Scoot 787 Dreamliner to Athens & Greek islands: Mykonos and Santorini

[yflyer]

We began with salad...delicious and refreshing...



...and then grilled feta cheese...hot and creamy...a wonderful way to prepare this cheese!



Our grilled fish was beautifully cooked...



The pork chop was juicy and tender, with a sweet and delicious marinade...



We accompanied all of this with a carafe of white wine. Mrs yflyer had to remind me that I still had to drive the ATV back to Mykonos old town...otherwise I would have had a lot more to drink...

We simply had no room for dessert after that.



A very memorable meal in an amazing setting!

[yflyer]

We returned the ATV immediately after returning to Mykonos town after lunch...it had served its purpose...enough excitement on the roads for one day !

We returned to Little Venice in Mykonos town that evening to watch the sun set.



Over cocktails at the Verandah, one of the many cocktail bars and restaurants in Little Venice, we watched the sky turn bright orange, and the sun slowly sink into the horizon...







If we had another day in Mykonos, we could also have planned a boat trip to the nearby island of Delos, an important archaeological site and mythological birthplace of Apollo, but that would have to wait for a future trip, as we were leaving Mykonos the next day.

The next morning, we packed our bags and got ready to catch our ferry to Santorini...

To be continued!

[yflyer]

Our ferry from Mykonos to Santorini was the Seajets Champion Jet 1. We booked the tickets for this online prior to our trip, and collected our paper tickets in Mykonos old town the day before departing (We could also have collected them on the morning itself at the New Port.).

"We will arrange a car to send you to the port", Anna said as we prepared to check out from Hotel Tagoo. "Don't worry, we know when the ferry will arrive. You have lots of time. It looks like it is a few minutes late today..."

Anna had on her computer a website showing the real time locations of all the ferries and vessels in the sea around the Greek islands, and pointed out Champion Jet 1.

"Look, it's still so far off.." she said, pointing to the blip on the screen...



Amazing! This was the shipborne equivalent of an ATC tracking site for flights like flightradar24.com

"Can I have the URL?" I asked...

"It's all in Greek..." she replied...

Oh well...

We headed to the port, and arrived with plenty of time to spare.

Unlike the large Blue Star ferries, the Champion Jet 1 was a fast catamaran, and looked absolutely sleek.



This vessel would not have looked out of place in a Star Wars movie or a Japanese sci fi anime...



I was pleasantly surprised to see that this vessel also had an open sun deck and balcony for passengers...



When researching this trip, I was led to believe that only the Blue Star ferries had open sun decks and balconies to enjoy the view. I was keen to arrive in Santorini by sea, taking in the views of the island on an open ferry deck. Since Blue Star did not ply the route between Mykonos and Santorini, one possible plan we had was to take Champion Jet 1 to the island of Naxos, then connect to Blue Star ferries on the last hop to Santorini. As the incremental cost of the Blue Star leg from Naxos to Santorini was quite minimal, we had booked Champion Jet 1 all the way from Mykonos to Santorini (via Naxos), but also had in hand separate Blue Star ferry tickets for Naxos to Santorini, with the intention of getting off at Naxos for a little while before changing to Blue Star. But now that we saw that Champion Jet 1 had an open balcony, we decided to just stay on Champion Jet 1 all the way from Mykonos to Santorini, a 2 hour ferry ride.

Once again, we boarded through the lower deck and stowed our luggage on the lower level (Unlike Blue Star, you were not allowed to bring large pieces of luggage into the seating area of the catamaran.)...



...and then headed up the stairs to the passenger area.



Champion Jet 1 had many different categories of seating, all priced differently...



As with our earlier ferry ride, the boarding process and turnaround were super efficient...the ferry had already departed for Santorini even before all the pax had found their seats...

[yflyer]

There was an onboard cafe serving a nice selection of drinks and snacks...



...including a new Chinese menu, which looked quite popular with some of the passengers...

[yflyer]

We spent a lot of time on the open sun deck...this was a great day for sailing...the sun was up and the sea was smooth...

We made a brief stop at the island of Naxos, and caught a glimpse of Portara, a 2500 year old marble doorway of an unfinished temple, and one of the most important archaeological sites on the island.





Our seats on the ferry were in the Platinum Class cabin, a small separate seating area...



This was a spacious room with large seats and tables...



...as well as as F&B service in the cabin: a cabin attendant would take your cafe orders and deliver your drinks and meals to your seat...





We ordered a fruit smoothie, and an extra dark Greek coffee...

[yflyer]

It was a wonderful day to be up on the sun deck...



...I suspect some pax spent the entire ferry ride up there...on a day like this, it was much more pleasant than being in a crowded indoor cabin...



...one girl was even painting the island scenery with watercolours...



Soon the island of Santorini came into view...

[yflyer]

There are islands, and then there is Santorini...

Formed out of a volcanic caldera, Santorini is an island like no other. The picture below is an aerial photo of Santorini taken a few days later while flying home on Scoot, when we flew close to Santorini as we climbed out of Athens.



Geologically speaking, the unique shape of Santorini was formed by repeated violent (and destructive) volcanic eruptions, and the collapse of the caldera, the result of which has left a stunningly beautiful caldera and a small volcanic island in the center...the picturesque towns and settlements of Santorini are high up on the ridges of the semi-circular caldera...



The ferry's sun deck became crowded with passengers staring open mouthed at the sight before them, as Champion Jet 1 entered the waters of the caldera...







...and high up on the ridgeline, at the western tip of the island, the white walls and blue domes of the village of Oia (Pronounced "Eee-Yah") beckoned...

