ridiculously popular and if you want a good place to view it, you better get there early. Rushing to find a restaurant with a good view, we finally came across a fancy hotel that looked like they may have a seat left! It was a fancy restaurant, and a little out of our price range, but we felt we had to fork over the extra bucks to fully enjoy this sunset. So we did it. Oh the sacrifices we made. We sat down and overheard that we were the last people they were letting in. We just made it!
Dinner and a View
This dinner moment was so magical. I ordered a greek salad (or is it just a salad?) filled with the freshest veggies ever, and Seth ordered a wasabi salmon. It had this wasabi sauce covering it that looked like the Nickelodeon slime! But it tasted amazing. So amazing. We took their wine recommendations, and took our time eating. People were packed out front of the restaurant, everyone lined up along the walls with their phones and cameras up, ready for the perfect shot. The sun finally started setting, and our waiter told us we could go out front to get a selfie and he would hold our table for us. So nice! So that we did. We came back and ordered a slice of baklava with pistachio ice cream. How am I supposed to leave here?! We said goodbye and see you later to Oia, and made our way through the maze of walls back to our bus.
We spent our last day here swimming in the Aegean and eating light and delicious Greek food. After this trip, Greek food is now at the top of my favorite foods. I could eat like this every day. I have completely fallen in love with this country. The beauty of the place, the people, and the food. I cannot wait to come back to Santorini, Greece, and one day explore more of the islands.
Come explore ancient Athens with us!…
