My question was - Is Santorini like it is in the photos and pics you see everywhere? The Greek Islands always sounded exotic to me.
I found it exactly as I expected. Beautiful. Many of the pictures you see are from the Oia area which is where everybody gathers at sunset to take that special Santorini Sunset shot. The funniest part of that I found was that once the sun went down, everyone cheered. I know, weird right??? Haven't seen that happen anywhere else.
All the sunsets and white buildings with blue doors and windows, its all there. You can wander around and breath it in. Old guys playing games on tables in the shade, blue doors and windows everywhere, donkeys tied up on the path down to the sea getting ready to bring up the tourist arriving by boat. Deep pink bougainvillea growing everywhere.
I arrived by plane and shared a taxi with a lovely American couple. Once we arrived in the town area we were approached by many property owners to come and stay at their fabulous place. The first night, just to get my bearings, I stayed in small hotel, it had a lovely little room and bathroom and a view of the sea. Of course I couldn't afford to stay there every night but I had the experience. I then moved on to the only back-packer hostel there at the time and found it pretty interesting. My room was like a cave with a really high ceiling, not the most hygenic space, even had to wear footwear in the shower, but I loved it.