[yflyer]

As we approached the port, the ferry stewards ushered all pax down the stairs to prepare to disembark...we waited in the crowded vehicular deck for the ramp to be lowered...



...and once the deck hit ground we poured out of the ferry in the hundreds, to the waiting cars and buses to bring us to Fira, the main town on the island...



This time, our hotel did not provide complimentary transfers to/from the port, but we did have detailed instructions from the hotel on how to take the public bus service to the central Fira bus exchange, then transfer to another bus to Oia.

The bus to Fira was not hard to find, and we were soon on our way to Fira...



...this was a dramatic uphill drive up a winding road, with multiple hairpin turns...





At Fira, we switched to the bus to Oia, and we arranged with the bus driver to be stopped along the main road close to our hotel, the Anemoessa Villa.

[yflyer]

On the advice of SQflyergirl we decided to stay in Oia, the most romantic and picturesque town in Santorini. A great choice. While Fira and Imerovigli were both also nice towns with great views of the caldera, Oia is a very special place. I would not want to stay anywhere else on a first visit to Santorini.

As for our choice of hotel, we had to make a compromise here. The nicest hotels here have sea views facing the caldera...this is the signature view from Santorini. However, most hotels with a caldera view are quite expensive, and at the time we booked a hotel, looked largely to be over our budget.

Instead, I picked a hotel with a good location, close to Oia town centre, but without a caldera view...instead we would have a sea view facing the other way, to the north. This was a much more cost-effective option, and was still a fantastic location, just a few minutes walk from Oia.

In retrospect, if I were to return to Santorini, I would budget for, and book a caldera sea view hotel room in Oia, cost be d*mned...it is just what makes the island so stunning and romantic.

But that said, our hotel, the Anemoessa Villa was a very nice hotel, with a very friendly and helpful front office manager, at a very reasonable price for Oia. The hotel has a very convenient location just minutes walk from Oia, where you could take in all the caldera views wanted. And in fact, on Santorini, everywhere you go, you will see magnificent views of the caldera. You're not really missing anything if you cannot see the caldera from your bedroom the instant you wake up. If you want to stay in Oia, but don't want to splurge on a caldera view, then Anemoessa Villa is a reasonable option.

[yflyer]

Anemoessa Villa is a very pleasant property a short 10 minute walk to the Oia town centre, and close to the bus stop to Fira. The villas are set around a very inviting swimming pool...



Our maisonette was on the 2nd level of one of the villas. The view from outside our maisonette, was of the north-facing coast of Santorini, not the stunning views of the Caldera, but still a very pleasant sight...



The maisonette itself had a very traditional design and architecture...





...a two-level unit, with the double bed in the upper level, accessible by staircase...



Having the bed in the curved space on the 2nd level took a little getting used to. I thought the dimensions up there were not too different from a 744 upper deck...

Mrs yflyer bumped her head on the white curved ceiling the first time she was up there. And so did I a few minutes later when I headed up...of course that only happens once. The pain of that first bump ensured that the need to bend your head was seared into your memory...

In addition, there was a full kitchenette as part of the unit, although we didn't have the opportunity for Mrs yflyer to cook anything in the room on this trip.



My initial thoughts were that the room decor was a little too local and "cutesy" for me, and Mrs yflyer found the traditional decor quaint, but we both soon warmed to the room, and both of us found it to be a very comfortable room, and base to explore Santorini. We did also appreciate the additional ground level floor space that the 2-level design afforded.

[yflyer]

Complimentary Greek-style breakfast spread with salads, cold cuts, bread and a few hot items like spinach pastries, eggs and sausages...



We sat at the outdoor tables and enjoyed breakfast in the cool morning weather...

Espresso and Frappes prepared to order...



The highlight of the breakfast spread was an exceptional home-made Greek yogurt. This yogurt was thick, rich and creamy, with wonderful mouth feel...much better than supermarket yogurt...



"This is delicious yogurt, it is so thick and creamy!", Mrs yflyer gushed, when she went inside to ask how it was made...

"We make it ourselves! It is full cream...very rich...that is why Greek people are so large..."

[yflyer]

Just a few minutes walk from the hotel, the stunning views of Oia...



Many have said that Santorini, and the village of Oia, are among the most romantic and beautiful places on earth, and we could see why...



...the views from just about anywhere were postcard perfect...



We just walked along the footpath along the ridgeline -- and gaped open mouthed at the scene unfolding before us...





It was hard to imagine a more stunning, fairy-tale like island landscape...

[yflyer]

It is not easy to find the right spot to take a photo of the iconic blue domes...



...even if you can find the spot, you've got to wait your turn to get a clear shot...



As on Mykonos, this was the shoulder of peak tourist season in Santorini: it was still fairly busy, but not overcrowded...



And at the western end of Oia, crowds gathered each day to watch the sunset...

[yflyer]

Mrs yflyer and I headed towards the western end of Oia, past the many shops lining the narrow walkways...



...to the long stairs cut into the cliffside ....



...leading down to Amoudi Bay...



We were careful to avoid the donkey poo scattered all over the stairs...



As there are between 200-300 steps leading down to the bay, the locals offer a donkey ride up to the top for those who prefer not to climb up on foot...

[yflyer]

And at the foot of Amoudi Bay, restaurants by the water...





We sat on the rocks by the bay to watch yet another glorious sunset...



This would become a recurring theme on this trip: timing our activities to end up in a position to see the bright orange/red orb descend into the sea...



...and each day, as the sun disappeared below the horizon, the crowds on the hill and by the pier would applaud and cheer...behaviour which would be hard to explain unless you are there watching, and if you were the shouts and clapping felt perfectly natural...