Greece Pt. 2 Sisters in Santorini
After departing Athens, the Petitti sisters continued their adventures in Greece with a visit to Santorini, one of Greeceâs popular islands. We stayed in the main town of the island, Fira. Heres a nice map so you can get an idea of how we drove the whole island!
Our first stop was to settle into our hotel! We had a great view of the volcano and the rest of the island to the right of us! This was the view from our deck of our hotel:
Walking through Santorini to get to our hotel was a beautiful experience in itself! We walked through small, winding pathways and down many steps lined with white walls and archways, with the views of the ocean peaking out through the archways.
After this stunning sunset:
We got some dinner and then went back to our hotel. We at in the restaurant of a vineyard, called Aroma Avlis. The food was delicious and the atmosphere was great! The 3 Petitti sisters then called it a night and went to bed!
The next day in Santorini started with an unexpected turn: we rented a car!!! Elizabeth braved the roads of Greece and drove us down the whole south of the Island! Our first stop was at the Light House. If you look at the tip of the bottom of the island on the map, that is where the Light House was. It offered spectacular views, with large cliffs that dove right into the clear, crystal blue water. Because it wasnât the prime time for tourists in Santorini, we were almost the only people there!
Our next stop with our little white car was to one of Santoriniâs beaches, Red Beach. Its called Red Beach because the rocks surrounding it are an iron orange. With the sea breeze and the waves coming onto the shore, the rocks slowly degrade and become small red and black rocks that line the beach- giving it the name: Red Beach! How clever!
After soaking up some Greek Rays and dipping our feet in the water, our next stop with our car was to Akrotiri, a small part of Santorini that has some preserved ruins and more waterfront exploration. Our lunch in Akrotiri came with a spectacular view right next to the ocean- literally!
The resturant had a tank with an octopus inside it and walls of the restaurant were lined with seashells, fish nets, and some dried out blow fish- how cool!
After our bellies were full and our faces were sun kissed, we headed to Emporio, another small town in Santorini that is known for its Windmill formations. We drove up this large hill that was lined with what used to be old fashioned windmills. Their base was stone, almost like that of a water well, and the mills were on top of them. The drive led us to another great view of the Santorini country side. The windmills are pictured in the bottom left photo.
After this stop, we headed to Perissa, one of the longest beaches in Santorini and a very popular spot among both tourists and locals. There is a large promenade that stretches along the whole beach. During Santoriniâs high season, the prom is lined with a bunch of bustling shops, cafes, and restaurants. None of them were open at the time we went, but it was still beautiful! With the sun shining, the clear blue sky, and the crystal blue water, the beach was beautiful. This pictures are making me want to go back!
We then drove to Megalochri- a town of Santorini that isnât as touisty and is where many locals live. It was a cute town with a school and of course the winding back pathways lined with white walls, and blue rooftops.
We then drove through Pyrgos to reach a monastery atop a large hill! We went up to the monastery to watch the sunset! We even got a view of the whole island because we could see the very tip of Santorini! Hers a picture of the monastery at the tippy top of the large hill:
Despite it being a bit grey, the drive up to the monastery was adrenaline-filled, as we were very close to the edge of the mountain, driving up up up, and around around around. Heres a pic form the top where you can see the very tip of Santorini!
On our way to dinner, we stopped at another popular tourist town known as Kamari, where the moonlight casted a peaceful, yet spooky glow as it reminded me of the movie Jaws, Â atop the ocean.
We ended our night with another fantabulous dinner and a big sister cuddle session!
Our third day in Santorini was supposed to be filled with a nice hike to Oia, the other top half of the island, and then a sunset boat ride that would bring us to the volcano, give us a chance to swim in the hot springs, and the opportunity to see the sunset from the water. Unfortunately, the winds were high that day and we were not able to go on our hike or our boat tour :( Believe me, I thought âoh whats a little wind going to do to us on our hike?â We tried to hike, and were getting blown off balance and this mixed with a cliffside trail doesnât make to end well. So we went to plan B: we took a bus to Oia and tried to walk around there- but the winds were so strong we could barley keep our eyes open! We sat in a cafe and enjoyed the view of the choppy Aegean sea. The bus took as back to Fira, and upon our arrival, we noticed that the sky was a bit red. We were a bit concerned and kind of scared about why the sky had this red hue to it. We found out that when the winds are that strong, the dust from the Sahara desert blows over to Santorini! I thought this was so fascinating! It served for some really cool pictures too!
We took walked around Fira somewhere, went into some shops, and wound up doing an Escape the Room- a live game where you are trapped in a room for an hour and have to solve puzzles and put clues together to get you and your teammates out. As avid Nancy Drew lovers, my sisters and I enjoyed this very much and found it as a great way to pass the time when the weather wasnât that great! We then headed to another very good dinner and then back to the hotel for some relaxation and sister time!
On Thursday, we had another boat trip planned to take us to some beaches on Santorini that canât be reached by car, but the wind again didnât cooperate. We started off our morning with climbing down the famous stairs that lead to the port of Fira. Many people take donkeys up and down, but we deiced to put our legs to the test and give the donkeys a rest. The port was right on the water and very pretty to explore!
The port of Fira:
With the winds canceling our second boat tour, Â we went to plan B 2.0: we rented the car again! We decided to drive the norther part of the island. We stopped in Amiroviglia, Vorvolous, and Exo Gialos. We even did a wine tasting that had a spectacular view!
Our driving was filled with hidden beaches where we got to stop and take pictures with the blue waves.
We drove to Oia to watch the sunset and the explore the town more without the winds being as rough as they were yesterday, and we saw a stunning sunset behind the ocean!
The next day, I woke early to depart form my sisters, :(, and meet my friends in Prague for a 10 day bus tour!
Greece was amazing for so many different reasons. The views were great, the scenery was beautiful, the food was delicious, the people were kind, and I got to experience such a beautiful place with my two sisters. It was a vacation I will never forget!
I had such an abundance of photos and little videos from this trip and didnât want to overload this post, so I made a little video with some extra footage of our trip. If you want to watch it: click play!
If you missed Greece Part 1, Heres the link:
http://youradventuresareoutthere.tumblr.com/post/143373092322/greeks-and-italians-same-blood-greece-pt-1










