Red Beach

Having done the black sand beach, we wanted to see the red beach. The bus to Akrotiri, the town near the beach, was only hourly. So we aimed for the 10:30 am bus and got there just in time - or so we thought. The bus was "full." I use quotes because while there were people up to the doors, there was also a ton of space and people refusing to move in further. We urbanites could see there was a ton of room. Alas, the driver refused to do anything about it and the bus left without us.

After a coffee break, we returned to the bus terminal in plenty of time for the next bus and made it on no problem. On arriving at the Akrotiri beach terminal, a bunch of us started walking in the direction indicated by the sign. There was a little pier with a sign for the red, white & black beaches, but the owner of the nearest taverna said the boat was not running (we later found out it was too windy). So we all started walking together, laughing because none of us knew where we were going!

We did manage to get to the right place - a stunning overlook of the beach and the trail down. Charlotte commented that we thought we'd be going without our hilly hike that day...! By the time we got to the small stretch of beach, we were hot, sweaty, and ready for a swim. We set out our belongings and checked out the water. It was very rocky, with large rocks near the shore in some places, and a lot of waves. Standing in the water, our calves were pelted with pebbles when the waves came in. We went back and put on our shoes, then got in - ahhh.

Although we hadn't been sure we'd spend the entire day at the beach, we ended up doing just that. There weren't too many people as it was a little difficult to get to. The people watching was great, though, and the sound of the waves was relaxing.

We finally decided we were hungry around 4 pm and hiked back toward the terminal. We ate at a fish taverna that my cousin had let me know about - it had been in Bon Appetit! The decor was very cute and the food.... we agreed that it may have been the best of the trip. I indulged in an order of mussels -have to get some seafood at a fish taverna - and they were delicious.

We finished our meal just in time for the next bus, which was lucky as there was a 2 hour wait after that!

On the way from he beach to the taverna, there had been a stand with traditional Santorini products, so we bought a bottle of wine. Back in the room, we stuck the wine in the freezer while we rinsed off from the beach, then went out on the balcony to enjoy our wine and the evening view. A couple of hours passed very pleasantly before we decided to go into Fira and have a look around.

Neither of us were hungry as we'd eaten lunch so late, so we ended up poking around in all of the shops that were open. The evening was capped off with a drink - champagne for Charlotte, vinsanto for me. Then back to the room to rest up for our last day in Santorini and the flight back to Athens.