Greece has always been on the top of my bucket list. There are so many different aspects of Greece, and differences from island to island, but I was only able to choose two for this specific trip. From Amsterdam, my friend Catherine and I flew to Santorini and arrived around noon on a Monday. We had all day to explore, so after checking into our hostel – Pension Stella – we made the moderate walk to Fira. We didn’t have anything specific we wanted to do so we just wandered around until we got bored, which took a while as there was much to see.
Once we got back near our hostel, we stopped across the street for dinner at Katarina’s which had been recommended to us by the hostel owner. We got Saganaki as an appetizer, which is basically a fried loaf of cheese that was way more delicious than it should have been. As my main dish I ordered Chicken Souvlaki, which is a combination of chicken skewers with veggies, pita bread, and tzatziki sauce. I typically would not describe myself as “likes Greek food” back home, but after this experience I now know that it’s just americanized Greek food I don’t particularly like.
On Tuesday we woke up around nine and went up the road to grab some grub at a cutesy little cafe, where we destroyed the best greek yogurt you’ve ever eaten in your life. The day tour we booked per recommendation from the hostel owner again was 40 euros and lasted all day and took us across the whole island. The van picked us up at the hostel and immediately took us to the capital of Fira where we saw the stand on the highest point on the island. Our next stop was Santo winery and we learned about how Greek wine is different because of the winds and climate on the island. Because of this, the grapes have to be grown close to the ground like shrubs rather than on vines. Here we got an eight-sample flight of wines to taste while we overlooked the ocean and saw several of the other Greek islands.
The next stop of the tour was a church on another cliff, we climbed around on the cliffs during our time on this stop taking in the sights and feeling on top of the world. We ventured out again to see both the ‘red sand’ and ‘black sand’ beaches, which look exactly as you would expect them to. They get the color from various components of the volcanic ash! We were at black sand beach for about two hours, which was enough time to grab some lunch and sunshine before moving to Oia. A few more hours to look around, shop, devour some more greek yogurt – this time froyo style – then stand on the hill and watch the sunset over the skyline. Apparently the sulfur in the air from the volcanoes causes sunsets here to be brighter and more colorful. Shortly after darkness fell, we headed back to the hostel to get some sleep after a most adventurous day.
Wednesday we had a flight to Athens, so we spent the morning gathering our belongings and taking a short walk around Fira one last time. I grabbed an omelet and some more yogurt, with honey this time before putting on a swimsuit and sitting by the empty pool at our hostel to wait for our airport transfer. Athens looks a little less like the greek island stigma you typically expect, and more like your average European city. We ate at a restaurant in the main square after checking into our hostel – Bedbox. I ended up getting more chicken souvlaki because my “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” mindset checked in for the evening.
Catherine was up and gone the next day to participate in a walking tour before I woke up on Thursday. I got ready and headed to Acropolis first to see the massive ruins and old temples on the way to the top. Once I had trekked all the way up the hill, I was able to clearly see and wander around some of the favorites such as the Parthenon. After about another hour, I went back down and across the street to the Acropolis museum, which after being at the actual Acropolis honestly seemed extremely underwhelming. Don’t feel like you need to visit the museum, but if you do, I recommend going beforehand in order to get a little more historical background before seeing Acropolis.
Next I walked to Plaka, the oldest town in Athens, and found lots of super charming shops, unique architecture, and the best smoothie I’ve ever had – and I’m not exaggerating. Around two in the afternoon I headed back to the hostel to eat my leftover souvlaki from the night before and meet up with Cat. We headed out to walk around the city and started our adventure at the first Olympic stadium. It was so interesting to see, and they had a massive logo representing the crown worn painted on the ground outside. After this we walked through an expansive got some more froyo (I’ve lost track of how many times we’ve had it at this point), sat in the sun, and eventually found a spot for dinner at Savvas which is a rooftop garden restaurant. I tried a new dish and we got Baklava for dessert, and took some cool pictures of Acropolis lit up in the night before making our way back to the hostel for the last night in paradise.
