Santorini
We travelled to Santorini 2 weeks ago. Newark to Frankfort, Frankfort to Athens and Athens to Santorini. Long trip with 7 hour time change. We flew to Santorini because the ferries take a long time. We did not check luggage but beware that we did not use gates in Frankfort, Athens or Santorini meaning I was lugging luggage up and down lots of stairs.
We rented a car at the Santorini airport. Avis was the company but they were out of cars when we arrived. After 40 minutes they gave us an Audi that had just been returned for 20 euros more per day. In addition, even though Expedia had told us that we had full insurance coverage, the agent attempted to sell us his insurance for 40 euros a day. Irony, the car was great.
Santorini is a caldera, half a volcanic crater. So one side of the island has cliffs and the other side has beaches, sort of. Hotels are built into cliffs which is pretty but makes them hard to get to. Everyone is seen lugging suitcases all over the place.
The beaches are rocky and scenic. Water shoes are recommended to swim. The Aegean sea is cool and refreshing to swim in.
Oya from the water. We took a catamaran from Oya to the other side of the island, stopping at 3 spots to swim. Oya is the other trendy town on the island. Supposedly the best sunsets. We had dinner on the boat and watched the sunset from the boat. The boat ride was great and we really enjoyed it. We had some great conversations with couples from Greece, Canada, Italy and other countries.
The path from Fira to Oya.
We stayed in Fira, the main town at the Aressana Hotel Spa Hotel https://www.aressana.gr/ . The hotel was tough to find although Expedia had told us they had parking. It was at the end of a dead end street at the top of a hill. The hotel was very nice but bellhops were not a strength. I was a bit tired of our suitcases by that time. The hotel has a beautiful pool and is a quiet oasis in Fira.
Santorini is an interesting island. It is too crowded with tourists during the summer. At least 2 cruise ships come in every day. The sunsets are great but Maui has great sunsets as do lots of places around the world. Having a car was great as it allowed us to go wherever we wanted. However parking in Fira is a big problem.
Santorini Wine
Believe it or not Santorini has great, world class wineries. Hatzidakis http://www.hatzidakiswines.gr/en.html, Domaine Sigalas http://www.sigalas-wine.com/english/ and Estate Argyros http://estate-argyros.com/el/ have received very good scores on their wines from top wine publications. We visited Hatzidakis and Argyros. The local grapes are Assyrtiko and Aidani. Assyrtiko makes a medium bodied wine with lots of flavor. I am told that it ages well. The alcohol content is 13.5 to 14%. Aidani is more floral and is initially more enticing to drink.The more Assyrtiko that we drank, the more I was impressed with the wine. I tried the Domaine Sigalas wine at home before we travelled and was not impressed. Maybe the ambiance of being in Greece made the difference. I will be drinking more of it now that I am back home and will see if I continue to like it.
We drank local wines exclusively in Santorini and were not disappointed. The wines are not cheap and were between 30 and 45 Euros in restaurants; 18 to 30 euros at the wineries.
Domaine Sigalas wines are the wines that easiest to find. I have seen them regularly in stores in the U.S. Santorini wines are served in the local restaurants on the island and also in the restaurants in Athens. They make mainly white wines although they have 1 predominate red wine grape, Mavrotragano. Mandilaria is anothe red grape.
Hatzidakis was bit hard to find but the winery is fascinating, very well equipped and the people were very friendly. We tasted 4 of their wines.Their 2015 Mavrotragano was tannic and not too heavy. It was good. The ohter Mavrotragano that I tried on the island was a Domaine Sigalas and it was very heavy and tannic and I did not enjoy it. We also tried Hatzidakis white wines.The Assyrtiko de Mylos, Vielles Vignes 2016 is an exceptional wine that is different from other Assyrtikos that we drank. It is dryer and more Chardonnay like. The WA has given it a 95. We brought a bottle home. Will see how it tasted in NJ. Don't think it will be available in the US. We also tasted their regular 2016 Assyrtiko and their 2016 Aidani. Both wines are very good. The Assyrtiko is available in the US. Bought it yesterday in Astor Wine in Manhattan for $23.
Argyros has a new modern winery facility. Their wines are very good. We tried 5 of them. They make a Vin Santo dessert wine is was very good. They have 3 types of Assyrtikos, no oak, 20% oak and 100% oak. I liked the no oak as I think that Assyrtiko has more than e nough flavor on its own.
Other Towns in Santorini
The other towns in Santorini are Oya and Kamari and Akritiri. Oya has supposely the greatest sunsets. This is because the sunsets from Fira are over another island while sunsets from Oya are over the sea. Oya however is a half an hour ride from Fira and there is no place to park as the crowds overwhelm. If you stay in Oya, it may be a different story.
Akritiri is the site of very old ruins, like 2400 BC old. The ruins are famous but they are ruins (lots of rubble), you need to use your imagination. All the good stuff has been taken to museums and the Archaeological museum in Athens( very good place) has an entire room dedicated to Akrikiri stuff.
Kamari is a year round town and is on a black rock beach.
Enjoy.
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