DREAMS COME TRUE: SANTORINI Part 1: FOR THE FIRST TIME
We have been working towards this dream for 5 long years.
The most postcard view of the town of Firostefani
When we were in Crete in 2013, we wanted to visit Santorini with a one-day excursion, but on reflection we realized that one day is very little, and the pleasure is not cheap.
The thought settled deep in the heart and periodically made itself felt. Someone's new reviews only brought us closer to the realization of a dream.
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On cold November evenings, somehow imperceptibly to themselves, they began to look at ticket prices. The flight from Kyiv is not direct: first to Athens, and then to Santorini. And then there is a price that people who are in love with Greece (which we are) simply could not refuse. After a little thought, we quickly bought out tickets for May 22. Accurately six months before the proposed trip. For the first time by yourself.
Well, there are tickets We should think about where to stay in Santorini in order to combine aesthetic and beach holidays. It makes no sense to go only to a beach holiday: a rather expensive double flight. You can find beaches no worse, and closer. And even in package tours.
The idea was suggested by a traveler on Vinsky's forum, and we chose the small town of Karterados.
Karterados
The location turned out to be very successful. Half an hour on foot and we are in Fira, the capital of Santorini.
The capital of Santorini - Fira
Half an hour the other way and we are on Monolithos beach with black volcanic sand.
Monolithos beach with black volcanic sand
For the first time we rented an apartment ourselves, because taking a hotel with a meager breakfast for 6 euros from the nose, consisting of scrambled eggs, bread, two pieces of sausage and coffee, is just a stupid waste of money. Why don't we feed ourselves? We chose an apartment with a kitchen that has everything you need and cooked for the first time abroad.
Apartments "Anna Pension"
Rent apartments through Buking, for six months before the trip, the price was 32 euros per day. There are cheaper options, but without a kitchen. Closer to departure, they asked how much the price had increased. Exactly 2 times. This is a note to the tourist.
For six months we tried not to even think about how our trip would go. They kept their fists clenched so that nothing would break. And only closer to departure, they began to develop a program of stay, study maps of the island, and compile a list of must-see places.
á We flew from Boryspil by Aegean Airlines. They filed an Airbus 320. Despite the fact that this is a low-cost service, all the company's services are simply on top: online check-in 48 hours before the flight (also registered for the first time), you can print a board pass (boarding pass), or you can show it on a smartphone, and it too reads great. And if you do not have such an opportunity, then you are absolutely free to check in for landing at the airport, as well as for all other flights. SMS informing. Hand luggage up to 7 kg. We had two standard backpacks of 5.5 kg each. Also, by the way, our first experience of traveling without luggage. At the end of the holiday, it turned out that it was possible to take even fewer rags. But the most pleasant bonus was that during the flight they were fed, drinks were poured, and those who wished could drink dry red wine in small bottles. Well, thank you! After a sleepless night, with a departure at 3 o'clock, it turned out to be very useful. The stewardesses are beautiful, like from the cover. They speak English and Greek. Very attentive and friendly. There is a duty free shop on board, prices are lower than at the airport.
Docking in Athens. Vinizelos Airport is very large, divided into several terminals connected into one large building. It is advisable to leave at least 1.5 hours for the connection (this does not include duty free visits), because it is a bit far to run, there are queues at passport control, and planes can be delayed. In front of passport control there is a kiosk of the Aegean Lines subsidiary, Olympic Air (we fly further with this plane). If you are in doubt where to go, feel free to approach this kiosk, very polite employees will immediately write you your next gate (boarding gate number), and you will not get lost. We did so and ran further along the signs. Remember that the arrival is on the 0th floor, and the departure is on the first.
To find your gate, you must first take the elevator to the floor above. Our docking was 1 hour 25 minutes. Back to back, to be honest. When we ran to our gate, the landing was already announced.
"Olympic" has very strict rules for hand luggage. With a trained eye, employees single out people with hand luggage of a non-standard size from the queue and ask them to lower their suitcases into a special frame. On the way back, we saw people trying to smuggle their suitcase under the guise of hand luggage. All of them were sent to check luggage. By the way, baggage clearance before boarding costs 80 euros. More expensive than the ticket itself. It will not be possible to agree. We saw a couple who threw away their suitcase, buying a rag bag at the airport and putting all (or not all) things in it. Apparently, even this option turned out to be cheaper.
