Santorini Here We Come

Given our short time on Naxos, we tried to squeeze in as much site seeing as possible – hopping on the scooter to visit the beach, heading up to the hill to the old Venetian city center called Kastro, and dashing out to the Temple of Apollo – with its picturesque view of the sea.

After a long wait for the ferry we finally got to Fira (Thira) the main city nestled on the caldera in Santorini. Not knowing what to do with our day, we set out on a walk to explore the famous Cliffside streets of Fira. It is quite a striking city, as Santorini was built and destroyed numerous times by the volcano that lies at the center of the island. Now the island is shaped like a slightly open fist, with the volcano lying in the center. On the west side of the island there are no beaches, as the land drops precipitously down into the ocean, this is the caldera side with crowded streets and amazing views. The east side of the island is nearly all beaches, and has a very different vibe than the caldera side.
We walked along the streets, watching the donkeys take tourists from the old port at the bottom of Fira to the top of the city streets, and huffed and puffed our way along the front of Fira.

We decided to take the Lonely Planet recommendation for dinner and try to find a restaurant called Nassoua – we finally found it and after a bit of a wait we proceeded to order a meal of appetizers – Stuffed Grape Leaves, Eggplant Dip with Pita, Octopus in vinegar and garlic, mussels with tomato sauce and feta, and a Caesar salad. Stuffed, but quite happy we toddled back to the hotel to plan out the next day.