We arrived to Santorini from Heraklion on Crete by high-speed ferry. The ride takes about 2 hours. The ferry looks amazing. Bellow are the cars and compartments where you can put your suitcases, and above is the passinger cabin. The interior looks like an airplane with two seats in the row on the left and right side, and four seats in the middle. The seats are reserved, you can find the row and number of the seat on the ticket. In addition to the seating area, the ferry also has an information area and a small cafe, where you can buy food, snacks and drinks. Since we boarded the morning ferry that left the port at 7:30 in the morning, the first thing we bought in the cafe was a coffee that cost about 4 euros.

After 2 hours we arrived to Santorini, the southern part of the island. We boarded the buses that would take to cities, first Oia, and then Fira. The bus ride takes about half an hour as Oia is located at the very top of the island. The island is volcanic, so you can see, along the way, black soil and vines that do not reach more than 30cm in hight. Santorini is famous for its dessert wine, made from white grapes and kept in oak barrels for about 2 years. That’s why the wine has red color (even though it is made from white grapes). A bottle of this wine costs 45 euros and the wine is called Vinsanto. While walking the streets of Oia, I came across a wine shop and decided to buy a bottle of wine. Instead of Vinsanto (desert wine), I bought a dry, white wine , thinking I could use it better. I could drink it together with my neighbors, on the terrace, on a long summer day. The salesman said, it was their best seller. I paid 37 euros for the wine. The wine is called Gavala, Santorini Natural Ferment 2022.

Along the way to Oia, you can see the famous windmills of Santorini. The windmills are white, round and now restored and transformed into restaurants. The windmills date back to the 17th century. Oia is all white, all the houses are painted white and some have blue roofs. It looks like a dream in white.

Orthodox churches have blue roofs and there are about seventy of them. The two most famous Orthodox churches with blue roofs are the Church of the Resurrection (Anastasi) and the Church of Saint Spyridon. The most famous church without a blue roof is the Church of Saint George.

The other buildings are also white with expensive hotels and rooms with small pools in front, which look like bathtubs, and cost around 1000 euros per night. The streets in Oia are narrow, full of galleries and souvenir shops. The time we spent there was too short to see everything. Oia is a tourist place and only comes alive in the season.

We board the bus again and the journey takes us to Fira, the capital of Santorini. Fira is slightly larger than Oia, also with white buildings. In Fira, the largest Orthodox church is called the Metropolitan Church and it is very beautiful. The candles in the church are available and you self decide how much money you will leave for them. Fira is not as beautiful as Oia but is also full of souvenir shops and fast food. We had lunch in a Greek restaurant called El Greco. The dish is made with fried eggplant, peppers with cheese. A simple and light meal just enough to complete our day. An hour and a half in Fira passed quickly and we found ourselves again on a super modern ferry on the way back to Heraklion.