I believe I failed to mention the reason we went to Greece in the middle of November in the first place. We went here for no other reason than to celebrate my mom's 50th birthday! Hellas is without a doubt the perfect country to celebrate a milestone. Mum's special day is on the 23rd of November, allowing us to spend a whole week in this pristine, uninterrupted island.
On to our first day in Santorini. We were staying in Oia, a village at the tip of Santorini. Oia (pronounced by locals as ee-yah) is the epitome of peace and quiet. In this village resides the iconic blue domes that pop into people's minds the moment 'Santorini' is mentioned. We were lucky enough to book a villa which has a patio overlooking the unbeatable views.
As I woke up, the first thing I noticed was how warm and fuzzy my blanket was, as well as the all-white room I was in. It then came to me: I was actually in the island of my dreams! So, after a quick check of all the social networking sites, I quickly got ready to roam the island. We were so keen to go off and explore the place, but since my mum was still working, dad and I set off for the old castle first.
The ruins of the old castle give the most spectacular views of the island and the coast, but wait 'til you visit at sunset. After, we walked around and stumbled upon an office for car rentals, as well as a grocery. Beside that was one of the prettiest doors [to me] in all of Santorini.
Lunch ended up being served at Skala, one of those restaurants overlooking the unbeatable caldera. We lunched and luxuriated in the midst of Oia.
Then came the ridiculous, yet totally necessary touristy part of the day. We explored every single nook and cranny of Oia. From the never-to-be-missed blue domes, to every white-washed house you could imagine, to each luxury spa and villa thinkable; yes, every one of them was wandered through.
My laptop may have just barfed up photos of what is seemingly my favourite place in the world. The beauty of this island just astounds me.
Wandering through Oia was quite the walk. For endless steps and cobblestone streets, flats may have not been the ideal choice of footwear but I have no regrets. After, we took in the sunset at the old castle.
We dined in Melitini, a small restaurant off the caldera, walked back home and called it a night.