Though the movie Mamma Mia was not filmed in Santorini, this Greek island comes into mind when one talks about this Meryl Streep blockbuster musical movie. In fact, Santorini became a part of my bucket list after seeing Mamma Mia.
Since then, Santorini has been a dream destination for me. It’s the reason why my husband and I joined the Celebrity Silhouette cruise last month. Though its official name is still “Thira”, the island is also called Santorini, after it was named after the local chapel Santa Irini (St Irene), The island, located at the Aegean Sea, was the site of one of the most largest volcanic eruption in recorded history, that happened about 3600 years ago. Today, Santorini, is one of the most visited tourist destinations.
Going to the island from our cruise ship, we had to ride the tender. From the port, we took the bus going up the island proper, via a very narrow, zigzag road (narrower than Kennon) road). First stop was the Santo Wines in Pyrgos, where we were served 3 kinds of wine with matching cheese, olives and tomatoes while enjoying the overlooking view of the caldera. There are about 21 wineries operating in Santorini, where the grapes are grown almost everywhere. We saw a lot of grape bushes (not vines) along the streets.
Onwards to Oia, the most beautiful village of Santorini. The view is exactly how it is in magazines and postcards. Drove of tourists, like me, come here to admire its stunning cliffside whitewashed houses and blue domes and witness its mesmerizing sunset. It’s perfectly instagrammable! The most chic and expensive hotels and restaurants are found in Oia. Locals say, it’s the favorite “playground” of the rich, important and famous personalities of the world (excluding us). This island boasts of several churches and chapels, mostly privately owned. If we had the choice, we would have stayed longer in Oia and enjoyed more its charm and beauty.
From there, we went to the Island’s capital, Fira. It’s the biggest and more cosmopolitan area of Santorini with several business establishments. Access to Fira is feasible either through the road routes or by cable car. Now, if you want a more exciting and traditional experience, they also offer donkey rides. In our case, we went down back to our tender via the cable car. As Oct is not peak season for tourism, there was no queue to the cable car ( it can be crazily long during peak season).
I’m glad to have seen Santorini but I hope I can go back and stay longer next time. There’s still so much to explore and enjoy on the island. 😍
