Third day in Europe was a rather exciting one. We were heading to Santorini! I had been waiting eagerly for this day to arrive. Okay, so some of you may disagree with me and feel that there are other Greek islands that are prettier and less overrated? But back then we only had time for just one Greek island. And I guess we wanted to go with a safer choice.
We left our Airbnb place in Athens at about 0430am, piled into cabs and headed to the airport. The flight was at 0705am and it only took about 50 minutes to reach Santorini airport. After we arrived, we collected our car and drove to Perissa Beach. Along the way, I saw intermittent glimpses of the Santorini Caldera which made my heart really excited. I could not wait to get a clear view of it. We accidentally took one wrong turn and ended up at Santo Wines instead of Perissa Beach, but it was a blessing in disguise. Boy, have we stumbled upon gold. Not only did we have access to an amazing view of the caldera, but we also found a really great place for wine tasting with a view. The instant the view of the caldera came into sight, words failed me.
I fell in love with Santorini. It was love at first sight.
Every turn that I took, a whole new view came into sight. I will never get sick of those views. I will never forget the image captured in my mind. The pictures and videos I took, did no justice to the beauty of the caldera. But still, I’m going to post them, in hopes that it can at least show a fraction of it’s true beauty.
After much time was spent admiring and exclaiming how pretty the place was, we finally decided to make our descent towards Perissa Beach. There was literally no one around, the tourists were probably all asleep since it was so early in the morning. From the moment we parked the car, you can tell everyone just wanted to race off to the beach. The moment I set eyes on it, I can tell you with certainty, it could possibly be one of my favorite beaches I have been to. It was so pretty with the sun just rising slightly above the horizon, giving a pretty orange hue to the clear blue sky with specks of light cottony clouds. The cement pavement from the parking lot led us onto the wooden boards and onto the black warm sand. When my foot sank into the warm black sand, the aches from walking all went away.
It was so quiet and serene that you can only hear the waves splashing against the sand and the birds chirping in the distance. How can anyone ever say this place is overrated? We stayed there for quite a while and listened to the melodious song of the sea. As I was looking around I saw a hut built on the face of the mountain? Wonder how the guy comes down though. hmmm. The person living up there probably hates people. Pretty sure about it. =P
We decided to grab breakfast before it is time to check in to our Airbnb. We wandered into a local coffee shop along the beach and had some waffles for breakfast. Finally it was time to check into our Airbnb. We actually managed to book a traditional cave house in a village of Pyrgos Kallistis. I must say its quite picture worthy. The cave house has 3 floors . The first floor consist of the living room, a kitchen, toilet and also a bedroom. The second floor consist of a little deck overseeing the caldera, a bedroom and a toilet. The top floor is an outdoor rooftop. The whitewashed cave walls made the furniture within the house stand out yet gave off a relaxing and modern vibe.
oh there is one thing I realized about Santorini, is either all the occupants/owners of the buildings agreed to paint the buildings only in colors of blue, white or grey or they are just very patriotic people. It is almost or nearly impossible to find colors sticking out like a sore thumb. I wanted to upload a video of the cave house but sadly WordPress does not support uploads of video unless I upgrade to the non paid versions. We dropped off our bags and went out for lunch.
First stop on the restaurant list for Santorini was Metaxy Mas. After a short drive, we parked the car at the carpark before walking up to the restaurant. Since the carpark is located on a hill, we managed to take some some good shots of the surrounding area before heading in.
For those heading there you might have to reserve before heading there though. One thing about Europe, most of the restaurants or eateries that are highly raved on TripAdvisor, most likely they don’t accept walk ins. So please make a reservation if required. Please check before going if not it will be a wasted trip. It was pretty packed when we arrived, clearly quite popular.
I had linguine with seafood or was it with mussels? It was a rather delightful and pleasant meal. The service was good, the owner came out to have a chat with us before our food came in. The seafood was fresh, pasta was al dente, seasoning on point. What else to ask for? I greedily devoured my food before my brother could take another big bite of my dish.
After the meal they even offered us free desserts, Mastiha flavoured ice cream with brownies and each a small cup of of wine. And the wine came from Santo Wine! I love the wine. You can smell the prunes and grapes and taste the sweet tasting nectar. It was sweet and delicious.
I knew at the moment I would return to Santo wine to purchase it. So Mastiha is a very special greek ingredient. Chios is an island in Greece.
Mastiha is basically resin from the mastiha trees and appears in drops. While these mastiha trees may grow in other areas in the Mediterranean and produce resin, only the Chios trees produce the mastiha “tears” that have the characteristic aroma, taste and health benefits. Mastiha from Chios also is a P.D.O. (Protected Designation of Origin) product, which means that its name (and reputation) is protected and only mastiha from Chios can carry this name.
Source: Olive Tomato
One would expect the brownies to be dry and hard since they are free right. But they were so good, moist and decadent. Complements the Mastiha flavoured ice cream.
After our lunch, we bought some groceries for our following day breakfast and made our way to Oia. It was a scenic drive, about 30 to 45 minutes from where we were.
The main reason why we went to Oia was to catch the sunset while having dinner and also its where all the iconic Santorini pictures are being taken. Upon reaching Oia, we took a stroll along the streets and checked out the shops. It was so relaxing and cooling even with the sun shining so brightly, with the cooling sea breeze touching your face ever so gently. Dinner time arrived and we made our way to Kastro Oia Restaurant . Do remember to make reservations here, its a hot spot for sunset views. Food was good too. The area around the restaurant quickly got crowded as the sun turned the sky into bright orange and began to dipped below the horizon. Everyone was there to catch the sunset and it was the best place to catch it. Armed with cameras, you see everyone trying to secure a good spot for that photo worthy moment. As the sun retires for the day, we dined with an awesome view of the caldera.
After dinner, it got very chilly and windy. Without the sun to warm us up, we decided to head back to our Airbnb. We showered and made some hot tea/chocolate for the night. Even though it was cold, we went up to the roof to drink and talk under the sky full of stars . We went to bed pretty early since we were going for a hike the next day. It was a wonderful and special day. Perhaps a day that I can remember for life. Stay tuned for more about our trip in Santorini.
Astro-Nommy 