As I sat imagining Santorini, I thought of azure waters, ancient alleyways, delicious tzatziki on warm pitas, the sound of waves splashing against old wooden fishing boats and the charm of those imperfect alleys and walkways carving up the island. As soon as those thoughts would enter my mind, I quickly pushed them aside and assured myself that this tourist-ridden island would surely be a let down, overrun by crowds and absent of all the old world culture I sought. I also wasn’t convinced that Santorini would be unique relative to the other Mediterranean destinations we had just visited. Despite my reservations, Debbie was insistent that we make a stop in Thira (as Santorini is known by Greeks), so I reluctantly agreed.
There are those times while you’re travelling, when the stars align, you stumble on a gem and all of your expectations are blown away. For me, this happened in Santorini. As I expected, parts of Santorini were filled with throngs of tourists and had streets lined with souvenir shops, but if you steer clear of the towns of Oia and Thera, you can certainly avoid this. By sheer luck, and our limited budget, we decided to book an Airbnb in a quiet little village called Emporio. Emporio lacks the quintessential caldera view that you see in photos when you Google Santorini, but it certainly makes up for this in old world charm. Emporio is characterized by peace and quiet, with only a handful of tourists walking through town every day, gorgeous views of the ocean and church steeples, and alleyways – oh the alleyways! Every nook and cranny of Emporio is worth exploring; in one alley you’ll find rustic blue painted doors, the next has a staircase of bougainvilleas and the next features whitewashed walls that cast shadows from that ever present mediterranean sun. At night, we could relax in our jacuzzi overlooking the ocean, to the sounds of traditional greek music coming from a nearby villa, and the chatter of families enjoying a barbecue. In the neighbourhood, local restaurants and grocery stores serve up delicious fare at reasonable prices, and Perissa beach is a quick scooter or ATV ride away.
Our journey to Santorini didn’t start out so smooth though. It began with the worst flight of our trip, operated by Vueling Airline and an unintentional 6 hours in the Athens airport lounge waiting for our next flight. Due to incompetence on the part of the airline, we missed the better part of a day in Santorini, and Vueling was beyond difficult to deal with to rectify the situation. For future trips, I’ll definitely avoid flying with Vueling. Once we arrived in Santorini though, the trip turned around.
The host of our Airbnb , Anastasia, was delightful, and spent a good half hour telling us about the best sights to see – namely wineries, the other villages on the island, beaches, and for those who are inclined, boat tours. Over the five days we spent in Santorini we did all of the above with the exception of boat tours. Our host also set us up with an ATV rental to get around the Island, which I would definitely recommend to other travellers. Our Airbnb came with a private jacuzzi and patio area on the roof, and unexpectedly even had a cleaner who would come by in the morning to tidy up and bring fresh towels. This was definitely one of the most luxurious Airbnb’s we visited during our trip.
Most of our trip was spent visiting other towns such as Oia, Thera, beaches such as Perissa and Red Beach, Sigalas Winery, and generally just relaxing, drinking and eating in our villa. One afternoon, as we were hopping off our ATV to head to a restaurant, Debbie spotted a familiar face in the distance – Kimon, our wedding photographer who shot our big day in Toronto a couple years ago. From his instagram, we had a feeling Kimon may have been in Greece, but hadn’t given it much thought until this chance encounter. He was too far in the distance to say hi, so we sent him a message on Instagram to find out if we actually just saw him walking the streets of Santorini.
Kimon got back to us, and we invited him over for some drinks to catch up. Our chance encounter with him was the highlight of the trip. When you’ve been travelling for a couple months, it feels great to spend time with someone from home. We had a blast, eating the smorgasbord that was left in our fridge, and enjoying some Greek beer and wine before we flew out. Kimon even decided to bring his camera along, and take some shots in Emporio with us. I’ll label his photos vs. ours, but I’m sure you’ll be able to see the difference. He is an absolutely amazing photographer – so if you are visiting Santorini and are looking for a photoshoot, send him a message.
Santorini was one of the most memorable stops of our trip, and truly feels like paradise. If you’re considering a trip there, it has my vote, but do yourself a favour and stay in the real jewel of the island – Emporio.
Kimon’s Shots
Our Pic’s
Cancel My Meetings 