I couldn´t wait to share my travel adventures with you! I would have already done it from Santorini (although it might have come across as a bit pathetic!), but the internet connection was rather slow. 😉 First and foremost: Santorini is every bit as wonderful as the travel guides will have you believe! Its picture-perfect appearance greeted me every morning and I really couldn´t believe my luck of waking up to such a sight!

Our first day was very stressful since Vinsanto Villas, where we´d paid for our stay in advance, had double-booked and tried to pass a shitty hotel in the middle of nowhere as an upgrade. That made me so furious I was literally ready to jump on the guy´s face when he calmly told us there´d been a mix-up and besides the hotel was renovated, just not our room! haha! How funny is that?! In the end they moved us to Nomikos Villas in Firostefani (we were supposed to stay in Imerovigli) and covered the difference. The villas themselves had nothing wow over them, but our room was spacious and clean, we had a pool, a bar and air condition. And, best of all, we had our own private balcony with stunning views of the caldera!

We´d wake up around 9, have our breakfast on the balcony, then go to the swimming pool with a book and linger on until it was time for a Prosecco. Around 13-14 we´d feel for lunch or for a little excursion. Then we´d get ready (or so we thought, ´cause you´re never really prepared for that kind of heat), we´d try in vain to get hold of a taxi and we´d have to walk all the way to Fira, a lovely 20 minutes´promenade on the caldera (in the evening!), when I´d use my entire repertoire of cursing and almost faint from the heat. Once in Fira, we´d shop for small things as bathing suits or souvenirs for our family, have lunch or venture on a bus to a beach. The buses have air-condition, but they tend to get very full, so try to get a seat! Our conclusion was: we need to get a driving license! Rude bus drivers, rude tourists, 100 degrees in the line, not for the faint hearted!

Excluding the lack of taxis and the heat from the equation, it was like living in a fairy-tale! The white-washed houses, the pools, the galleries, the restaurants were a dream come true! We had lots of lovely food in different villages and eateries, from tavernas on the beach to high-end well-hidden restaurants you´d have to know about in order to find. Lots of fish, octopus, squid, fava-spread egg plant salad, local wine and Italian Prosecco, the occasional desert and souvlaki. 😉 Not much low-carb, that is!

We went to Oia, too, once for the sunset and the second time for the Japanese-Peruvian restaurant, Oozora. The first time we got there around two pm and the whole village had sunken under the heat. No shade to run to, empty streets, my first impression was- how overrated! We didn´t even have our bathing suits with us, so going for a swim in Amudi Beach was not an option, either. Needless to say we didn´t stay for the sunset as 6h in a small village is way too long. The second time was in the evening, though, and it did the village justice, we had a lovely stroll, an even lovelier drink at the cutest little bar Meteor and the dinner at Oozora was worth every penny! 😉 Amazing atmosphere, friendly service, the chefs indulged my husband into a couple of dishes off the menu, everything was astounding!

Another restaurant worth mentioning is Apiron in Fira. They have a lovely modern twist on Greek food, but the portions are huge, so share the appetizer, otherwise you´ll barely be able to eat your main and have no room left for desert! 😉  Ginger  in Firostefani serves wonderful Japanese dishes, try the black cod, it´s divine! Last, but not least, Mylos in Firostefani is another refreshing addition to the Greek cuisine. Lovely facilities, attentive service and playful servings. On Saturday evening they have live music, this saxophone guy is playing God, but his music is nonetheless nice.

But hey, the food wasn´t all! The mere privilege of being there, along with other very privileged Australians, Americans, Asians and Western Europeans made me humble. I thought a lot about tourism, responsible tourism, but also about how few of us are so lucky as to be able to travel here and there just because they want to. A strong contrast to our carefree stay was this Georgian man working at our hotel, the most decent person we met there, he´d been doing that for 7 years, 6 months in Santorini and 6 months at home with his wife and kids. Now I´m not making him a martyr or anything, I´m aware of people fighting war and disease in greater poverty, but he touched my heart. I´m not sure where I´m going with this line of thoughts, we tried to buy local stuff, greet the neighbors and not be the obnoxious type of tourist you meet in the South of Europe.

I hope you enjoyed my travel report and the pictures! If Santorini ever was on your list, don´t hesitate to go!

My outfits are: grey designer dress from Romanian Murmur, pink silk top from Massimo Dutti, silk shorts from American Vintage, sandals from Ancient Greek Sandals and shades from Norwegian Kaibosh. 😉

xxx. Alina