Tom Santorini! Finally! When you think about Santorini, mesmerising sunsets, pristine beaches and clear blue mediterannean waters come to mind. On the fourth day of our travels in Greece, we took a flight from Athens to Santorini to start the “island life” part of our itinerary!
Flying into Santorini and Picking up our Car
We woke up at 3am this morning to pack up before our Airbnb host came at 4am to pick up our keys. While we were walking from our apartment to Syntagma Square to take the bus to the airport, we noticed that there were still many people on the streets. Probably because it was a Saturday night (wee hours of Sunday morning), people may have gone clubbing. There were many people at McDonald’s at 4am. Once at Syntagma Square, we bought our tickets at 6 euro person (yup the ticket booth was opened). The bus departed Syntagma Square at 4:30am and arrived at the airport at 5:30am – slightly longer because there were also many people boarding the bus to head to the airport.
After we reached the airport, we cleared security and bought a sunscreen at duty free for 19.5 euros (paid using miles and bonus points – the loyalty programme of Aegean airlines) – probably the best investment during this trip because when we returned, we spotted a perfect tan without any peeling at all! Using our Priority Pass Card, we checked out the Skyserv Melina Lounge…
Skyserv Melina Lounge at Athens Airport was spacious but the food was really basic. This time, we just had coffee, cakes and some bread. The other Priority Pass Lounge – Goldair Handling Lounge, seemed a little more elegant. If you’ve visited it, do let us know in the comments section below.
Boarding started a little late (many holiday makers!), but was completed on time and we took off promptly 710am and we arrived at 755am…
After we landed, we headed to the Hertz counter to pick up our car. As we had redeemed the Hertz car using Miles and Bonus points (of Aegean Airlines), it included CDW (Collision Damage Waiver). As we showed our Aegean Gold Card (which has expired -_-“) and spoke a little Greece (Kalimera – Good Morning), the service staff didn’t even bother to explain the fuel and insurance options to us. This was unlike the previous customer where the service staff took a good 10 minutes to explain these options. He did ask us a question though…
“You fly with Aegean often?”
“Yeah, we used to”
From there, everything was a breeze. We headed to the carpark, waited for a while (on a SUPER WINDY DAY) and picked up our car. As it was a manual car, it took a good 2 minutes for Tom to get used to it before we headed to our first destination – Vlychada Beach!
The Beaches of Santorini – White Beach, Red Beach and Black Sand Beach
We arrived at Vlychada Beach (aka White Beach) at approximately 9:30am. As it was a really windy day, we decided to chill at the cafe by the beach with a delicious cup of iced coffee (3 euros)…
Nomiko’s Tomato Canning Factory Museum Tour Santorini
One of the reasons we visited Vlychada Beach is because it is just a stone’s throw away from Nomiko’s Tomato Canning Factory. Though it is not in operations today, it offers visitors a great chance to understand the tomato canning technologies then as well as the history of the tomato industry on Santorini…
The visit to the Tomato Industrial Museum was really interesting. From the visit, we found out that the tomato puree created, could be used as a kind of currency to trade for other items then as it was relatively valuable. We also found out that farmers would be quite particular about their seeds and would want them back so as to continue producing the next batch of great tomatoes. As the Nomiko’s family wanted to industrialise their process, they sent their “scholar” to study about machines, sponsoring all his studies. This engineer eventually came back and mechanised all their processes. Today, this engineer (at over 70 years old) still visits the factory on a daily basis to ensure that all the machineries are working well.
Address of Tomato Industrial Museum: Vlichada 847 00, Greece
Operating Hours of Tomato Industrial Museum: 10am to 6pm (Closed on Mondays)
Our next stop was Red Beach of Santorini…
Red Beach Santorini
The reason why Red Beach Santorini has its name is simply because of the red rock formations that lines the cove of the beach. To reach the beach itself, you’ll have to follow a stony/pebbled pathway up a hill and then descend down to the beach. As the walk was “treacherous”, we decided not to risk it and just take photos from the top of the hill. Here, we also heard “Zorba The Greek” (aka Zorbas – where the Greek song starts slowly and becomes faster), skillfully played on the Greek bouzouki (Greek Guitar) by a busker there. Now, we knew we were on the Greek islands!
