When we wake and open the drapes we are in the caldera of the active volcano that makes up Santorini. How awe inspiring is that. These “islands” which really are not islands but the edges of the volcano. Fira is at 721 feet from the sea. What is very neat is to see the sides of the caldera and the 13 different levels that are very visible in the rock.
This volcano – that is still alive erupted in 1650 BC. It erupted again in 1950 with an earthquake in 1956.
Today we are off early – 745 meeting time for our tour. We have booked the Oia Village, Wine Tasting and Cooking class. What I will say now is if you are visiting Santorini go to your cruise personalizer and book this tour right now! It was an amazing tour, actually I think it was probably one of the best Princess Tours we have ever taken.
The description is as follows: Delight in the sights and flavors of the island on a six-hour tour that combines its natural beauty with its sumptuous cuisine. Board a motor coach and ascend the dramatic, rocky caldera roads to the traditional village of Oia, perched high atop the cliffs of Santorini’s norther terminus. Commence a guided walking tour through its cobblestone streets admiring the world-famous Cycladic architecture and the beautiful old mansions perched cliff-side. Continue on to a local winery to learn the history of centuries-old wine production on the island and enjoy a tasting. Proceed to the Akrotiri area, where you’ll stop at the renowned Aeolos Taverna. Settle in for a cooking demonstration by a master chef, which highlights local ingredients. Savor the chef’s creations in the form of a superb lunch. Then returning of Fira to explore on your own or return to the ship.
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| this is where we dock |
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| the road the buses go up |
Santorini is a tender port but the ship uses the island’s tenders which are huge and can accommodate a lot of people. Our wait in the Casino for our tour to be called is very short and in no time we are on the tender and heading to the island. Note when you do a ship’s tour you are taken to a different spot than if you do it on your own.
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| this is where the tender normally drops you off |
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We are taken to the port where motor coaches await us and we are led to a very large bus. But we are only 9 in our tour group. So we have lots of room to spread out.
Just climbing the steep wall of the caldera is impressive to see. The bus winds itself along the switchbacks and even passing other coaches coming down. Wow I don’t think I could drive here.
Our first stop is the town of Oia and even though there is only one ship in port it is crowded. Anastasia our guide takes us on a short walking tour before giving us some free time to explore. Everywhere you look you see beauty. But again it is so crowded it is difficult to get shots without large crowds.
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| if you take the water shuttle to Oia this is where they drop you off so be prepared for the climb |
We stop at a coffee shop that seems to be perched right on the cliff side and order two cappuccinos. They hit the spot as we both need that extra energy to keep us going. Note prices here are not cheap – each cappuccino was 5 E. Not as much as coffee in Saint Mark’s Square but close.
Everything in Santorini and even Mykonos was much pricier than most port stops. But you do have to take into consideration how difficult it is here – most items have to be brought here.
With Santorini the island does not have their own water source. They use only bottled water for food/drink. Also this means fruits and vegetables have little water to survive so they grow a little differently here or they are brought in from other areas.
Back on the coach we pass small towns and then pass Fira on our way to Athinios to the winery. The Santos Winery is actually a cooperative where the locals bring their grapes and contribute in the wine production. Actually the wine here is one of the most ancient wineries as they did not get the diseases on their grapes like other places got due to the islands remoteness.
Here grape vines are kept low to the ground. The vines are actually weaved in a way to form a basket like shape. The grapes form on the inside of the basket and are protected by the strong winds and the intense sun. Very indigenous.
Actually wine is their number one industry on the island with tourism being their second.
At Santos Winery we are provided wine samples of the three main wines they produce here. A white, a red, and a Vino Santo which is similar to a dessert or port wine. The crowds here are huge as many tours do come here but it is very well run and the setting is stunning along with very clean washrooms.
After about a half hour here we are taken to the most southern part of the island to the town of Akrotiri to a restaurant where Anastasia informs us is one of the best around. Mama – our cook – with her beautiful smile and gracious welcome makes us feels like we are in her home for dinner.
Anastasia works hard to translate for Mama and explains what we are making and eating.
Our first item to enjoy is sort of like a bruschetta. Did you know that since wood is so scarce here they only bake breads every month so their bread does go stale to be preserved. Mama takes a roll and cut in half pours water into the middle to soften it. She then adds tomatoes, onions, sun dried tomatoes (which they dry themselves) capers (again they grown themselves), caper leaves that are boiled three times to soften. Then olive oil and seasoning.
Then tomato balls were made. In fact Bernie is brought up to assist in the making. We are happy to try these because prior to visiting we had seen a show that talked about the specialties of Santorini and these were one of the items. I guess I would describe these to a corn fritter but made with tomatoes. We are even provided with the recipe.
Next we are served fried zucchini and eggplant which again are extra special and not greasy at all. All these are served with a yummy tazikki.
Also wine, boy did we have wine! When we arrived there were three half litre carafes of wine (2 white, 1 red) and we enjoyed that thinking that would be it, but no! They kept replenishing the wine. In the end I think we have around 9 carafes in total.
We thought that would be it but nope, we are served a main course of tender veal and stuffed tomatoes with a rice, which we enjoyed and others said the veal was amazing.
Of course no meal would be complete with a bit of after dinner wine and we are all delivered a small glass of the dessert wine from Santos Winery. Cheers!
Back on the coach we are taken back to Fira where we can wander around on our own or head back to the cable car (tickets down are included in tour).
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| just look for the signs to the cable car - here they are in the sidewalk |
Anastasia ensures we all know where to go to catch the cable car and even if you get lost it is easy to find as there are numerous signs everywhere for it including on the sidewalk.
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| looks like a lot of people but it moves fast |
It is around 2 pm and we join the queue for the cable car which is quite long and snakes along for quite a distance but it moves quite fast. The cable car is actually made up a few cars and each car holds 6 people. The ride down is only a few minutes and provides excellent views. The price of the cable car one way is 6 E – oddly they do not sell round trip tickets and the price has gone up from 5 E the last time we were here.
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| Donkey price - up to 6E from 5E |
Of course if you choose not to take the cable car you can walk up the path, but note it is high and you must be able to hike it. Also the last way is to take the donkeys up the path. This will cost you 6 E each way too and the donkeys often have a mind of their own. Also the smells from the pee and poo can be interesting. We hiked up it the last time we were here just to say we did it, and we were quite happy to take the cable car back.
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| my attempt at a selfie = with Ben and Bernie |
Tonight is dinner at Sabatinis with Ben and his crew and we are looking forward to it.
There is still a lot happening around the ship. Hawley Magic is on board and they are preforming in the theater with two shows. The Princess World Orchestra is also performing in the Atrium – I love this show and if you have not seen it make sure to catch it. Who Sang What Family Ties Trivia. Muts is showing Angels and Demons.
Tomorrow is a sea day and boy do we need it. We are beat after three intense ports.
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