After 11 hours on a flight, and a domestic transfer, we are finally in Santorini.
Whilst putting Nat to sleep before leaving the house, I was a bit of a basketcase, sobbing as I patted and sang to her. The SQ flight was alright, but at times it felt like it was never-ending. I would close my eyes and expect a few hours to have passed, but a glance at the watch would only show 20 mins.
Couldn't sleep upright in a noisy plane, although I fared better than Nickypoo, who only had himself to blame for being unable to sleep, having downed 2-3 coffees on the flight. But I did love our seats, one of those rows with only 2 seats, loos were right behind and so was the emergency exit.
There were signs onboard about our impending arrival. By sheer coincidence (or fate?), the two movies I chose to watch, "Bedtime Stories" and "Last Chance Harvey" both had mentions of Greece! Was also reminded of Nat when that song 'Butterfly Kisses' came on, since she loves butterflies and it's such a daddy's little girl kind of song.
There was a brilliant sunrise as we flew over the ocean, and not long after I caught my first few glimpses of some Greek isles.
We arrived in Athens ahead of schedule and killed time at the airport McDonalds despite having had breakfast on board. There were some decent duty free shops but prices seemed to be more than Singapore, especially at Accessorize and Lacoste.
In no time at all, we were ready to board our Aegean Airlines flight to Santorini. The plane was clean and new, and although it was a short 30 min flight, they still served some drinks onboard. The landing was abrupt and bumpy though, Nick and I were at the edge of our seats. But luckily nothing untoward happened. The Santorini airport is tiny with just one luggage belt and after collecting our stuff, we were met by the complimentary transfer provided by the site I booked our hotel.
The ride to our hotel in Firostefani took less than 15 mins and Hotel Galini looks just like its website. It's a modern and quaint little family-run property, there was a lovely smell of aromatherapy oils that greeted us in the reception. Our room is actually right next to the reception and again, looks exactly like the photos. The loo is tiny but clean, so can't complain. And the views from our balcony? Breathtaking.
The good thing about our hotel is that we don't have to climb many steps to reach it, the bus-stop is just at the main road and Fira is a ten minute walk away. So our area is central but quiet.
Though it is sunny, there are strong winds blowing so we don't actually need to use aircon in the room as it is cool enough. After dumping the bags, we headed out to a nearby cafe for some gyros - which is a pita bread stuffed with meat and fries. A cheap meal, just 2.50 euros for one pita.
Napped for a while to recover from the lack of sleep before venturing out to the main town of Fira. After collecting our ferry tickets, we wandered around the series of winding cobblestoned streets, lined with souvenir shops, cafes and lots of jewellery shops. Had an ice-cream, bought some magnets and took lots of photos of the view.
We heard some church bells ringing and followed the sound, only to discover a small Catholic church, in this land of Orthodox churches. It was beautiful and serene and ornate. Nick lit a candle for the family and said his prayers before we moved along.
The plan was to have a quiet dinner in the hotel to watch the sunset, but after perusing the menu which was mainly made up of salads and sandwiches, we decided to just have a drink and then eat at a nearby outlet called Restaurant Remvi.
Nick ordered a bolognaise and I had pizza. His portion of pasta was huge and so was my pizza but we managed to put away a tidy amount. Of and on, I would venture to the balcony to snap sunset pictures but with the chilly wind, my hands were shaky so I gave up! And so ends Day 1.
Whilst putting Nat to sleep before leaving the house, I was a bit of a basketcase, sobbing as I patted and sang to her. The SQ flight was alright, but at times it felt like it was never-ending. I would close my eyes and expect a few hours to have passed, but a glance at the watch would only show 20 mins.
Couldn't sleep upright in a noisy plane, although I fared better than Nickypoo, who only had himself to blame for being unable to sleep, having downed 2-3 coffees on the flight. But I did love our seats, one of those rows with only 2 seats, loos were right behind and so was the emergency exit.
There were signs onboard about our impending arrival. By sheer coincidence (or fate?), the two movies I chose to watch, "Bedtime Stories" and "Last Chance Harvey" both had mentions of Greece! Was also reminded of Nat when that song 'Butterfly Kisses' came on, since she loves butterflies and it's such a daddy's little girl kind of song.
There was a brilliant sunrise as we flew over the ocean, and not long after I caught my first few glimpses of some Greek isles.
We arrived in Athens ahead of schedule and killed time at the airport McDonalds despite having had breakfast on board. There were some decent duty free shops but prices seemed to be more than Singapore, especially at Accessorize and Lacoste.
In no time at all, we were ready to board our Aegean Airlines flight to Santorini. The plane was clean and new, and although it was a short 30 min flight, they still served some drinks onboard. The landing was abrupt and bumpy though, Nick and I were at the edge of our seats. But luckily nothing untoward happened. The Santorini airport is tiny with just one luggage belt and after collecting our stuff, we were met by the complimentary transfer provided by the site I booked our hotel.
The ride to our hotel in Firostefani took less than 15 mins and Hotel Galini looks just like its website. It's a modern and quaint little family-run property, there was a lovely smell of aromatherapy oils that greeted us in the reception. Our room is actually right next to the reception and again, looks exactly like the photos. The loo is tiny but clean, so can't complain. And the views from our balcony? Breathtaking.
The good thing about our hotel is that we don't have to climb many steps to reach it, the bus-stop is just at the main road and Fira is a ten minute walk away. So our area is central but quiet.
Though it is sunny, there are strong winds blowing so we don't actually need to use aircon in the room as it is cool enough. After dumping the bags, we headed out to a nearby cafe for some gyros - which is a pita bread stuffed with meat and fries. A cheap meal, just 2.50 euros for one pita.
Napped for a while to recover from the lack of sleep before venturing out to the main town of Fira. After collecting our ferry tickets, we wandered around the series of winding cobblestoned streets, lined with souvenir shops, cafes and lots of jewellery shops. Had an ice-cream, bought some magnets and took lots of photos of the view.
We heard some church bells ringing and followed the sound, only to discover a small Catholic church, in this land of Orthodox churches. It was beautiful and serene and ornate. Nick lit a candle for the family and said his prayers before we moved along.
The plan was to have a quiet dinner in the hotel to watch the sunset, but after perusing the menu which was mainly made up of salads and sandwiches, we decided to just have a drink and then eat at a nearby outlet called Restaurant Remvi.
Nick ordered a bolognaise and I had pizza. His portion of pasta was huge and so was my pizza but we managed to put away a tidy amount. Of and on, I would venture to the balcony to snap sunset pictures but with the chilly wind, my hands were shaky so I gave up! And so ends Day 1.
4 comments:
I've *always* wanted to visit Santorini as well and after reading your blog entry with 'em gorgeous photos, I wanna go NOW!
Maybe you can try the Contiki package, Nick says its pretty close to what we are doing!
soooo beautiful!
Hi..I chanced upon tour blogg and hipe you are kind enough to share somw tips with us. Will like to understand some cost here. We have 4 of us-2 couples planning next May to go there.
Can you drop me.a.note? Cheers!
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