Perissa Black Sand Beach Santorini
Our next stop was Black Sand Beach. There’s actually a restaurant cum beach bar at Black Sand Beach. Here, you’ll be able to see guests from other islands doing island hop, drop here, have a drink and board the next boat out. We wanted to have a cabana beach chair here (10/15/20 euros depending on your distance to the water) but time was not on our side. Hence, we dipped our feet in the waters for a while and left for our next destination…
Akrotiri Lighthouse Santorini
One thing you’d like to note is that just before the small road leading up to the Akrotiri Lighthouse, there’s a space to park your car. Some people just head all the way up on their cars and cause a jam there. Thankfully, we heeded advice from other travellers and avoided the jam – which could last for a fairly long time. As it was still very windy, we “touched and go” rather quickly. Still, the views of the island, the cove and waters was amazing…
Cavehouse Santorini
After our visits to the White, Red and Black Sand Beaches of Santorini. It was finally time to visit our unique Cave House accommodation at Pyrgos, Santorini…
A stay at Santorini would not be complete without a night in one of the famous cave houses right? This time, we stayed at Olyra Traditional Cave Houses because of its location in Pyrgos. Pyrgos is famous for its sunsets and less travelled sights – with a blue top church as well 🙂
We met our Airbnb host of Olyra Traditional Cave House and we were told that the cave house originally belonged to her grandfather. She took over the premise, renovated and started the business. Really lucrative at $250SGD per night! :O
The cave house itself was really beautiful. Just as how we imagined it and more. Clear blue skies contrasted with the white cave house = many selfies! After we took many shots of us lounging around the various parts of the cave house, we headed out to find lunch. Along the way, we dropped by a shop and bought a pair of sunglasses for Kate (for 10 euros). It was also here that we noticed many donkey-related souvenirs…hm…we wonder why…
For lunch, we headed to a recommended restaurant – Kantouni. This time, we ordered the pork souvlaki. Seeing that the lamb was actually cheaper (and had more volume – 500grams!), we ordered the lamb as well. However, we were warned by the waitress that it was “old lamb”. We totally ignored the warning and went ahead anyways. Turns out, “old lamb” = “SUPER DUPER TOUGH LAMB”! We had so much trouble trying to bite the meat off the bones that we gave up trying towards the end. Thankfully Kate talked Tom out of ordering the 1kg version…Nonetheless, the pork souvlaki (grilled pork) was tender and delicious. Coupled with a bottle of cold Mythos beer (4 euros), it was still a fairly good lunch. We learnt that we DEFINITELY need to listen to the advice of our waitress in the future -_-”
Oia Santorini – Too Touristy for Us
Many people have described Oia as the GO-TO destination for the best sunsets in all of Greece. However, we actually disagree. This is because Oia has become too touristy for our liking. Moreover, during sunsets, there would be throngs of tourists, trying to snag the best position to catch that picture-perfect sunset. However, do not worry. We have a little secret in our next couple of post to reveal where we think has the BEST sunset views… but first…Oia…
There are many iconic views in Oia. Of course, the most famous must be the shot of the blue top church against the clear blue sea. The shots above were taken at the entrance of an actual residence. This is also why, you’d see many signs that discourage tourists from stepping on the roofs of their residence to take that unblocked pictures in Oia. As with many towns in Santorini, the iconic cobbled streets lead to restaurants, shops and of course other iconic shots in Oia…
Many honeymooners also come specially to Oia for the cave houses with infinity pools facing the sea for the best sunset moments. The 2 other iconic shots (also known as “THE SHOT” in Santorini) to be taken are the cave houses (on the slopes) as well as the 3-bell church in Oia. As it was rather windy and Kate was having a bad hair day (BHD), we headed back to Pyrgos for sunset at Franco’s.
Pyrgos Sunset at Franco’s Cafe
After visiting Oia, we headed back to Pyrgos to end off our day at Franco’s Cafe. According to our Airbnb host, Franco’s has one of the best unblocked views of sunsets in Pyrgos and it was so true…
Before we arrived at Franco’s we’ve read so many negative reviews – of the poor service and overpriced menu. To be honest, the price was a little steep. However, after seeing the portions given, it was indeed worth the price (and the views). For instance, the large appetizers came with sweet tomatoes, crunchy cucumber, a variety of cheeses and biscuits which all went well with the wine and cocktail. For the wine, it was almost to the brim! For 6 euros, the local Nykteri wine was well worth it. So delicious! Franco’s Orange – a signature cocktail of Franco’s cafe, though expensive, was exquisitely crafted. You could taste the various depths of the cocktail, mixed with fresh but mild hints of orange. Perfect drink with a perfect sunset…
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We’ll now leave you with a time lapse video taken from Franco’s Cafe of the amazing sunsets of Pyrgos Santorini…
We hope you have enjoyed our coverage of day 4 of our Greece travels in Santorini! Stay tuned as we find out more amazing attractions in Santorini Greece!
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