Greek Island Lovin' Pt. 2: Santorini

Aaahhhhh SANTORINI!! There’s a reason why this island is probably the most visited in the Greek Isles. Absolutely mesmerizing. Gorgeous. Magical. These words don’t even come close to describing Santorini. With no surprise, we HAD to include this on our Greece itinerary. We sort of expected it to be overrun with tourists and expensive, but actually it wasn’t (although we did arrive at the beginning of tourist season). After leaving quiet, sleepy Naxos, we boarded the 2 hour ferry booze cruise to Thira. On this day, it just so happened to be Christian’s birthday!! So sneaky Smithers (she’s always sneaky) managed to find a bakery in Naxos and ordered a cake, ready for pick up right before we headed towards the boat. Once on board, we left our backpacks in the luggage compartment, took a seat on the deck and totally surprised Christian with a birthday cake and sing-a-long…he was so excited, after never having had a birthday cake before :). The rest of the 2 hours meant we got to relax in the sun with our newfound Swedish boatmates, pour a few cocktails and enjoy views of Paros and Ios...until finally, there it was…Santorini! Perched high on a cliff on the island of Thira, our eyes lit up. Before we knew it, we were all checked in to our 5 person suite at Noni’s Apartments in Fira, the main town, with a KILLER view of the ocean and about ooooh 6  feet from the swimming pool—PARADISE.

Our entire 4 days and nights were out-of-this-world amazing—the place itself and our small travel posse made it basically the most perfect few days ever. Noni’s Apartments couldn’t have been more perfect, not too pricey, EXTREMELY friendly and accommodating owner and it was just a short stroll to the labyrinth of walkways in and around Fira (with a view at every corner ofcourse!) We spent our days lounging by the pool with made-to-order Greek coffee frappes (thanks Boris!) and exploring the island—a trip to Red Beach, hopping from winery-to-winery, renting ATVs to visit villages like Megalochori and quiet beaches and experiencing the sunset over Oia. We always retreated back to our hotel for fresh plates of feta cheese, tzakiki + bread, cold cuts and spanakopita…and local Santorini wine too :). Nights were spent watching the sunset and satisfying our appetites at Fira’s many gyros and souvlaki stands—these tasty lil buggers were not only DELICIOUS but only 2-3 EUR! We did decide to splurge on our last night dining al fresco—bifteki, stuffed squid, fresh seafood salad to name a few, but my gosh, those gyros were still on our minds! As our last day approached though, we couldn’t help but shrug and just wish we were staying indefinitely.