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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.

Imerovigli

Imerovigli in Santorini from Firostefani

Firostefani

Firostefani in Santorini

Blue dome of Agios Nikolaos monastery located between Firostefani and Imerovigli

Sunset in Santorini from Firostefani

Windmill in Firostefani

Restaurant in Firostefani

Simos Tavern in Santorini, where we enjoyed our meal

This was our trip route from Crete and the Greek Islands to Athens:

Day 1 - Crete: Chania

Beach of Agios Apostoli
Venetian Port
Splantzia (Turquish Quarter)
Jewish Quarter

Day 2 - Crete

Day 3 - Crete: Rethymnon and Heraklion

Venetian Port in Rethymnon
Loggia, Rimondi fountain and streets of the old town of Rethymnon
Fortress of Rethymnon

Venetian Port of Heraklion

Day 4 - Crete

Day 5 - Santorini

Hellenic Seaways ferry from Heraklion to Santorini
Sunset in Oia

Day 6 - Santorini

Fira
Excursion to Nea Kameni and Volcano
Beach of Perissa (black beach)
Sunset in Firostefani

Day 7 - Santorini

Red Beach, White Beach and Black Beach
Sunset in Fira

Day 8 - Mykonos

Hellenic Seaways ferry from Santorini to Mykonos
Mykonos Town
Windmills and Little Venice

Day 9 - Mykonos

Delos Island
Paraportiani Church in Mykonos Town
Beach of Agios Ioannis
Little Venice

Day 10 - Mykonos

Day 11 - Mykonos Town

Mykonos Town
Blue Star ferry to Athens

Day 12 - Athens

Acropolis
Ancient Agora
Hadrian's Library
Temple of Olympian Zeus
Panathenaic Stadium
Monastiraki District

Day 13 - Athens

Roman Agora
Plaka District

Other countries and cities I have already visited are:

Barcelona

Dublin in Ireland

Istanbul and Cappadocia

Rome and The Vatican

Florence in Tuscany

Venice

Lisboa in Portugal

Dubrovnik, beaches and coast of Croatia
Neum, Pocitelj and Mostar in Bosnia Herzegovina

Madrid

Helsinki and Lapland in Finland

Tallinn in Estonia

Tortuguero, Caribe, Arenal, Monteverde and San José in Costa Rica

Marrakech in Morocco

miércoles, 10 de septiembre de 2014

OIA IN SANTORINI

The ferry of Hellenic Seaways left on time to Santorini, where we arrived at 11:50 am. We disembarked quickly to catch the first bus out to Fira and not to have to wait in the port of Athinios for the next bus. The bus was crowded. We arrived at the bus station of Fira after 20 minutes drive. It was a bit chaotic because of the arrival and departure of many buses and the amount of people there.

Highspeed ferry which led us from Creta to Santorini

Our hotel was in Firostefani. At the hotel, the manager, Angeliki, told us all we had to know: restaurants, places to visit, supermarkets, bus stops. We went to the restaurant Aktaion 5 minutes from the hotel.

Aktaion restaurant in Santorini

Greek salad we ordered in Aktaion restaurant

Skaros rock from Aktaion restaurant in Santorini

After having dinner we took a bus to Oia to enjoy the sunset. The bus was very crowded and we couldn't sit down. It was mid-September and we realized that buses were usually really crowded. In August it would be horrible. After 30 minutes drive we arrived at Oia, where many people had already arrived before us. We didn't walked around the town. Instead we went right to find a place to enjoy the sunset. It really was wonderful in spite of the amount of people everywhere. After the sunset, we decided to take only a short walk and catch the first bus back to Firostefani, which of course was full.

Street in Oia

White houses beside the caldera in Oia, one of the beautiful villages in Santorini

View of the Caldera of Santorini from Oia

White Houses and blue domes in Oia

Typical greek churches in Santorini, white with their blue domes in Oia

Windmills in Oia

We were in place on time to enjoy the sunset from Oia in Santorini

The sunset from Oia in Santorini has just begun

Beautiful colors on the horizon of Santorinni during the sunset we enjoyed from Oia

The sun viewed from Oia reflected in my sunglasses

The sun beyond the houses of Oia and the Caldera about to dive in the horizon

There were many people enjoying the sunset from Oia in Santorini

Typical blue domes of the greek churches in Oia

From Oia in Santorini you can see Fira, Firostefani and Imerovigli behind the caldera

Two greek churches with their blue domes in Oia. Behind them you can see the towns of Fira, Firostefani and Imerovigli

I think the sunset in Oia has been mythologized, perhaps because from this town the sun is visible until the moment it dives into the horizon. However it was so crowded that we almost had to struggle to find a point from where we could see the sunset quietly.

In the following days we saw the sunset from Firostefani and from Fira and from these towns they are as beautiful as the one from Oia and without so many people. So personally I liked them more.

We had dinner in Mama's House, one of the restaurants Angeliki recommended us and located near the bus station of Fira. We really enjoyed our meal.

This was our trip route from Crete and the Greek Islands to Athens:

Day 1 - Crete: Chania