Santorini
For my BIG birthday, my lovely husband treated me to a 4 night trip to Santorini. It had been at the top of my (long) bucket list for some time.
Let me tell you, it is as dreamy as it looks in the photos. I honestly felt like we had been picked up and put into a postcard.
The view from our beautiful hotel in Imerovigli was amazing. Every day, our breakfast was delivered to our balcony where we sat and enjoyed amazing food with an incredible view.
Our hotel was called On the Rocks and it was exactly that; built into the rocks. Our room was basically a cave.
The staff were so lovely and helpful. The bar and pool were fab. The views from our hotel were insanely beautiful.
Santorini is shaped a little bit like a croissant. Imerovigli is near the middle and has outstanding views of the caldera. It is a 15-20 minute walk from Fira (the capital). However, you'd need to allow much longer to walk there as you stop every 2 minutes to enjoy the view and take photos. It is full of little shops and restaurants, cobbled streets and fab views.
Oia is probably the most popular and busy place to visit in Santorini. I've been told it takes around 2 hours to walk there from Imerovigli but we didn't attempt it as it was so hot. Instead, we hired a car and drove around the island. Oia was beautiful. More cobbled streets, cafes, outstanding views... However, you did have to queue to take photos in some places and we were told that the queue for sunset photos from Oia castle is quite long!
Oia is a definite must see but for us Imerovigli was the perfect place to stay as it was quieter.
We only had a car for a day so squeezed in as much as we could! After a morning in Oia, we headed to the highest point on the island. We then drove on to Kamari which we really liked and said we will go back to. We took a wrong turn and ended up at a cute little restaurant by the sea where we had the most delicious lunch. Fresh fish, tomato fritters and shrimps! From there we visited black beach, white beach and red beach. If I'm lucky enough to go again, I think I would do a boat trip to see these beaches and visit the hot springs too!
In the evening we drove to the lighthouse. It's at the complete opposite end of the island to Oia. We sat there and watched the sunset. It was a lot quieter than Oia. There was around 80 of us I would say. Everyone clapped when the sun disappeared into the sea, which gave me goose bumps!
After a long day out in the car we grabbed a souvlaki takeaway and some beers to have on our balcony.
We were incredibly lucky with the weather and spent the following day on the sunbeds by our pool where we could again enjoy the amazing view of the caldera and the beautiful white and blue buildings in the cliff side.
Photography in Santorini
Obviously from a photography point of view, I was super excited to get to Santorini and take photos. The views were insane and I loved drinking it all in. BUT I did realise that I missed having people in the photos. I'm definitely a photographer of people.
There were A LOT of people having photo shoots. You could hire a big floaty dress and have your photos taken which is very popular. We also saw 2 weddings being photographed. I was so jealous of the photographers. What a place to work! I would love to photograph an elopement in Santorini.
By the end of the holiday, my husband and I had decided we needed some photos of us on my camera rather than selfies on his phone. We took a walk, Sony in hand and took photos of each other. As we headed up the cobbled path, a professional photographer saw us and we got chatting about the camera as he had the same one. He kindly took some photos of us. It did feel pretty strange to be on the other side of the camera and having someone tell me to do the things that I tell my clients to do!
I can't recommend Santorini enough! It's a holiday I will remember forever. I had some much needed time with my husband, exploring and indulging on a beautiful island in the sun. I hope we get to go back one day. So if you are thinking of going my advice would be - GO!
