Day 9 – Santorini

For those asking, the big surprise was not us getting engaged! It was that we were renting a quad for the day.

Our day started with a hotel breakfast in the lounge where we waited to meet the man with the quad. Having signed over our lives to this man, he gave us a short demonstration (Anna asked for it twice as she couldn’t remember) and let us on our way.

Without doubt, Anna is the worst passenger to have in a car/moving vehicle. Within minutes, she had already missed our first turn as she was scared I was going to drive into the back of a car in front. Slowly and surely, her grip loosened and she became more aware that I’m actually a good driver and that I can surprisingly see out of my own two eyes.

The plan for the day was to do a whole tour of the island as it’s not actually very big at all. Our first stop of the day was Kamari Beach. This is the famous black beach of Santorini, covered in large black pebbles from all the volcanic activity back in the day.

A detour through Pirgos (the highest settlement of the island) allowed us to take in the whole island, before heading off to see more black beaches at Perissa, the prehistoric city of Akrotiri and the Red Beach – coloured red due to the iron rich sediment nearby. I knew a degree in Earth Science would come in handy someday.

This was all done before lunch, and I was starting to get a little hungry. Stopping for a little bit of petrol, we also went to a local supermarket where we didn’t really like what was on offer. However, Anna did try to embarrass me by trying to put a pack of condoms on the conveyor belt only to actually knock down the shelf and 10 other boxes with it, embarrassing herself really.

Further up the road, we found a Lidl (Anna’s favourite shop) and after asking a local Greek person the contents of the pastries, we finally got our lunch. The majority of the Greek islands look very similar in the fact that they have nice whitewashed buildings surrounded by wasteland and half-completed areas. Even within the villages, there are several places of derelict land empty spaces.

The next stops were a couple of these villages – Firostefani and Imerovigli. These settlements aren’t the main tourist areas of Santorini but offer pretty much the same scenery and experiences without the added tourists. The temperature today was sky high and all the walking, driving and hiking up these villages was taking its toll on us. Dripping with sweat, we were in need for a swimming pool or large body of water. After a little play in an apparently abandoned playground, we headed to Oia.

Anna drove us there, very cautiously and very slowly. It was nearly sunset. Nonetheless, she did find a Beach club with a swimming pool to use. It was quite the establishment and Anna, trying to impress, couldn’t open her bottle of beer and smashed a glass on the floor with everyone looking at us – embarrassment number 2 of the day.

Oia was so swarming with tourists that it wasn’t even a pleasant experience to be there. Despite our sweat helping us slip through the streets like little sardines, we opted to drive back, get a shower and view the sunset from the side of the road closer to home. It was so much better. We had the whole stretch of land to ourselves and afterwards, we rewarded ourselves by sharing a pizza.

In the end, we made it home safe and sound. Santorini should really be explored by car, quad or bike as the bus system isn’t quite there yet. It also helps you see the beautiful scenery without bus loads of tourists.