We headed out this morning to find some beaches. We hopped on the local bus and headed down the mountain to Perissa beach which is a black sand beach.
We took a quick swim in the Mediterranean Sea and then laid out on the beach. We ended up meeting up with one of Jay’s friends, Nick, from Albuquerque who is Greek. He brought us some spanakopita and beers and we had a great morning on the beach.
We then boarded a bus back up to the top of the mountain, to the town called Fira, to meet Jay’s other friend, Mike, who flew in from Switzerland. We had some lunch and spent some time by the pool at the hostel. It was a good time to relax before our big sunset hike that evening.
That evening, Mike, Jay, and I met up with Nick again and headed out on a 9 km hike from Fira to Oia to watch the sunset. We wanted to hike along the scenic pathway we did the day before, so we climbed the many steps to the top of the caldera. The sights from here are spectacular, and worth the climb in the heat. The pathway was familiar all the way to Three Bells Church which we had walked to the day before. After that, we found sporadic signs that showed us the way to Oia-La.
Since Mike didn’t know exactly how to pronounce the town, he started calling it Ooh-la-la which stuck and is what we called it for the trip. Nick, who spoke Greek, did tell us it was pronounced “e-ya.”
We had packed a bottle of ouzo and some beers and took a couple of breaks along the way to drink them. Unfortunately, Nick ended up heading back early to be with his dad. But, Jay, Mike, and I continued on. We had a great time walking along the ridge and saw the sunset from a church on top of a hill.
We continued on the the city of Oia, found a place to eat for dinner, and then caught the bus back to Fira.
A lot of history in Athens but Santorini and ooh la la look amazing!