I have been dreaming about going to Santorini for a really long time. I love seeing the city on the cliff covered by white houses with blue caps. I have checked for Santorini many times, but the timing or price was never quite right. For April, I booked a one-week holiday in Crete, and while in Crete, why not take a one-day trip to Santorini? That’s exactly what I did.
I booked a one-day tour with TUI, and it said I would be picked up at 4:30 am near my hotel. I was there right on time, according to German time, at 4:25, and patiently waited until 4:50 ๐. It took 1.5 hours from my hotel to the Heraklion ferry port, where I experienced the largest ferry ride of my life. The ferry, called Seajet, took around 2 hours from Crete to Santorini. Then we traveled by bus from the ferry port to the city.
During the journey, the tour guide told us that 80% of Santorini’s economy is thanks to tourism, while the other 20% comes from wine and tomato sauce production. There used to be around 15 tomato sauce factories in the past, but now it’s down to 4. I didn’t have a chance to visit a tomato sauce factory, but I would love to.
Now, onto Oia – my dream city. Wondering what my first impression was? It was full. Full of people, full of tour buses, and I needed to sneak through the crowd to explore the city. At some moments, I found some sneaky spots far away from the center to enjoy the beauty of the city.
Oia, for me, is like an ocean queen wearing a wonderful white and blue dress, adorned with a blue diamond crown, standing under the sunny blue sky. What a stunning scene.
After an hour in Oia (which was definitely not enough to cover the whole city), we went to Fira – the capital of Santorini. I was told that in Santorini, there are no horses, only donkeys. There are around 400 donkeys on this island and most of them are in Fira. Good to know!
Fun facts:
- Why are the houses painted in white and blue? They are painted white to keep the houses cool and blue because Greece’s national flag is white and blue ๐
- There are more than 1000 churches in Santorini – an island with 76.19 kmยฒ. It is believed that there are more churches in Santorini than residential houses. The reason for that? My tour guide told me that in the past, people got more land and incentives if they built a church.
