Saturday 29 September - Santorini at leisure

Sunrise: Santorini               7:11am

Sunset:                               7:05pm

Steps:                                 16,512

I'm writing this up in stages today.

I woke up at 3am and went outside and took a photo.

Very quiet and no breeze. Went back to bed and was promptly asleep again.  

Next time I woke was just before sunrise, so I took another couple of photos.

The forecast was for 24c, cloudy & windy with 71% humidity.

I went over to the breakfast/dining room around 8:30 and it was very busy.  Just as I was walking in, Elizabeth spotted me and pointed out where she & Lois were sitting, so after getting myself a juice, toast with fried egg on top, I joined them.  I wasn't overly hungry, so didn't bother with any more food. 

By this time, the wind had come up quite a bit but at least it is sunny and no rain.

I headed into town around 9:45.  It was a very hazy morning. 

Not to sure about that.

Can barely distinguish land from the water.

There was another cruise ship in the harbour this morning.

  I decided that I would walk down to the Old Port. It's a switch back path to get down there.  A photo of a postcard showing the route down.

Similar to the road the vehicles use when going to and from the New Port.

Of course, there are the donkeys that some people use to get up and down from the port to the shops. 

Nearly there.

A couple of French tourists, riding up.  I heard them chatting as they went past.  Poor donkeys.

A line up of donkeys

There isn't very much down in the old port.  A few taverna's or restaurant's. A number of  souvenir places. Travel outlets for transfers to other villages along the coast.

A few pics follow. 

A sculpture of a donkey.

I then took the cable car back up to the top.  No way was I walking back up.

I took a few more photos as I walked around the narrow alleyways and back streets

and then walked back to the hotel

 for a break and a rest.  I also took some photos of the pools.

 Reception area level

 Breakfast room and bar area. 1 level down from reception level.

and the pool down on my level.  5 of them over 3 levels. That includes the toddlers wading pools, which aren't in the photos.

I have since found out that there is another pool at another lower level.  No wonder the staff drive around in golf carts. The complex is very large.

It's currently 1:43pm and the maid has just been to service the room, although, because I'm a solo, they don't replace my used towels, just let me use the others that were here in the room.  As I'll also be here tomorrow night, I hope they leave clean ones for me tomorrow.  She also left this note.

I had noticed that it has become very cloudy outside, so I might not go walking later this afternoon.

9:46pm

After updating this, earlier this afternoon, I then had a little nap, as I just couldn't keep my eyes open.  When I woke up, I went and visited Lois & Elizabeth, to arrange a time for a drink & dinner. While at their room, Peter came out of his room next door and told us that he was getting his passport back around 7pm tonight. He told us last night that he had his passport & some cash pickpocketed yesterday afternoon.  I won't go into the details of the whole story, surfice to say that he is a very happy man.  We (the group) are all so happy that he is getting it back and just hoping that it hasn't been cancelled.

I'm sure he will let us know tomorrow where things are at.

Elizabeth & Lois knocked on my door at 5:45 and we all heading back into the city, firstly to have a drink and watch and take some photos of the sunset and then to have some dinner.

We found a cafe/bar, which had a good view and was a little sheltered from the wind and enjoyed a lovely sunset.

The wind blown ladies

After that we started heading back towards the hotel. We stopped at a restaurant that Christina had recommended and we shared a salad and a delicious roast lamb dish.  Very filling.  We then hurriedly continued on back to the hotel. It was very windy and the wind was pretty cold, so I was glad to get indoors and have a shower to warm up.

Now 10:20 pm and it's goodnight from me.

Friday 28 September - Heraklion - Santorini

Sunrise: Heraklion              7:11am

Sunset:  Santorini               7:06pm
Steps:                                 12,782

I had a really crappy nights sleep on the hard mattress. Got up with the alarm, showered, dressed, packed the main luggage, kept the raincoat & brolly out and took the suitcase down to reception. 
Had a look outside while down there and yes, it's raining. 100% rain.  Fingers crossed for a ferry crossing. Back to my room, as the breakfast room wasn't opened and double checked that I had everything.  The last thing I want to do is leave something behind on Crete. 
Down to the breakfast room and just had a fried egg on toast today, with juice and coffee.  Back to my room to finish charging the phone & iPad mini.  Because rain was also forecast in Santorini, I packed the DSLR into my carry-on, as I wasn't planning on taking any photos while on the ferry. The raincoat & brolly were in my back-pack.
We departed the hotel on time and it was only a short drive to the port and the ferry.  Found where we had to leave our luggage and then went upstairs to the seats.  Almost like being on an aeroplane. And we had front row seats.

Not that there was a lot to see out of the window.

The ferry depart on time.  An hour into the trip and the rain had all but gone.

 It was almost 11am, when we sighted Santorini in the distance.  I think we dis-embarked about 11:25ish

It was a bit chaotic getting off the ferry but Christina had told us beforehand what to expect and where to go and wait, so all was well.

There were a couple of cruise ships in the harbour.  To get from the port to the top of the hill/mountain, there is a very narrow switchback road.  I'm hoping to find a postcard of it tomorrow.

The ferry started on it's return journey at 11:45, so not a long turn-around. 

Vicki is our local guide for today and Costa the driver.  First up was a visit to a small vineyard, 

to see how they grow their grapes and then we walked down through the village. I think it was Megalochori.  

Once we were back at the bus, I took my carry-on from under the bus, on to the bus, so I could take my DSLR out, so I could use it to take photos.  Because is was so sunny, I was having trouble seeing the screen on both my iPhone and iPad mini.

We then went up to the highest point on the island to enjoy the views and some of us also walked up to the monastery, that is up there.

From there we went down to visit Pyrgos, first having some lunch before doing a walking tour.  Some of the many photos I took there. A very picturesque village. 

After that we then went to a winery for a wine tasting. 2 whites and a red and a lovely view over the ocean in the distance.  finally arrived at the hotel around 4:15.

A resort hotel.  My room, as do most of them (I think) faces a pool. I think there are 4 or 5 pools.  I'll take photos of them tomorrow.

Walking orientation tour into the town of Thira at 5:30.  Took some photos  and then had dinner with a couple of people.  

 Walked back to the hotel with Elizabeth & Lois, buying some water at a local supermarket along the way. 
It's another free day tomorrow, so I might be spending some time by the pool.

Night.