Santorini - jewel in the Cyclades' crown?

We were a little sad to be leaving Crete, but at the same time excited to begin our Cycladic adventure.  On the ferry boat from Iraklion to Santorini serendipitous good fortune had us sitting next to Tess and Nick, Melbournians-of-Greek-origin.  In a blink the 2.5 hour ferry journey passed as we talked together about Greece, their travels, our travels and our respective family lives at home.

Arriving by boat at Santorini is dramatic. As we sail across the caldera past the small volcanic island of Nea Kameni and  towards Port Athinios the unfolding view of the cliffs and white cliff-top villages tumbling down and clinging on to the cliffs on the way is breath-taking.  As we disembark we arranged to meet up with Tess and Nick during our time in Santorini; we collect our rental car and begin our drive from the port; up, up, up the spectacular and winding cliff drive and make our way along the top of Santorini to our destination.

When we arrive Vassilios is there to meet us, and to help transport (carry on his shoulders) our luggage through the winding stone alleys, down 100 steps to the barrel-roofed white and blue traditional cave house, our home this week.  There are no street names, no directions. Just the maze built into the cliff. Guides are necessary to take you to your accommodation and to point out some orientation landmarks on the way. Pay attention, their clues give you your best chance of finding your way again, solo.  We arrive at our five-room cave house carved into the cliffs, and it is spectacular! Immediately we fall in love with it. The view from our two-level terrace is spectacular! Everything about Santorini is spectactular. I'll try to limit my use of that word, alas though it is the word to adequately describe the geography and impact of Santorini.

From our terrace, the vast caldera.  The volcanic
cliffs appear to be snow capped, but it's the white
villages running along the top of the black cliffs.
The view and the intense blue are mesmerising. 

Once upon a time, Santorini was circular island.  A circular volcanic island.  One day about 3,500 years ago the massive, world-changing eruption of the Fira volcano changed all that. The middle of the island of Santorini was completely blown out.  The remaining crater filled with water which is now known as the caldera.  A few thousand years after this enormous event, during more volcanic activity, two islands in the middle of the caldera emerged. They are still active today.

This little map shows the crescent-shape
of Santorini and the size of the caldera
that was once land.  Before the 1450BC
explosion Santorini was just one circular island.
The two islets in the centre of the caldera are
Nea Kameni and Palaia Kameni and today
they're still active volcanos.

We spent four days and nights on Santorini, and we very quickly learned to do our island exploring early in the morning, or late in the evening.  You see, the problem with Santorini, is that it is teeming with tourists.  Santorini is perhaps a victim of its own beauty, sooooo many tourists!  From around 10.00am (when the cruise ships have disembarked their passengers, and day trippers arrive on ferries from surrounding islands) to around 5.00pm when the cruise ships and ferries head away to their next destination, the towns of Thira, Oia and Imerovigli are absolutely jam-packed.  We won't complain about it though, that's what we're all doing here.... coming to see this stunning island and experience some of its magic. The locals won't complain either, the tourist dollar has kept the economic crisis at bay here. Only problem, as one woman we talked to described (she has lived in Oia for 40 years) is that many of the locals can no longer afford rent in the main villages as tourist numbers have forced up the demand for the traditional skafta cave houses, and old sea captains' houses, and therefore forced up property prices and rent.  She described that many young people from Athens come to Santorini looking for work, and while they are able to find work, they're not able to afford to stay due to the cost of property rent.

Santorini is not just cliffs and precipitously hanging villages; on the north side of the island there are broad, green plains along the coast.  There are vineyards, inland hill-top villages, black and red volcanic beaches, fishing harbours, ancient ruins, thermal pools, a ruined castle, and cliff-top hiking paths connecting villages. Santorini has everything.

We drove around the island exploring its beauty, met up with Tess and Nick in the charming mountain village of Pyrgos, and spent hours, days, sitting on our terrace marvelling at the view and the sunsets.

Our camera lens is dotted with salt spray, however you
can see that the villages appear like snow capping the cliffs.

Church of Panagia of Platsani in Oia's main square,
Caldera Square. It is beautiful and gold and ornate inside.
 Between 9.30 and 5.30 this square
is completely full of people.

Our blue and white cave house was the perfect
place to stay in Santorini.  It was 100 winding steps down
from the cliff top, away from the crowded streets,
perfectly quiet and delightfully cool inside the cave.
It was so lovely that on three of the four nights we
spent here we didn't go out for dinner.  Instead, we lit
the cave house candles and had a 'picnic' on the terrace,
watched the sunset, as the incredible daytime
view disappeared into the darkness and the fairy-lit
villages illuminated the cliffs.  Magical.

This is one of the most photographed views
of Santorini. 

Of all the hundreds of cafes and bars, this tiny
one was my favourite.  A calm, dreamy spot
among the crazy numbers of people. Excellent
Greek coffee too.

Not just great coffee, lovely jazz playing and a cool,
shady spot to relax (and gorgeous tiled floor),
the view from the little Juliet balcony was
stunning.  I returned here many times. (It
reminded me of another special location - La
Saletta cafe in Cortona - that my dear friend J
recommended to me in 2011.)

The marble walkway, great for sauntering
along, lovely shops, art galleries, cafes,
tavernas, and of course....views!

I haven't been to a location where the roof tops
of so many homes have this message!
People will try and stand anywhere and
everywhere to get their photographic shot.

This little hole-in-the wall makes the BEST
pita gyros.  Can't beat a 3 euro meal.

Not everyone is a tourist in Santorini.

The blue domed church of Spyridonas.

The seemingly endless view from every
white roof top and terrace.

For Greeks these roadside shrines - kandylakia - are
important monuments.  This particularly beautiful one
on the mountainous road to Fira stood right on the edge
of the cliff.  You can see the plains stretching out below.
My picture tricks the eye. The shine is small, but the
drop to the sea below is dramatic.

One hot afternoon we escaped the crowds and drove to
the highest point in Santorini, the quiet village of Pyrgos.
We met up with Tess and Nick, parked the cars at the
bottom of this pedestrian village and hiked up through
the cobbled alleys to the XII century Kastelli castle ruins
 that now includes a beautiful cafe.  We sat here for hours,
the panoramic view made us feel like we were
on top of the world. Santorini will do that to you.

Our front gate and steps to the top level
of our terrace, all in the shadow of the
blue domed church.  The famous blue domed
church is in so many postcards, and in all
the postcards I saw in Santorini we could
pick out our little cave house.

Pyrgos

Donkey transport in Santorini. This fellow was resting
under a shady archway in Pyrgos.  We could have taken
a donkey to the top of the village, but we chose to walk up.
You're welcome, donkey :)

Weddings are VERY popular in Santorini.  I think
we saw about a dozen brides each day (and
blue is the colour of choice for suits, bridesmaids
dresses, even bridal gowns!)  Twelve hundred
euros will buy you a wedding package; photographer,
ceremony, gown, suit, flowers.

From the village of Pyrgos looking to the coastal plains.

As we left Santorini, we drove our rental car along the
island and down, down, down to the port. We paused on
the edge for one last vista.  There were six cruise ship
in port the day we left.  It's time to leave Santorini.

Santorini is an incredibly beautiful, picture perfect and magical destination, and its geological history is breathtaking, we loved it, but is it the jewel in the Cyclades? We're not so sure.... maybe Paros is.... we're off to see.