On the last night of our Santorini trip our holiday was perfectly rounded off with a sunset cruise around the Caldera. I was a little bit nervous about this trip as I am not a big fan of boats and was slightly worried about getting seasick. However I pushed through my anxiety, and I am so glad I did as it was a breathtaking experience that I will not forget.
The first hurdle was getting down to the boat. Santorini's capital city Fira is built up 400 meters high, so as you can imagine it is quite a way down to the port. There were two ways to get to the boat: walk or cable cars. I did not like the look of the cable cars wobbling their way down the cliffside and already had anxiety about the boat, so a few of us decided it didn't look that far and we'd take the steps.
These pictures were taken at the start of our trek down the steps, which we found out when we got to the bottom that there were 600 of!! They also do donkey rides up and down the steps but after seeing how unruly they were that was not an option. There was no formation to them and the ones that didn't have any riders on were just running in all directions. They were crazy! I think we got about halfway down when my legs started to shake, so there was no more stopping to take in the views we just wanted to get to the bottom and get a bottle of water. It's safe to say I have never been happier to sit down on a boat in my life, ha ha. It was also really nice that the groom had organised a private cruise for us so we had the boat to ourselves.
It was absolutely amazing cruising around the smaller volcanic islands and getting so close that you could smell the sulphur. It's just crazy to think that these islands were created by volcano eruptions, especially when you see the sheer size of them up close. We also went past a little island where the tour guide told us that there is a little old man who lives alone on the island with his goats and goes fishing in the sea for food, I'm not sure how I'd cope without technology but I love the idea of such a simplistic life on my own little island.
After our little tour around the volcanic islands we headed to the small island of Thirassia where the boat was moored for us to eat. Now I was clearly too hungry after my long walk down those steps at Fira to take any pictures of the food, but the staff on the boat put on an amazing spread. There was souvlaki, greek salad, breads, the most amazing potatos I have ever tasted, tzatziki, keftedes, my new favourite tiropitakia (little feta parcels) and much more. Then for dessert there was the traditional greek baklava and honey cake. I've always loved greek food but this trip has reignited my love for it and am definitely thinking of trying out a few recipes myself as I am missing it so much.
After we had finished eating we cruised our way to Oia on the north of the island of Santorini to watch the sunset. This part of the cruise was so relaxing as we could just sit and watch the sun go down as music was softly played around the boat.
(This is Oia as seen from the boat, it is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen and we did manage to find a couple of hours to spend there before we left. I am thinking of doing another post on here though, if you're not too bored of my Santorini posts yet?)
If you ever find yourself in Santorini I cannot recommend this boat trip enough, and that's coming from someone who hates boats! The worst part for me was getting the cable car back up to Fira, as I was not walking those steps again but if you don't mind cable cars it'd be a breeze for you.
