FIRA AND THE VOLCANO IN SANTORINI ~ Beautiful places of Barcelona and Catalonia

jueves, 11 de septiembre de 2014

FIRA AND THE VOLCANO IN SANTORINI

We got up early to visit Fira before the tour to Nea Kameni and the Volcano. The day before we bought the tickets of the tour at the hotel with no extra cost.

Sunrise in Santorini from our hotel in Firostefani

We had breakfast comfortably on the terrace of our room. I truly liked this moment on our little terrace. Before I had gotten up at 6am to enjoy the sunrise since our room was facing to the east. Among this sunrise and the sunset, we visited:

Fira
Nea Kameni and the crater of the volcano
Hotsprings in Palea Kameni
Perissa Beach
Imerovigli
Firostefani

We arrived at Fira walking through a path next to the Caldera enjoying fantastic views in the morning. This walk takes usually 10 minutes from Firostefani, but we needed half an hour because we stopped several times and took many pictures of the beautiful views.

Firostefani in Santorini

Behind the Skaros rock you can see Oia beside the Caldera of Santorini

Skaros rock beside Imerovigli in Santorini

Fira

Catholic cathedral in Fira in Santorini

Orthodox cathedral in Fira

We wandered through the streets of Fira among shops of souvenirs, We visited two churches (both for free) and enjoyed the views of the caldera from Fira.

About 10:15 am we began to descend the 500 steps to the old port where the boats to Nea Kameni leave. The first leg we passed donkeys waiting for customers. It's early in the morning and is not hot yet but the area already smells a bit. Enjoying the views we went downstairs until we reached the port.

Stairway from Fira in Santorini to the Old Port

Stairway (500 steps) from Fira to the Old Port

Donkeys going upstairs from the Old Port to Fira

The boat journey is nice and in 30 minutes we were in Nea Kameni. We walked about 20 minutes with our guide to reach the crater that smokes at some point. It's advisable to bring trainers, water and a hat or cup because of the heat. The guide told us that the temperature in the crater is about 100 degrees celsius. We had 30 minutes to walk around the crater and for taking some pictures. From this point we saw Oia, Fira, Firostefani and Imerovigli behind the Caldera.

The tour to Nea Kameni is interesting because of the boat journey, the views of Santorini from Nea Kameni and the curiosity of seeing a steaming crater of a volcano.

Fira and Firostefani from the Caldera in Santorini

Nea Kameni and the Volcano

Path in Nea Kameni which led us to the crater of the Volcano with Santorini in the background

Walking to the crater of the Volcano in Nea Kameni near Santorini

People around the crater of the Volcano in Santorini

Crater of the Volcano in Santorini

The crater of the Volcano of Santorini still smokes

Oia in Santorini from the crater of the Volcano

We came back to the boat for sailing to the hot springs of Palea Kameni, an adjacent island where we enjoyed a bath in sulfur rich thermal waters for about 30 minutes. The tour finished after coming back to Santorini, where we arrived about 2pm.

Boats which took us from Santorini to Nea Kameni

One of these boats took us from Santorini to Nea Kameni, Palea Kameni and back to Santorini

Hotsprings in Palea Kameni

Hot Springs of Palea Kameni near Santorini

We had lunch in the restaurant Nikolas in Fira and then we took a bus to Perissa, where there is one of the black beaches of the island. There We enjoyed a nice, relaxing and sunny afternoon on the Perissa Beach with calm water.

Saganaki cheese is a typical dish of the Greek Cuisine

Perissa Beach

Calm water of Perissa beach in Santorini

Black sand of Perissa beach in Santorini

Umbrellas on Perissa beach in Santorini

Perissa is one of the black beaches of Santorini

In the evening, after a relaxing shower and a pleasant walk to Imerovigli, we enjoyed the sunset from Firostefani and then we had dinner pretty well in Simos tavern.