Santorini Day 2

After a full day yesterday of driving around the island, today is a day to walk around the island.  We woke up,  had our breakfast delivered to our wonderful outside table, and headed out...or I should say up...like way up.  Our hotel is just above sea level and the top of Oia is 330 ft above sea level, so we had to climb a set of never ending stairs to get to the main part of the city.  Luckily there was beautiful scenery and plenty of places to take a break.

Taking a break climbing up to Oia.

The long climb allowed us to take amazing photos as we rested along the way.  Here is the iconic windmill of Oia.

All I can say is WOW!  This is exactly what you think about when you think about what a Greek Island looks like.

We finally made it to the top of the staircase and was rewarded with amazing views with morning fog still in the air.

Another iconic photo taken in Oia.  People fight for this view during sunset each night...or so we were told.  We just stayed down at sea level to see the sunset both nights.

Even when we made it to the top, there were still stairs to climb here and there.

The plan now is for me to take a bus to the Fira, a 20 minute ride, and then walk/hike back to Oia.  The walk/hike is 10 kilometers (6.2 miles). 

Tim decided that he wasn't interested in walking that much today, so we walked around Oia a bit more before heading back down to our hotel.

Here is a view looking back down to the area of our hotel room.

So incredible.

Why didn't we book a room in this hotel?  What a cool pool!

Time to make his way back down to sea-level and our hotel.

If you don't want to walk up the stairs, then no problem.  There are donkeys you can ride up them.  I talked to a terrified woman riding a donkey up the stairs and she said she was terrified. Rick Steves says that it sounds romantic to ride the donkeys up the stairs, but it is bumpy, uncomfortable, and scary.

Home sweet home.

Meanwhile....I boarded the bus in Oia for a 20 minute bus ride to Fira.

Let's get this walk going.  This is Fira in the background.

Throughout the walk was amazingly beautiful scenery.  They say the walk should take less than 3 hours, but it will take you 5.5 hours because you keep stopping to take photos and stare at amazement at the scenery.

This was the first sign I saw marking this walk.  It is a very popular thing to do here in Santorini.

Here are some amazing photos I took along the way.  The path passes through a few more villages before the trail turns to dirt and climbs up a couple of hills to a church at the top.

This looks like a place the Kardasian's would rent for their Santorini visit.

The trail joined a road for about 100 yards then headed up a path to the top of a hill to yet another church.

Finally...the outskirts of Oia...almost home.

Before headed down the hill I needed to eat since I was starving.  I found a kabob place that had a vegetarian burger that they put in pita bread with tzatziki sauce....it was delicious.

OK...lets head down the stairs and get back to Tim.  I wonder if I could have ridden a donkey for the entire hike...that would have been interesting.

YES! I made it back after 6.5 miles of walking for right around 2.5 hours. During the hike I kept thinking about this bottle of beer we bought yesterday.  This definitely made it worth the walk.

After the beer and relaxing on this incredible patio, we headed down for another magical sunset.

Sunset colors on the white buildings of Oia.

One of me and one of Tim enjoying our last sunset in Santorini, and actually, our last sunset of Greece.

Instead of eating out, we got some takeaway and brought it back to our patio...a Greek salad, tzatziki sauce, and Santorini-style tomato fritters.  We have a bottle of Santorini wince to wash it down with.

After dinner we hungout on the patio for a bit more before heading in and going to sleep.  Tomorrow we fly from Santorini back to Athens and then catch a flight to Sofia, Bulgaria.  Until then...