From the moment we arrived in Greece, and especially in Santorini, it felt completely different in an amazing way. The weather was warm with a cool breeze. Our hotel was overlooking the caldera volcano and Aegean sea. We had a traditional Greek cave apartment, and the moment we set our stuff down, we were sitting on our private terrace in hammock chairs, overlooking the expanse of Santorini's white buildings with blue domes and the beautiful blue sea.
Each day, we lived like locals, shopped at the markets, took the bus everywhere, ate street food - it was incredible. Most Greeks are very nice, super fit - as they walk, hike, work, fish all day - and the food is real, fresh, authentic, and completely different than Western food. We visited all the different towns of Santorini from Fira to Imerovigli to Akrotiri and beaches that had red rocks and others with black sand. We took a boat tour on the Aegean Sea, visited the volcano and hiked up it. I jumped out of the boat and swam in the sea to a natural hot springs and floated there. The water in general is very salty and beautiful sea blue, even green near the shores. We climbed up the side of the mountain in Oia on the way back to our apartment from the ship's port at the bottom. 280 Greek steps = 700 American steps. We did not take the donkey up - although we almost got run over by the herd coming down the mountain! We ate lunch overlooking Fira's port and the sparkling sea. We bought hats and souvenirs, ate every food possible from Tzatziki to Gelato to real authentic pizza and pasta with Santorini famous cherry tomatoes.
We experienced beautiful weather - even some summer showers were welcoming and amazing! Our weather on the day out on the boat was absolutely perfect with the sparkling sea and warm sun - got a little sunburned! We swam in the fresh cold water pool every day, and went into the sea at the beach as well. We lay out under green palm thatched huts, had romantic dinners overlooking the ocean and night sky, with Oia lit up at night. It was magical! We walked up the hills and cliffs of Fira and among all the shops in the village of Oia. Mohit got me some belated anniversary jewelry - as he wanted to give me a gift from our Greek trip. Every moment was pure bliss, and honeymoon or not, I recommend everyone visit Santorini! It truly is a little piece of heaven :-)