The flight from Athens to Santorini takes only half an hour, although they write 45 minutes. Filed Airbus 321, more than the one on which we flew from Kyiv. I thought that such air minibuses run there, and here is a Mercedes!
Flying to Santorini Airport
Even in this short flight, they managed to give us an energy bar. A trifle, but so nice!
Our arrival in Santorini was at 8 am. It was already 25 degrees in Kyiv, but here it is cloudy, the strongest north wind and it feels no more than 20. Settlement in apartments from 13 o'clock. The hotel does not provide transfers. And we, following our plan, walked straight from the airport to the beach. Walk for about 40 minutes. Here we first saw the inside of Santorini. There are no sidewalks on the roads, as it turned out later in the cities too. You need to walk along the side of the road, on which there are also heaps of garbage. But it turns out they have crazy traffic there! A pedestrian in Santorini must be able to survive. This is what we did for the next 2 weeks of rest.
Beach! For the first time in our lives, we see a beach with volcanic black sand.
Moreover, with interesting weathered rocks,
Weathered sandy rocks on Monolithos Beach
with intricate patterns and sandy gorges.
Monolithos Beach
Are we here? The weather, however, does not indulge, but the sea is calm. Entry into the water is not very - large pebbles and stones. Coral slippers would have been nice here, but we didn’t take them, because we only have hand luggage. The sea is warm +24. The locals don't swim yet, they say it's cold. There are no vacationers except us.
Surfers' lair on Monolithos beach
We got our pies from home and had breakfast. Then they changed into bathing suits. The locals, darting past the beach on their mopeds, looked with bewilderment at the two crazy vacationers who ventured to the beach in such a cold weather. But we came to the sea! So, sunbathing and swimming!
Rescue post on Monolithos Beach
The wind is frankly cold, so we find protection under a tree, it blows less and you can sunbathe for an hour. The main thing is not to overdo it in the desire to warm up and not get burned from overclocking. A sleepless night makes itself felt, the pies are peacefully digested in the stomach and the eyes are slowly closing. Took a nap for an hour. It's time to go look for your home. Google maps is not entirely accurate. They have some roads that do not exist in nature. Or they existed once before, and now in their place are new apartments. Santorini is being built, and very actively, despite the "Greek crisis". There are no signs along the way, no people either. Let's go on a whim.
Strange dwellings on Monolithos beach
Up, up and up. Santorini is arranged in such a way that all the beauties of it are concentrated on the caldera, which is 450 meters above sea level, and all the beaches, respectively, on the other side.
We are walking along the road uphill, we are no longer walking, but crawling. The sun is already high, baking. When is that Karterados there? Finally we meet elderly English-speaking foreigners.
"Where is Karterados? " They shrug their shoulders in surprise: “So this is it. ” Thank you.
How to find our Anna Pension now? We are looking for landmarks, but we do not find one. Climbing even further up the road, we see that apartments for every taste and budget begin. We go into one of them and try to ask at the reception. But the people there are not very friendly, and are in no hurry to help the tourist. "Anna Pension"? No, we don't. (He was 50 meters away) Why do you need? Stay with us. Ah, how I remember my native Crimea, with exactly the same cordial attitude!
must admit that the locals practically do not speak English. And then we see that on one of the buildings there is a sign "Anna Pension Visioni" and this building is painted white.
This is what Anna Pension looks like from the street
And when we booked at Booking, we remembered the picture well: there was no sign there, and the building was cream-colored. And the phones on Booking do not match the phones on the sign. Doubts creep in. Here we look, a group of Italians is clearly on the navigator. We walked past the boarding house, then returned and went into the gate. And we follow them. And, lo and behold, we got to the right place! We were already expected.
We were not too lazy and 2 weeks before arrival we wrote to the hotel that there were no changes in our plans, we would definitely arrive, and they were waiting for us. No one even tried to withdraw money from the card. The husband asked the owner again if we had come right, if there was another boarding house with the same name in the village, but the owner took out his notes, gave our last name, and then it finally became clear that we had come to the address.
It was 11.30, but we were settled right away. For which we thank them very much. We wanted to pay immediately, but the owner Andreas said that the payment was the day before departure. And we fell asleep. It was a hard busy day and it's not over yet!
Well, of course, we were in Santorini for the first time!
Caldera
