Arrival in Santorini

We arrived home from an amazing week in Greece on Sunday night. We spent 7 nights split between Santorini, Paros and Athens. 

We left for Greece at 4.00 a.m. last Sunday. Our flight was leaving from Gatwick Airport at 8.00 a.m., and the underground doesn't start until 6.30 a.m. on a Sunday, so we had to get up super early to get the night bus to Victoria Station, and then a train to the airport. 

We went to bed quite early to make up for such an early start, but both of us ended up with insomnia. I think Bradley managed to get a few hours sleep, but I lay awake all night, which just made my anxiety about flying even worse! The doctor gave me anxiety pills to take before my flight, since my fear of flying seems to be getting worse the more I fly. 

So we arrived at the airport pretty shattered after practically no sleep. Our flight was delayed by an hour due to an air traffic controllers strike in Greece that was supposed to be happening, but was cancelled. So we were lucky to get there at all, I didn't mind that we were delayed. The pills made me pretty mellow... We flew directly into Santorini, which was fantastic. Most flights you have to transfer from Athens, so we cut out heaps of time by flying directly.

View from the plane.. I think this is Croatia

We arrived in Santorini at about 3.00 p.m. Santorini airport is the tiniest airport we have ever flown into. You walk straight from the tarmac to baggage claim, and customs is two mean men in a little booth!

We had arranged a pickup transfer from the airport to our hotel, so there was someone waiting for us with a little sign with my name on it.

We were staying in Imerovigli, on the caldera side of Santorini, between Oia and the capital, Fira. I think this was a great location, Oia was half an hour away by bus, and there was a pathway along the side of the cliff to Fira. The walk between Imerovigli and Fira is just stunning. It takes about half an hour to walk to Fira and there are amazing views of the volcano the whole way. It's especially gorgeous at sunset, when the sun is setting behind the volcano.

We were upgraded to a junior suite upon arrival at the hotel, which was a lovely surprise. It was upstairs away from the reception, with a little terrace out the back where we had breakfast every morning.

Our hotel room

After checking in we went for a walk along the pathway to Fira. It was so hot. The whole time we were there it was between 27-31 degrees. But not so hot that it was overwhelming, I think we only got a little bit sunburnt. The sun in Europe is definitely not as strong as in New Zealand. Perhaps because the ozone layer over Europe is intact...

The view of the volcano from the path

There were lots of cruise ships going in and out of the port, at least a different one every day. I think on our last day, there were 4 ships moored out of the port.

You'll notice there is a lot of lens flare in a fair few of our Greece photos. The sun was so bright against the white buildings, that it was hard to avoid. But I quite like it.

The gondola's down to the cruise ship port

The manager at our hotel was so great. She recommended about 15 different restaurants to try in various parts of the island. We got through about 5 of those in our 3 days on Santorini.

We ate a LOT of food while in Greece, we had huge lunches and then huge dinners. It's hard when you want to try everything on the menu!

She booked us in for dinner at one of the most famous restaurants in Santorini, La Maison. It's famous for it's stunning views of the caldera and the volcano at sunset. And for it's incredible apple tart. The best we have ever had anywhere. All the seats in the restaurant are on the balcony on the cliffside, so you can great views from all tables. However, I did hover behind a couple of tables to get some better photos!

Yummy Tomato Balls

The view over Imerovigli

 I had the Jack Daniels chicken, done in delicious barbeque sauce

Bradley had the Moussaka, also amazing 

Watching the sunset in one of the most beautiful places in the world was just surreal, definitely a great way to finish our first day in Santorini.