GREECE: Let's Start with Santorini

When I think of Greece some of the images that come to my mind are shimmering blue water, white buildings, crystal clear blue skies, islands, sunshine and sunsets.

The island of Santorini has all those things.

It is a volcanic island with cliffs, a rugged coastline with red, black and white beaches. 

Our first day we hiked from Fira, the largest village, to the second biggest village called Oia, which is 12 km north. 

Enroute, we passed these sweet beasts of burden carrying rocks. 

It was a great hike and very pretty to walk through the other small villages enroute. 

The landscape is dotted with a plethora of accommodations starting at the top and then descending down the cliff edges. 

The theme for the buildings is the colour white. A common theory is that white reflects the heat and keeps the houses cool in the blazing summer heat. 

But, that is not the only reason. It is because there was an outbreak of cholera in the late 1930's. The Dictator, Metaxas, ordered that all the houses be whitewashed with limestone, as an antibacterial. Every Easter the whitewash is reapplied. Is it a coincidence that the houses are white with blue roofs and the Greek flag is white and blue?

Of course there were a lot of churches along the way. 

My own "beast of burden" carrying the backpack. 

We were there the first week of November and it was the beginning of the off season. Many places outside of the two main villages were winding down or closed for maintenance, so we didn't see many people on our hike. 

Oia is known for its sunsets and we were warned that everyone goes there to see them. I figured since it was off season it wouldn't be that busy.

HA! And another HA!

We rounded the corner and it was like a floodgate opened from every cruise ship in the near vicinity descended on us. I can't even guess the number of large groups following people with umbrellas and clipboards. Bottom line, there were so many people it was a shock to our system. I can not imagine what it would be like during high season. UUUGGHHHH.

This outdoor theatre was a cute little find around the corner from our place. They closed the end of October, but it looked like the summer schedule had a lot of showings of Mama Mia. 

We did get to see the sunset from our balcony.

And the twinkling lights on the water and the other islands. 

Our walk into town at night was so pretty and peaceful. 

In my humble opinion, Santorini is very pretty, but it is super commercialized. I would suggest to go during low season and avoid it during high season. Just my thoughts.....