FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX: Happy Birthday Jonah!

Happy Birthday Jonah! What better way to celebrate than to be on the island of Santorini!

Our experience with the islands of the Cyclades so far had been something akin to speed dating. Hello island. I only have one day island. Show me your best! I will then decide whether or not I like you island. Not the most economical to be doing private tours everywhere but definitely time efficient. Like on Mykonos and Naxos, we covered the highlights of Santorini with another exuberant driver. He gave us a very DETAILED history of the island, including those of the Phoenicians, Myceneans, Minoans, Greeks, Turks and seemingly everyone else in the region. We were worried that there would a quiz at the end! Malcolm did manage to stump him when he enquired if the 2 islands he could see were the "Breasts of Athena". At first, we were worried that this was something Angelo made up...but then soon realised that Malcolm got the wrong Goddess. The twin island "breasts" that he was referring to belonged to Aphrodite, not Athena.

Good morning Santorini!

Birthday breakfast pancakes from the hotel!

Monastery of Prophet Elijah in the background built in 1711. No women allowed...so they built a small chapel (in the byzantine style) and viewing platform

How grapes are grown in the cyclades. Ingenious. Woven into a basket and the grapes grow inwards and are protected from the winds by the leaves covering over the top

The traditional village of Megalochori

where we stopped for ice-cream and coffee

"Heart" rock

And just a little further down, Agio Nikolaus, a private church carved into the rock. Our guide said it the doors were unlocked we were allowed to go in

A full view of the caldera from above heart rock

One of the black sand beaches

The second half of the day was devoted to the water. Sadly, the winds were particularly strong today so we avoided the caldera. However, it didn't detract too much from our sailing excursion, the waters where we anchored was calm and the water absolutely beautiful. The winds created a natural (and erratic) pseudo air-conditioning system. It was hot under the sun when it was shining, then you get a cold reprieve when the winds blew clouds across the sun. Overall, it was warm enough to be in the water! Our catamaran was nowhere near as big or flash as some of the other yachts and boats we saw, but what we had was a lovely husband and wife team who provided great conversation and home style cooking (instead of a BBQ). As Eli was from the mountains of mainland Greece, the food was good! Nothing was pre-prepared, it was all cooked onboard. From the sailors, we got a geography lesson on Santorini. We definitely ended the day very informed! Let us see how long it lasts...

So...was Santorini worth the hype? Mal's sentiments pretty much summed it up so I'll plagiarise and insert his response.

"Yes! It is beautiful, but busy. A population of 22,000 takes in up to 17 cruise ships per day (25,000 people) - a friend for everybody!

The solution: if you are going to spend the time and money to come here, pay the little extra to avoid the barbarians. From the right villa there is no need to fight for a good photo spot or restaurant.. Just enjoy the cool breeze, the warm sun, a good book and a glass of whatever takes your fancy."

Out of the three Cyclades Islands we visited, we liked Mykonos the least. Santorini was the most beautiful and Naxos had the most character and enjoyability that was not luxury related. Mykonos won't be getting a second date but we will leave Naxos and Santorini our number.