The Santorini Breeze

We woke up early in the morning to view the scenic entrance into the harbor near Fira, Santorini. Man, was it beautiful. Since there is no pier, we had to utilize the tenders from the cruise to take us to the base of the mountain. Here, one can either walk the over 587 steep steps up to the town of Fira, spend €5 each way for a donkey ride up the steps, or take a cable car up to the top. We opted for the cable car to the top of Fira, where the views were spectacular. It was raining a bit, so it disturbed some of my pictures.

We took a bus to to Oia after walking through most of the town square. The drive to Oia was very scenic, but almost got us carsick.

I’ve been fortunate enough to travel to many, many places. However, the town of Oia, and the views from the white buildings with blue roofs were probably the most beautiful that I've seen in some time.

There is one main market street in Oia with dozens of cafes and lodges that overlook the caldera and Aegean Sea. The views are simply spectacular. After a brief, 45-minute visit to Oia, the bus took us back to the other side of the island to one of the black beaches, in Kamari. What we found here was a cute little beach town full of bars, restaurants, beach shops, and boutiques. By the time we returned to Fira, the city was in full swing and we decided to settle down and get some greek frozen yogurt from Chillbox.

We had to depart Santorini at 3:30 PM, so we had to get back to the ship and didn’t get to witness the famous sunset from Oia. On the return, we decided to take the stairs because the lines were way too long for the cable car ride back down. It was easier than I thought it would be. It's a great leg workout, but you did need to move a lot to avoid the donkeys and their poop. At the bottom of the hill, we were walking past a herd of donkeys, when one decided to let loose all over the place. Luckily, we were able to dodge them and not mess up our shoes too badly. Overall, Santorini was our favorite port of the cruise. Hopefully one day, we can return to Santorini to spend a week there.