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OIA, SANTORINI | GREECE, PART 2

If Greece, specifically Santorini is not on your list of travels, YOU ARE CRAZY!! I have been very blessed to be able to travel & Santorini is hands down the most dreamy, romantic, beautiful, surreal place I have EVER seen with my own eyes. It is a place I hope I make it back to soon and very soon. Most of the time, I find myself loving new places, but always wanting to experience a new place instead of returning, but not with Santorini. I would go back tomorrow & so should YOU! So let me break down our trip here for you because I have already had 2 friends go here since I’ve been here and have sent them ALL these recommendations.

We flew from Athens to Santorini (about a 40 min. flight). Through our Airbnb & lodging company, they arranged pick-up from the airport. I am linking our Airbnb here. Our hosts are no rookies. They go ABOVE and BEYOND for you. Our hosts, Anna + Nick have a luxurious business going here & provide several options for lodging. I believe they own 4-6 Villas you can stay in. The Villa . we stayed at was Apanema Cavehouse & it was to die for. I almost NEVER wanted to leave it. We had our own private pool/hot tub. Somehow we were able to book this airbnb about 2 weeks before our trip. I have recommended it to a couple people & they can’t get in it because it’s so far booked in advance. It was a fluke on how we landed it. We actually found the Villa on Airbnb, but click here to go through Nick + Anna’s website. With our Villa, we have a beautiful view from our patio. It is very quiet & away from the hype of Santorini, which was SO NICE. Santorini is touristy so I was happy our villa was a little off the path. We were not too far from the grocery store either, which was perfect for making breakfast. Although we never met Nick + Anna, they have some AMAZING staff working for them. We LOVED them – ALL of them. They were personable, comical, and even hung out with us outside of work. Anna makes homemade Jam & they had complimentary breakfast, fruit, and even a bottle of champagne in the fridge.

From the moment our transportation arrived at our location drop-off, Nick’s employees were waiting on our arrival. They grabbed all our bags & told us to go get breakfast & they would take care of everything else and to call them when we were down to let us in. So we had breakfast at Passaggio (see image below), which was the first place we stumbled upon. Once we arrived back to the Villa, we were shown around, given directions, and even recommendations. One thing to know about Oia is that is it KNOWN for its sunsets. People flock to Oia in the evenings to see some of the most stunning sunsets…. soo our host told us he made us reservations for a roof-top dinner at a local restaurant we could walk to so we did not have to fight the crowds to see the sunset. We could simply enjoy a meal while watching the sun go down. They never pressured us, but told us if we would not like the reservation to let him know & they would cancel it. How sweet was that?! They always informed us, they would serve us in transportation for anything we wanted to do, just call them.

DAY 1:

We arrived, unpacked, got changed & headed to Ammoundi Bay. It is a hike down from Oia, but that’s part of the experience. There are 300 steps you must take to get down to the bay & yes, that means 300 back up to Oia. CRAZY workout, but the views are unbelievable & you get to pass donkeys on the way. Once we got down to Ammoundi Bay, we went cliff jumping & by we, I mean Brett + Kate did. Now that I am single income & self-employed I can’t do all the crazy things… So I refrained, but I still went swimming! It was so refreshing after that hike & such beautiful views. After some swimming, sightseeing, and hiking, we went to our roof-top dinner our hosts suggested. See images below …

DAY 2:

We enjoyed coffee on the balcony & got ready for our hike ahead of us. We decided to hike from Oia to Fira, which was over a 5 hour deal. It was BEAUTIFUL !!! I can’t wait for you to see those photos. Make sure you take plenty of water, your camera, and some snacks along the way. Once we arrived in Fira, we had a sit down meal. I think this was one of my all time favorite meals too. Everything was AMAZING!! You can see the name of that restaurant and see our food below. Brett decided to run back (he’s crazy), the the three of us called our hosts to set up transportation to have them pick us up. They partner with VIP transportation and all their employees were wonderful to us. Once they dropped us off back at our place, we got in the pool and relaxed for a good while before getting dressed for our photo shoot (duh) and going out for sunset/dinner. We had some of the best gyros EVER (again, see below).

DAY 3:

Again, through our hosts, we booked a private boat tour for our last day in Santorini. It was just the 4 of us on the boat & they took us to hot springs, black beach, red beach, and so on. They also provided a meal for us & sadly I hate seafood so it was not enjoyed by me. Although I did try OCTOPUS !!! Who am I ?!?!?! They too were wonderful & provided such great service. It was one of the most relaxing moments of my life. When I say Nick & his team of employees & partners go above and beyond I mean it. We technically had to be checked out of our Villa, but our transportation guy, that was taking us to our boat tour, took all of our luggage & dropped it off at his bosses house while we were on the boat. Then, he picked us back up, picked up our luggage & took us to the ferry drop off to get to the next island.

Also, even if you do not book one of Nick + Anna’s Villas, they will still act as a service to you in helping you book private tours or setting up transportation… so be sure to check out their website above.

Enjoy Santorini as much as I did through these pictures 😉

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