Santorini (Θήρα [ˈθira] - Thira/Thera)

Oia

Santorini is that place off mainland Greece that you see on postcards, where white houses erected on side of slopes are coloured by the blue round tops of such gorgeous architectural design. This island is what remains of an enormous volcanic eruption that happened centuries ago. It is located in the Southern Aegean Sea and is part of the Greek Islands where majority of the tourist would hang out and watch the sunset at Oia, a town on the western tip.

I've always wanted to visit this place. Years ago it seemed so far away. But during those weeks that I've been planning about Greece, I knew the world was my oyster so I grabbed the opportunity to get there and perhaps stay for 2 to 3 days, with the hope that I'd be able to explore the place properly and not just the touristy parts of it.

me & my tan

When you go through websites and try to book ferry tickets, you'll find that they still use the Classical or old Greek names. Santorini was once called Thira or Thera. It was initially named in reference of Saint Irene, the name of the cathedral in the village of Perissa where I've been staying. Perissa Beach is also known as the Black beach because of the black sand. The colloquial name Santorini was then used as the official name during the thirteenth century.

Around the island, you'll find that the map would just tag beaches by naming it as Black Beach, Red Beach, White Beach. All just to define the color of the sand. I reckon the Red Beach didn't live up to the name. I never got to the White Beach though.

The main village/town of the island is called Fira. However, the crowds would usually swarm around Oia, or also known as Apano Meria, the "upper side". It is well known through the postcard photos of sunsets, where the blue domed houses and churches stand still, elegantly against the last rays of the sun. They said you should go there earlier than sunset just to make sure that you find a spot.

The streets were so charming and there was a point where at the end of Oia, just a few blocks away from the windmill, that I got up a wall and sat there for an hour filling up postcards. I knew a lot of people would have loved getting postcards from there. The sun was scorching hot and my tan was getting worse. But I didn't mind at all. Shouldn't really  matter I thought. There were swarms of people, buses, bikes, scooters, quads, rental cars. Heaps of shops could be found around the town, offering a variety of souvenirs. The clothes shops were very tempting, not to mention the different jewelry stores as well. Of course, knowing it was Santorini, i was able to control myself and buying stuff.

The island was actually romantic and sometimes I thought, how great it would have been if I had someone special. But of course, it didn't linger that long coz I was just having a grand time in Santorini.