Santorini to the tune of “Best Day of My Life”

Since we were already in Greece, we thought it best to visit Santorini as well.

Santorini was just as we expected. It was breath-taking. It reminded me of Batanes, the northernmost part of the Philippines. It was a rocky mountainous island surrounded by a clear blue sea.

Typical of us, our first order of business after settling in was to eat. After a bit of wait for our identical white cars, we headed to the town proper for a late lunch. We had lunch at this place called Mama’s.

clockwise from top left: (1) Aegean salad; (2) Stuffed Pork Fillet: (3) Mama’s spaghetti; and (4) stuffed vegetables

After that, we headed to Oia to catch a view of the sunset. We had to drive to get to Oia. At first we didn’t know which way to drive. The maps we had indicated opposite directions for Oia.  Its a good thing we have patient drivers.

Driving around Santorini.

Oia was our favorite part of Santorini. It was such a favorite that we decided to go back on our last day for our Firm photo.

We made sure to visit Atlantis Book Store, an english book store. It was so cute inside. I wanted to stay in one of its nooks and just read all day.

We stayed until it was dark

It rained during our 2nd day in Santorini. But that didn’t stop us from our sightseeing. Our first stop was at Fira where we visited the Museum of Prehistoric Thera.

After that, we headed to Akrotiri where a prehistoric town has been excavated and made accessible to the public, literally. We were able to walk amongst the ruins. It was quite interesting, actually.

By the time we got out of Akrotiri, it was already lunch time. We found a nearby small restaurant and decided to have lunch there. Since Santorini js surrounded by the sea, there was no better time and no better place to have seafood. We had calamares and fried fish. We also had chicken in saffron rice.

It was a long wait before our lunch was served. We just resort to doodling on our table napkins.

clockwise from top left: (1) chicken in saffron rice; (2) calamares; and (3) fried fish

After Akrotiri, we headed to Profitis Ilias, the highest peak in Santorini. It was a race to the top, against the rain clouds we spotted while we were on top of the castle we chanced upon during one of our “we-did-not-know-where-we-were-going” stopovers.

By the time we got to Profitis Ilias, the dark clouds already covered the top of the mountain. It became a very short stop over and a very slow drive back to the lowlands.

Our last stop was Santo Winery where we had wine tasting with the Mea Kemeni Volcano as our backdrop.

establishing eye contact when toasting!

 

On our 3rd day, I woke up to a very beautiful sunrise, a sign that we would be having a good weather. True enough, the sun was up when we started our sightseeing. We started at Fira which also had a good caldera view. It was very windy. Still, we decided to stay alfresco for some hot choco with our hair (and paper bills) thrown about in every direction. The view was worth it.

Then, it was back to Oia for us for our firm photo with the much coveted blue domes. It was a different experience for us the second time around. Since it was the middle of the day, the sun was very bright showing the color of Santorini I’ve always dreamed about. It was a view of Santorini that I would always take with me.

We decided to go back to Oia to have this special remembrance.

It was really a trip of a lifetime. I would not mind going back to Santorini soon! In the meantime, this song, the group’s hands down favorite while driving around Santorini, will always remind me of this special place.

cheers,