6th September - Imerovigli to Oia, Amoudi Bay and return

 I set the alarm for 5:30am so we could be up and on our way early but it didn’t go off! On the one day where we needed to be up early so that we could beat the crowds to Oia, we slept in till 6:30am. We quickly got ready, had breakfast and set off at 7am. It was a lovely cool, clear morning and promised to be a hot day. We passed a few cave like hotels where the rooms all had individual spa pools. We are glad where we are staying is very private and our pool is right on the cliff edge with nothing in front but clear air.




The walk was easy to follow but the terrain was difficult in places with holes in the pavement, rough gravel, rocky ground and loose pumice in places. By the time we made it to Oia at 9am the crowds were starting to arrive but we were still able to get photos without anyone else in them. 


Small church we passed on the path

Well signposted route

Church in Oia before the hoards decended
By the time we found where the spot to take the picture of the iconic 3 blue domes was, there was a queue about 30 people deep so we decided to take a photo from an alternate spot.

Random stranger offered to take our picture but didn’t quite get it right 
We wandered around the streets, visited the castle where a guy was playing a bouzouki so I took a video to capture it.

We walked all the way down to Amoudi bay along the road and back up to Oia via the zigzagging 200+ steps. By the time we got back to the top the place was heaving with people and we saw a girl having a flying dress photo shoot.




The walk back was very hot and uncomfortable, luckily the little food stand we passed in the morning was open so we stopped and had a coke. A little further on we found some discarded ice 🧊 outside a hotel so picked up a few pieces to cool our wrists down.

We showered and headed down to the pool back at the hotel. It was wonderfully refreshing and we had fun taking a few selfies.






Later in the evening we had a lovely dinner on our balcony and watched the sun set over the caldera and there were even a few fireworks to end the evening. Another perfect day in Greece.





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