"Santorini" Seven Nights Hideaway

Traveled on August 2003
Santorini, Greece, We looked forward to leaving for Santorini after our 4-night in London. My boyfriend booked Santorini tour package from London. We had never heard of *(1) 'Santorini' before. We had no idea what it would be like except the white houses along the cliff postcards. I didn’t expect that it took quite long to fly from London to Santorini. It was 4+ hours. And I did not expect to see that this island is very v-e-r-y far away from Athens. I could not believe that human live this far.

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*(1) The Greek island of Santorini Greece or Thera is located in the Cyclades islands, in the Aegean Sea, Mediterranean at coordinates 36°25' N 25°26' E . Santorini Island Greece is with Mykonos, the most famous holiday destination. It is a small group of volcanic islands and its name was given by the Venetian in reference to Saint Irene.

The island was also called Strongili and Kalisti and was the site of one of the largest volcanic eruptions but what remains today is a submerged volcano and a caldera. The island of Santorini is related to the myth of Atlantis, the amazing views from the villages of Fira, Oia perched on cliffs, the sunset, the black and red beaches, the wine ...

Source: http://www.greeka.com/cyclades/santorini/



While plane wheels were touching runway, I looked through the window and could feel hot outside. It really was - in August, it was summer. The agent bus took us passed by Fira, Santorini capital to Oia Mare Villa Hotel, Oia, a village, one the most beautiful Sunset spot in Santorini.

Oia Santorini: Oia, pronounced ‘Ia’, is the most famous of all villages of Santorini. It is known throughout the world for its quiet life and fantastic sunset, and is certainly the most beautiful and picturesque village of Santorini. The village is also situated on top of an impressive cliff and offers a spectacular view over the volcano of Palia and Nea Kameni and the island of Thirassia. Oia is situated on the north of the island, 11 km away from Fira.

Source: http://www.greeka.com/cyclades/santorini/santorini-villages/oia-santorini.htm

The bus actually did not take us right to the hotel, we walked there together with Santorini taxi – donkey (In Santorini, they drive only on the main road that connects the villeges. In such areas, walk ONLY). There were full of steps on the way to the hotel, good that we had him – donkey, otherwise we would probably die there. Even walking down the steps with bare hands in the afternoon, it was suffering (for me). Imagine I walked up and down the steps every single day in 7 days. This was fun though. We laughed every times we were climing the street. When we forgot something, I was the one who did not go back to get those, so he was. That was part of the funny things over there.

Below - Some pictures of Oia Mare Villa, the hotel we stayed. Oia is famous for its imaginary sunset and its narrow passageways get crowded in the evenings. The most popular spot to watch sunset is by the Kastro walls. Oia Mare Villa is considered the clostest to the spot.


When you come up with plan to travel in Santorini, I recommend you stay in "Oia". Other villeges on Santorini island are where you can visit during the day. Click on source link below to see more Oia pictures and info.

(Thanks to) Source on Oia, Santorini:
>> Oia Pictures from Greekhotel.com
>> Oia pictures from Greeka.com

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Food in Santorini: Greek Salad - Gyros -Souvlaki Hmmmm... Yummy

One thing that I had never expected was I hardly found Chinese restaurant there in Santorini. I always had a perception that there’s no way that I would never be able to have Chinese food at any where on this planet. Here in Santorini planet, there’s only one I guess and it’s not in Oia, it’s in Fira.

Fira, capital of Santorini, it’s packed with travelers. Of course, everywhere in Santorini was packed with travelers. In Fira, there were more backpackers I guess. If I’m wrong, pls correct me. You can find cool local stuff here. Well, maybe, do not expect some local stuff with very local price, Santorini is small; economy here is mostly for tourism. Most product prices are absolutely not local. Fira is fun, but if you look for hideaway trip, hide yourself in Oia, absorb peace and nature in Oia, and fun in Fira - to take a bus from Oia to Fira is 10 minutes long with 12 Kms distance.

First Greek Salad we had in Fira, Santorini

Back to my opened topic, we had first Greek meal in Fira - "Greek Salad" and *(2) Gyros (Kebab lookalike - Blend of beef and lamb topped with onions, tomatoes and tzatziki sauce). First Gyros in Greece was ok to us. Greek Salad was great! When we were back in Bangkok, I made Greek Salad but no one seemed to like it :(

*(2) A “gyros” is a full turn and the verb “gyrizo” means “to rotate”. In Greece, gyros is also a type of fast food. The gyros turns, cooks and becomes a sandwich for hungry passers-by.

Source: http://www.explorecrete.com/cuisine/gyros.html

One night, we planed to have a romantic dinner in our hotel because the terrace looked so good. We therefore walked down the hill to buy a "big" Gyros pack with some beer from one of the food shops right at Oia bus terminal. This Gyros tasted totally different from the first Gyros we had in Fira. Our impression on Gyros totally turned from "ok" to "great".

We ended up with unromantic dinner, we were just too impressed with this great meal. Plus, we laughed a lot while I was showing him my stupid gestures. The whole conversation we had was just about stupid funny talk. This would probably be considered romantic. Do you think so too? :)

After that night, we forgot every single restaurant but this shop (@ Oia bus terminal). If you go there, you will definitely find this shop.

Gyros from the mentioned bus terminal food shop... We had it almost every nights. Not only great taste but also good price - We picked good choice!

And this is the father and son who operate the shop and make such nice food

Find out about Gyros:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gyros
http://www.greeklandscapes.com/travel/food_gyros.html

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Yes, we did have a romantic moment in "Santorini"

My boyfriend (then) is not a type of people who expresses himself well. He always expresses by his meaningful actions or what he provides to me (could be things or else). London-Santorini trip was a trip that made me considered that he became a big part of my life. Romance for us was not to be under candle dinner or stuff like that. He took care of me very well. I could notice that every single thing he did, he cared about me. He tried to do everything to impress me. (We were not just a newly couple, we had background - good or bad I won't tell :P and our relationship had been like three years by then) Well, by now he'd probably forget about it :P He becomes my hubby now.

While we were walking pass by a local jewelry shop, I dropped by to have a look at one of the pretty rings there. That was pretty. It's a Santorini ring. It has Santorini church on the ring. It's not an expensive one. It's just a simple silver ring. I said to him right that moment not even consider to buy for me because we'd been paying quite a lot already. Next day, he did and gave it to me. The ring therefore represents my meaningful memory rather than hundred photos and all that. It represents one of the best times in my life. We've been in the first year marriage (now it's July 2006), after wedding, I told him honeymoon was not needed. Santorini trip should be more than enough. We ended up with honeymoon in Japan though -_-'.

Check out our hotel in Oia, Santorini, it was great http://www.oiamare.gr/

Check out more about Santorini
http://www.santorini.net/home.html
http://www.santorini.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santorini

Santorini Hotels by Hotelscombined.com


Santorini Hotels by HotelsCombined.com