Kalisti Vilas Fira

... time to chat with the locals they told us how lucky we were to be visiting at this time of the year, how much nicer it is when it is quiet. As one shopkeeper told us 'Now you can see the real Santorini’

We had one last stroll around the laneways overlooking the caldera, one last meal at the excellent Pelican cafe and one last ice cream from our favourite sweet shop and one last soak in the Jacuzzi.

Ah Santorini, thank you for sharing your beauty with us.

... and we headed out to dinner. We decided on the Pelican – simply the coolest place with the best food I have eaten in Greece. If you are in Fira, make sure you go there. We had an Ouzo tasting plate (delicious taste treats plus a glass of ouzo), mussels and a fantastic Greek salad. We even found some room for dessert. We strolled home through the cool night air, looking at lights twinkling in other towns and on boats silently moving about on the water far below.

... different from ours. I wonder what they would make of our world.

In the remainder of the day we had a stroll around Pyrgos, the girls had a splash in the black sands of Kamari Beach and we headed back to Ammoudiou Bay, stopping for some late lunch at the restaurant Nikoy, perched literally on the side of a cliff. Stunning views and nice food.

We reach Oia again as the sun was setting and had a lovely half hour or so strolling around Ammoudia Bay and the trail ...

... the time we made it to Oia. Sadly, Oia was virtually shut down. It was a shame to see what is clearly a beautiful village present itself as a virtual ghost town. We eventually found one place where we could eat and we relaxed with a wine to distract us from the pain our feet were feeling. Unfortunately the famed sunset did not happen due to some low lying cloud. We’ll try again another day...

The next bus back to Fira was nearly an hour away so we called a taxi to take us home.

My final day in Santorini was a busy one. I got up early and checked out of my room, then put my things in the storage room. I caught the bus to Fira, where I walked down the steps with the donkeys to the "old port". The steps were very crowded with donkeys because people pay to ride them down or up the stairs. To be honest, I was planning on riding them back up the stairs when I got back from my excursion, however when walking down, I saw how cruelly they were treated (and ...

... return our scooter later in the evening. Check-out day, which we were dreading for two reasons - one, it meant the end of our European travels and, two, we had an eight hour ferry ride back to Athens - was highlighted by our last looks over the caldera and our final Greek meal, which turned out to be one of our best. The sun, sea and beaches will sorely be missed as we head toward cold and rain (Moscow has been hovering in the 10-12 degree range lately...grrr...or should I say brrr).

... there is no escalator to go up again!









This is our simple breakfast for the day. Ice cream in Waffle and coffee. We prefer McDonald's coffee... hehehe.












After breakfast, we went for the mule ride. Mule is actually a cross between donkey and a horse, and it is unlikely that ...

Two busses and a ferry and we arrive in Santorini at 10:00 pm. We thought we had a place to stay but when we called them from the information office at the port it turned out they only had the honey moon suite available so we talked with a guy at the port. He has a brand new hotel that just opened this past summer and offered us a room for 20 Euro each and he would drives to and from the port. Also there were no hostels open because ...

... at the port so we wouldn't miss our boat. While waiting at the port, we ran into the Canadian couple we met in Santorini, who stayed at the apartment next door to us at Enigma Apartments. They said we were lucky that we left Santorini when we did. The weather had gotten worse and boats were not able to arrive/depart for 2 days. They said the winds were incredible. We were lucky. Our boat arrived and after the passengers got off, we ...