Woke up around 7, read and generally pottered around a bit until hopping on the 10:15 bus to Kamari, a village on the other side of the island. It only took about 15 minutes, and it was quite a small place but there was a black sand beach there. Weather was fabulous, around 24C, so t shirt again. Sat on the beach for a while and went for a wander, but not a lot to do so got the 11:45 bus back to Fira, where the hotel was. Went to the same place for lunch as where we had dinner, deciding on a light lunch but it seems there is no such thing and I had a chicken souvlaki with chips and pita bread. Song had pork stuffed with ham and cheese with a baked potato. Both servings were large but we managed to finish them. We went back to the hotel to wait for a bus to Akrotiri.
The trip only took about 15 minutes again – the island is quite small. Walked about 800 metres to the Red Beach which was a bit disappointing, it wasn’t a beach and not particularly red. Walked back up again and visited the archeological site. This was fascinating – a settlement had been on the site 5000 years ago, and was rebuilt after a couple of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. The last time must have been a bit much because they packed up and went somewhere else. The site has had a permanent archeological team on site since 1967, and the entire thing is inside a climate controlled building. They found frescoes preserved by mud slides, and there was even a sewerage system. The ruins that are visible are from 1650-1500BC, the older ones buried underneath as the new settlements were built on top. Really interesting.
Bus back to the hotel, a brief rest then onto another bus to Oia, it was supposed to be the best place on Santorini to watch the sunset.
It seemed like everyone else had the same idea because the bus was packed. The bus trip took us around the back of the island with some amazing views – volcanic rock cliffs on one side, views out to sea on the other.
Oia seemed busier than Fira, the main town. Lots of narrow streets lined with shops. We followed the crowd towards the sun, looking to find a spot to sit and have a drink. Strangely there appeared to be only one restaurant and that was already full. We found a place on a low wall and waited. The view looked right out to sea, the sun slowly setting in front of us. There were hundreds of people lining the walls all with their cameras snapping away. The view was breathtaking and we got lots of photos. Simply stunning.
As the sun slowly set in the West, we turned and legged it back to the bus stop – knowing it would be packed on the way back as well. We managed to get a seat, then after 20 minutes were back in the hotel.
Got to be up at 04:00 tomorrow to fly to Athens; the airline changed our tickets and instead of an hour at the airport we now have 10. Not sure what to do, we don’t fancy going to any more sights, so may book into a cheap hotel to have a shower and get some sleep. Then on to Bucharest.
