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Other areas of interest to us were the lighthouse at the very southern tip of the island which, we are SURE, we could see from our PRIVATE terrace (lol- I never get tired of saying that - it will probably be the only time in our lives that this is the case!). Here are just a few of the great scenics we passed by - as I said, once you get away from Thira, Santorini is a different place altogether!


Truly, these photos speak more eloquently than I ever could of the raw beauty of this magical place. We fell in love all over again with the Santorini of myth. Even as we drove further inland, we were not far from the ocean and that magnificient caldera.


When we finally reached the southernmost tip, we walked to the very edge of the island and were blown away - physically and figuratively. It was WINDY!








In our travels, we happened upon a very charming and quaint little community called PYRGOS. Something about it just called to me and I would love to have had the chance to spend more time here. I can just picture myself sitting here on this bench, soaking up the sunshine and the ambience with a nice glass of retsina and cheese and olives.... Karel and I say "YAMAS!"

And of course, the ubiquitous whitewashed church with sky blue dome can be found in every village. Or in the middle of a field out in the countryside. Or on the edge of a cliff. It is truly a symbol of Santorini. Very special!





The final stop on our tour this day was the famous ART SPACE Gallery in EXO GONIA.
It is an AMAZING OLD winery (vineyards out back and all) that has been in this family for hundreds of years and has changed entities several times through the years. Now it is an art gallery with some of the most INCREDIBLE artwork in a truly unique setting (feels like being in a subway tunnel). It was fascinating to speak to Antonis, the friendly and very informative owner. We sampled several of the wines they make and quite enjoyed them. Never really thought of Greek wine as a world favourite but it was really very good so I bought a nice bottle of white for 10 euros.

Got back to the hotel around 6:00pm and wandered around taking tons of photos of our little treasure. So gorgeous and unique!















Andreas - the most wonderful young man. He brought us our breakfast in the morning and looked after every thing we needed. Charming, smart, funny - a really great person to get to know.

I like to call this photo "THE NEIGHBOURS" - oh if only we could all have this much personal space.
But this is REALLY how close we were to our neighbours - and sound carries like you wouldn't believe in this environment so don't be telling any of your most secretive secrets!!

After this MOST stressful of days (wink!!) we poured ourselves a nice glass of the local wine and sat on OUR PERSONAL TERRACE and delighted in the gorgeous sunset. The "plebs" wait around and squeeze themselves into local buses to get to Oia for the legendary sunsets from there .... yes, BUT.... look what WE got!!