Day 11: Ferry to Santorini, Imerovigli
It was to be yet another of those early morning dashes to catch the 7.25am Blue Star ferry from Piraeus (the port at Athens) to Thira (the port at Santorini). We lugged our (by now, very heavy) bags down into the metro and boarded the blue line to Piraeus. Thankfully, on arrival, the walk to our ferry was relatively short and after depositing our baggage in the cargo hold, we climbed up to Deck 7, where we had some (lucky) indoor seats. It was a cold Athens morning, and we stood outside for a while, watching the rotors churn up cyan waters as the ferry departed Athens. Hundreds of seatless passengers braved the chill, sitting at the ourdoor café tables, smoking, sipping coffee and zipping up their jackets.
The ferry itself was gigantic - much like the earlier ferries I’d been on (New Zealand - North to South Island crossing and France to England), and it stopped by on two other Cyclades islands (which number around 220, most of which are rather small, and uninhabited) - Naxos and Paros. We ate, slept, ate some more and slept through the last stretch into Santorini, waking up just in time to see the beautiful arched island and the caldera.
Santorini is actually an archipelago - comprising the islands of Thira (the mainland), Thirasia, Nea Kameni, Palaia Kameni and some smaller rocks. Santorini today is a by-product of the Minoan volcanic eruption that occurred 3,600 years ago. One of the greatest eruptions that the world has ever seen, the catastrophe destroyed what was once a single large island into a set of circumferential islets, surrounding a gigantic caldera, into which the sea recessed (making this the only caldera in the world with incursion by the sea - to a depth of 400m). In the 18th century, there was further volcanic activity at the centre of this caldera, and this pushed up more lava to the surface, forming the (still volcanic) islets of Nea and Palaia Kameni.
The largest island is Thira, and has several regions such as Fira (the busy capital, with its multitude of restaurants and shops), Imerovigli (the quiet ‘balcony’ of Santorini with great views of the caldera, and the location of our hotel), Oia (the southern tip of the island, and renowned for its stunning sunset views), Kamari (the northern tip, and famous for its black volcanic pebble beach), Akrotiri (again in the north, and the site where some fascinating ruins - dating back to the bronze age - have been discovered; these are said to rival the ones at Crete, and Akrotiri continues to be an archaeological haven), Pyrgos (famous for its wineries), Monolithos (the location of the airport and some beaches) and others.
We had planned this last leg of our trip to simply unwind, enjoy the famous Santorinian wine, watch the sunsets and peacefully explore the island. We took a taxi from the port up to our hotel, Uranos Traditional Houses, in Imerovigli. Uranos Houses, like most of the hotels in Santorini, is built along the rim of the caldera, looking inward into the sea-circle below. Our hotel reflected the famous whitewashed houses of Santorini, and was situated in a quiet neighbourhood, far from the honking and crowds of Fira. We had the most fascinating room that we’ve ever stayed in, at any hotel - painted in the traditional Santorini white-and-blue colours, our room had a private balcony, with a direct view of the caldera. The window beside our bed had views of the volcano / caldera as well, and we were very thrilled to have found a place that was so visually stunning.
We rested for a while, and then walked along narrow cobbled paths leading up and down the rim of the caldera, cutting through hotels, shops and houses. This was surely the most beautiful and romantic place in the world - and after the tourist uber-magnet that Venice is, truly private in many ways. Santorini (surprisingly) is one of Europe’s most popular tourist hotspots, but Imerovigli had none of that irritating buzz. We stopped by at a charming little café called Spiliotica Café, which was impossibly constructed right at the very edge of the caldera rim. There, we sipped on some lovely dry Santorini Rose wine, had some delicious crepes and watched a golden sunset. We knew that this would be a perfect, quiet and relaxing ending to what had been a good, but hectic, vacation. We walked back to our hotel, a little light in the head, with love in our hearts, with stars looking down upon us and with the moon reflecting off the calm waters of the inky caldera.
The ferry itself was gigantic - much like the earlier ferries I’d been on (New Zealand - North to South Island crossing and France to England), and it stopped by on two other Cyclades islands (which number around 220, most of which are rather small, and uninhabited) - Naxos and Paros. We ate, slept, ate some more and slept through the last stretch into Santorini, waking up just in time to see the beautiful arched island and the caldera.
Santorini is actually an archipelago - comprising the islands of Thira (the mainland), Thirasia, Nea Kameni, Palaia Kameni and some smaller rocks. Santorini today is a by-product of the Minoan volcanic eruption that occurred 3,600 years ago. One of the greatest eruptions that the world has ever seen, the catastrophe destroyed what was once a single large island into a set of circumferential islets, surrounding a gigantic caldera, into which the sea recessed (making this the only caldera in the world with incursion by the sea - to a depth of 400m). In the 18th century, there was further volcanic activity at the centre of this caldera, and this pushed up more lava to the surface, forming the (still volcanic) islets of Nea and Palaia Kameni.
The largest island is Thira, and has several regions such as Fira (the busy capital, with its multitude of restaurants and shops), Imerovigli (the quiet ‘balcony’ of Santorini with great views of the caldera, and the location of our hotel), Oia (the southern tip of the island, and renowned for its stunning sunset views), Kamari (the northern tip, and famous for its black volcanic pebble beach), Akrotiri (again in the north, and the site where some fascinating ruins - dating back to the bronze age - have been discovered; these are said to rival the ones at Crete, and Akrotiri continues to be an archaeological haven), Pyrgos (famous for its wineries), Monolithos (the location of the airport and some beaches) and others.
We had planned this last leg of our trip to simply unwind, enjoy the famous Santorinian wine, watch the sunsets and peacefully explore the island. We took a taxi from the port up to our hotel, Uranos Traditional Houses, in Imerovigli. Uranos Houses, like most of the hotels in Santorini, is built along the rim of the caldera, looking inward into the sea-circle below. Our hotel reflected the famous whitewashed houses of Santorini, and was situated in a quiet neighbourhood, far from the honking and crowds of Fira. We had the most fascinating room that we’ve ever stayed in, at any hotel - painted in the traditional Santorini white-and-blue colours, our room had a private balcony, with a direct view of the caldera. The window beside our bed had views of the volcano / caldera as well, and we were very thrilled to have found a place that was so visually stunning.
We rested for a while, and then walked along narrow cobbled paths leading up and down the rim of the caldera, cutting through hotels, shops and houses. This was surely the most beautiful and romantic place in the world - and after the tourist uber-magnet that Venice is, truly private in many ways. Santorini (surprisingly) is one of Europe’s most popular tourist hotspots, but Imerovigli had none of that irritating buzz. We stopped by at a charming little café called Spiliotica Café, which was impossibly constructed right at the very edge of the caldera rim. There, we sipped on some lovely dry Santorini Rose wine, had some delicious crepes and watched a golden sunset. We knew that this would be a perfect, quiet and relaxing ending to what had been a good, but hectic, vacation. We walked back to our hotel, a little light in the head, with love in our hearts, with stars looking down upon us and with the moon reflecting off the calm waters of the inky caldera.