Author: marionvermazen

Today we took a two hour ferry ride from the island of Santorini to the island of Naxos. The ferry left at 3:30. But first we did a bit of exploring on the east side of Santorini. We stopped at a beach front restaurant for drinks and to enjoy the view.

Next we drove up a steep switch backed road to the point where the trail to ancient ruins of Thera starts We didn’t have time to climb to the top but we did get some pictures of the views of both sides of the island. On the way down we recorded a video of Duke’s thoughts on Santorini and the Panda we were driving.

After getting gas, driving to the ferry dock and returning our car we had beers next to the dock and enjoyed watching all the activity.

On Nexos we rented a car and checked into our hotel. After a short rest we walked back down to the port and had a great dinner at Meze Meze.

We also had mussel risotto and grilled octopus but forgot to take pictures. For desert they gave us complimentary yogurt with candied carrots. It was excellent. It is good thing that we had a walk back to our hotel because we were each very full

This morning we checked out of the fabulous Hōm Hotel in Oia on the north end of Santorini. We explored the island and drove out to the south end of the island. Santorini is not much larger than Skiathos or Sifnos. It’s about 30 square miles and long and thin. We walked around the light house and enjoyed the views across the caldera.

Tonight we are staying at another fabulous place, the North Santorini Luxury Spa Hotel. After checking in we went for a swim in our own private pool!

Santorini is incredibly, strikingly beautiful. I had no idea! Santorini the island we are on and the other islands we can see are what is left of a giant volcano. All the hotels covering the hilltops are on what’s left of the rim. I’ve been reading about it today. The Santorini volcano last erupted in 1950. It’s on a list of volcanoes near populated areas that are active and could erupt again, volcanoes like Mount Ranier, Mount Vesuvius and Mauna Loa.

Today we walked out to the west end of the island and then came back to our hotel and swam, read and relaxed.

I’ve never seen sunsets like they have in the Greek islands. I was going to include another sunset picture. But instead here is one from about forty minutes after sunset.

We had an excellent dinner at Restaurant, Laokasti near our hotel. We had a half liter of the house wine, fish, squid and an appetizer of fava with onion and capers. The bill was only €55.

After dinner we walked along the same route we walked this morning but with even fewer people.

Today we took the high speed ferry from the island of Sifnos to the island of Santorini. We turned in our rental car and had coffee while we waited for the ferry.

Given how unpleasant our last ferry ride was and the fact that is was very windy today, we both took seasick pills and as a result it was a much more comfortable ride. The boat was bouncing over the waves like a high powered motor boat. It was also bumping and rolling a lot. I think several people got sick but thank goodness not us.

In Santorini we rented a car. Duke is very happy that it is a fiat Panda but he is not happy that he had to pay an “over age” surcharge. the rental car guy met us at the dock with our car.

We are staying at a wonderful hotel on Santorini. We have our own deck and hot tub. And the view is fantastic.

We had an excellent gourmet dinner at the hotel and then soaked in the hot tub.

The island of Sifnos where we are today has an area of 28.3 square miles. That makes it a bit bigger than Skiathos where we were last week. This morning we went exploring in the south part of the island. We went up to a the archaeological site and church of Aghios Andreas. The Mycenaean wall found at the archaeological site is from the 12 th century BC. The church is much newer. They have a wonderful view.

Next we went down o the tiny coastal village of Vathi, walked on the beach and had a coffee it was all very peaceful.

This evening we drove up to the north end of the island to enjoy the sunset.

For dinner we walked down to the village and had a wonderful dinner at Okyalos.