Greece, Santorini – Volcano Tour and Hot Springs

Day 1 had been a pretty lazy day so we decided to change it up by having an incredibly active Day 2. While still in the US we had booked a 6 hour volcano-hot springs-Thirassia Island tour, starting at 10:30 in the morning. Since I knew the bus system could be inconsistent [try nonexistent] I insisted that we be out of the hotel by 8am [not my idea] (I am slowly becoming an increasingly more neurotic and paranoid traveler)[I await the reader’s sympathy]. As we waited patiently for the bus I grew more and more nervous that we might not make it in time. Also there were 2 taxis parked right by the bus stop, though after 15 minutes of waiting 1 of them drove off. I worried that if the other one did as well we might not get another cab at all – and I doubted our rental car friends would come to the rescue this time.

In the end we took the cab and 15 euros later we were in Fira (the center of Santorini where the port is). Naturally it would have been too easy if the port was right there. Fira stands on the cliff top so there are 3 options for getting to the port: cable car, donkey ride or walk down the 600 steps. As financially rational thinkers and animals sympathizers [guess who was what] we decided that since we splurged on the cab and had over an hour to spare we would walk down. 45 minutes later we reached the bottom. Now to figure out how to exchange our confirmation letter for tickets. This being Greece, where people are in no rush, we waited outside while employees at the tourist office sat casually sipping coffee waiting for the clock to strike 10am. Taking our word that we had paid for the tour (our print out was just a reservation confirmation) we were finally issued our real tickets and we boarded what looked more like a pirate ship [yarrrr] than a tourist boat. Our tour guide introduced herself as not only Greek but also the only local (4 generations raised on Santorini) guide on the island. We had lucked out, except for the fact that we were on a tour with Greeks, Italians and French and the guide repeated everything in each language.

Volcano Tour Begins…

First stop – Nea Kameni (the volcano). Around 1600 BC a volcano erupted forming the split from what used to be known as Strongili (the ’round’ one) and was a circular island into and present day crest form Santorini and the surrounding smaller islands. You can actually feel the heat coming off the ground from the still active volcano.

Off To The Hot Springs!

Next stop – the hot springs. I thought we would be dropped off on land to lay our towels on the beach and casually stroll into the water. Nope. We were told to jump off the boat (jump specifically because with how cold the water was you wouldn’t gradually lower yourself in) and swim to the hot springs (where the water is actually brown and smells of sulfur). D and I volunteered to be the first 2 to jump off the boat [to be exact I was the first]. The water was beyond refreshingly cold, but swimming into the hot springs was a great sensation. Swimming back to the boat was not [despite the many language gaps there was a universal chill that let everyone know we were all freezing].

Next stop – the island of Thirassia. Described by our guide as Santorini 50 years ago [which is like America 400 years ago], it’s a small island, with only 300 inhabitants. She recommended Captain Jack’s for lunch where most of the group flocked to [cough, kick backs, cough]. Although overpriced the food was delicious. We still had about another hour on the island so I insisted that we walk the 250 steps up to the village to explore (D was not pleased with this) [I was not pleased with this]. The walk was exhilarating though and the views were great. The village itself has similar white washed houses to the ones in Santorini, although in worse condition. And since we had to walk the 250 steps up, we also had to walk down all them. By this point I had already gotten a better stair master workout than any gym could offer [indeed, I’m canceling my $15/mth membership fee and moving to Santorini].

Ahoy Oia!

At this point the tour was over and we hopped off at the Oia port, planning on waiting around there until the famous sunset. Down by the port I spied several tourists turning a corner and suspected there must be a beach over there. There was no sand, simply small rocks bordered by large cliff formations, but that didn’t stop anyone from laying out. The water was cool and it was just what we were looking for after a long day on our feet.

The village of Oia, like Fira is also at the cliff top, so climbing another 235 steps ensued (during which a 55 year old woman commented that D was in worse shape than I was) [this is true but I hardly consider her an expert on physical fitness].

At the top though the views are breathtaking. The whole village itself is magnificent. The white washed houses with the deep blue lining are gorgeous. We decided to skip dinner and opt for snacks at the mini market (where we were finally able to buy some Shampoo — our hotel didn’t have any soup/shampoo so we had been living off hand sanitizer and toothpaste for 2 days). I patiently awaited the sunset guarding the great lookout we had discovered (while D took a nap) [500+ steps is all I have to say]. The sunset was amazing. Truly unlike any I’ve every seen [V makes it sound like the sun did tricks in the sky here, it was pretty though, yes].

It’s as if the mixture of colors forms a streak resembling a blurred rainbow as the sun is closer to setting. After the sunset I would have been happy to wander around Oia in the dark for hours, but D, tired from all the climbing urged us to take the bus back [I’m going to start censoring this]. First bus from Oia to Fira and next bus from Fira to Perissa. There were more willing passengers than spots available on the Perissa bound bus so I pushed my way forward and even secured myself a seat – all the while D was being pushed around by Asian tourists – I actually feared he wouldn’t even make it on the bus [just being a gentleman]. Thankfully he did though, although it was standing room only.

I hadn’t really eaten in hours and wasn’t even that hungry but when a spotted a Gyro cafe by the beach I couldn’t resist. For 2 euros I got exactly what I was looking for. Caramelized crispy pork strips cooked on a revolving spit, nestled in a fresh thick pita (nothing like the wannabe pitas found in stores here) with juicy tomato slices, crisp fries and a slather of tangy tzaziki sauce. I could not have ended the day on a better note.

O and when we got back to the hotel we found out our room had been upgraded to a loft suite with the best view in the entire hotel (thanks to a mom and her son who wanted our 2 single beds vs the double bed in the suite). [!!!]

Post by V with commentary [in italics with brackets by D]

Want to read more about our trip to Greece?
Day 1: Greece, Santorini – The Arrival and Finding Your Way
Day 2: Greece, Santorini – Volcano Tour and Hot Springs
Day 3: Greece, Santorini – Frolicking Through Fira
Day 4: Greece, Athens – Conquering The Capital
Day 5: Greece, Athens – More Monuments!
Day 6: Greece, Corinth – Making Our Way To Mycenae, Argos And Nafplio
Day 7: Greece, Sparta – This is Sparta! (And Mystras)
Day 8: Greece Kardamyli – First Diros Caves, Then Messene Ruins