Fira - Santorini, Greece

To many people, Santorini is a romantic place, a honeymoon destination and a place where everyone should visit once in a lifetime.

It lives up to expectations in terms of the scenery, but the experience I had wasn't totally pleasant. 

When my friends and I arrived at Fira, Santorini by ferry from Mykonos, we were famished. We ordered lobster pasta and salad in a restaurant which promised to give us good discount. When our bill came, it wasn't correct. In fact, I observed the other table had problem with their bill as well. Either the waiters were poor at Mathematics or they were out to con us. You might want to have lobster pasta elsewhere in Greece but not in Santorini.

Watching sunset is a must-do experience at Santorini. 

Sunset at Fira

Fira at night

On our first night at Santorini, we walked along the streets of Fira. Unfortunately, my friend's mobile phone was pickpocketed from her backpack. There was no CCTV and there was no chance to getting the phone back. Although Greece felt safer than Italy, it is Europe afterall. Backpacks, especially those without zip, are strongly discouraged because they make you an easy target for pickpockets.

We sought help from the receptionist of our apartment. Initially, he advised that only 1 or 2 of us go to the police station to file the police report (there were 3 of us) because taxis apparently charge by person in Santorini. This makes no sense at all! In the end, the receptionist arranged for someone to drive us to the police station free of charge. 

After my friend filed the police report, we asked the police to help us with transportation back to our apartment. A guy came in a vehicle (not police car), not taxi, drove for around 5 min, dropped us along the main road (which we had to walk for a few hundred metres)  and charged us 15 Eur. This was exorbitant!

So you can see, my first impression of Santorini wasn't exactly great.

Mykonos, Greece

From Zakynthos, we took a flight to Athens, followed by another flight to Mykonos. There was no direct flight between Zakynthos and Mykonos. Our flight was delayed by an hour. As I have arranged with our apartment host to pick up us at the airport, I was very apologetic as I felt that I have wasted 1 hour of her time. However, the apartment host was totally chill about it. She simply told us to enjoy Mykonos. Looking back, it seemed that transportation delay is a norm in Greece as all our flights and ferries within Greece were delayed!

We had a good stay at Anemos Apartment at Mykonos. I was especially touched by the hospitality and friendliness of our host. This was life at Mykonos. Very laid back. Mykonos is well known as a party island. Unfortunately, neither I nor my friends are party animals.

Anemos Apartment

We took a bus to Mykonos town and were captivated by the blooming bougainvillea. Like all tourists, we took photos with the white and blue buildings. I was disappointed by the windmills and Little Venice in Mykonos was nothing like Venice. I was hoping to see the big bird, pelican, but it was nowhere to be seen.

Bougainvillea

Mykonos town

Where is my big bird pelican?

Windmills

Little Venice

This is life at Mykonos

Zakynthos, Greece

The planning of Greece itinerary has been particularly challenging. As Greece is made up of many islands, to get from 1 island to the next, we had to either take a flight (or 2!) or ferry.

Our first stop was Zakynthos, also known as Zante. We took Sky Express from Athens to Zakynthos. It was my first time taking a plane with propeller!

Sky Express plane

Zakynthos, which means many hills, was occupied by Italians in the past. This explains the influence of Italian architecture and cuisine on the island. We took a day tour with Nefis travel to visit the Shipwreck Beach, Blue Caves and Xigia Beach.

The Shipwreck Beach was a filming site for the popular Korean drama “Descendants of the Sun”. It was good that we went really early to avoid the crowd. Now that the Song-Song couple has broken up, I don’t know if the site will remain so popular.

Shipwreck Beach

The Blue Caves aren’t so impressive as they are basically hollows rather than actual caves. We jumped into the sea to swim at the Blue Caves but regretted almost immediately. The water was super cold and the current was strong.

Blue Caves

We also visited Xigia Beach. When in Greece, do as the Greeks do. We spent the afternoon suntanning / chilling at the beach.

Xigia Beach

When we were in Greece in June 2019, it was really, really hot! I conclude that the weather forecast in Greece is extremely inaccurate. It conned us into believing that the temperature would be 25-29 deg C when it felt like 35-39 deg C. On our first night, I heard thunder and it started to rain when the weather forecast stated 0% chance of precipitation.

If you like the sun, sand and sea, you will like Zakynthos. You can also go on a tour to see sea turtles at Zakynthos.