On our third day on Santorini we decided to check out some of the wines so we stopped in at Santorini Winery for some taste testing. For only 5 euro you can taste 5 wines and also get food to match the wines as they come out. With the two white wines bread was served, and with the reds a platter was bought out with cheese, salami, olives and sundried tomatoes. The finale was the impressive Vinsanto – a sweet red wine which has aromas of cinnamon, honey and vanilla along with citrus fruits. The Vinsanto was accompanied with the most simplest of dessert but we were left fighting with our spoons for the last dollop. The dessert was yoghurt that had been flattened out on the plate and then covered with sweet grapes and their syrup. Heavenly!

On the last day in Santorini we went on one of the many sunset cruises which takes you to the volcano that could erupt in 60 years, the hot springs (that weren’t that hot) and then to lunch on Thirassia island. Straight of the boat on Thirassia there was a row of restaurants on the water all offering similar souvlaki’s – we settled for Kamapa which seemed to have the biggest seafood souvlaki’s we could see. The seafood mixed grill was huge and had on it; lobster, prawns, oysters, crab, octopus and shrimp plus it came with the most succulent lemon potatoes and Greek style rice. We also had some rather tasty cheese balls and a prawn souvlaki to share.

The end of the cruise landed us in Oia – the magical end of Santorini where all the postcard pictures are taken. We noticed a restaurant that stood out from the rest – it looked older and breathed quality so we booked a table for later that night. We made our way back to Oia around 9:30pm that night to end our Greek trip on what we hoped would be the most memorable meal of the trip. We were not disappointed. The interior of 1800 was very old world and charming, the  service faultless and not pushy like down town Thira. At the time we had no knowledge of the place – now reading their website, the history of the building is remarkable and I cannot wait to go back there one day.

For entree Lauren and I shared The Rabbit (that is how they name dishes) which came with eschalot and orange juice sauce, warm brioche with fresh herbs and rhubarb sautéed with warm eggplant. This rabbit was simply the best rabbit I have ever eaten. For mains Amelia and I had The Pig which was pork belly rested in the oven with chocolate cereals, lime sorbet and with extra sauce filled up in a plastic burette that was inserted into my pork belly. Back track. Yes I did say Lime Sorbet. Yes when I cut through my luscious pork belly I did spoon some sorbet onto my meat and yes it was delicious. Who thinks of this stuff?? Magical. I am a massive pork belly fan and this was up there with the most delicious – 9.5/10. I would have given it 10 out of 10 if I could have one more piece!

Lauren had The Fish which was Sea bass stuffed with prosciutto and cooked in a artichoke broth along with artichoke cream and vegetables. This was exquisite also, cooked to perfection with creative flavours and according to Lauren 9/10. For dessert I had the Ivoire chocolate which consisted of white chocolate mousse flavoured with lime on a chocolate biscuit.

The charming Oia bought our Greek trip to a memorable end. I was so glad we made the effort to get out of Thira and have an amazing evening – it was definitely one to remember.

Arriving at Santorini at dusk we were amazed by the sheer height of the island. The view of the ocean as we winded up the road in the bus was simply ‘amazing’ (amazing was our key word for the trip and although I should use other words for the purpose of the blog I really feel it continually sums up everything)!

We were staying in Thira at the Sunrise Hotel. It was very quaint – not quite what we were used to after our Mykonos accommodation but with Santorini being a bit more expensive then Mykonos if you’re on a budget it is a good place to stay.

We ventured into Thira and after having a few pesky men telling us to go into their restaurant we settled on Argos which had a good view of the sea and seemed to have some good old fashioned Greek food like moussaka, stuffed capsicums and an array of platters.

We asked for the Greek Salad and instead we were persuaded to have the more expensive (but I have to admit delicious and well worth it) Santorini Salad. It had lettuce, raisins, cherry tomatoes, sundried tomatoes, pine nuts and parmesan- it was super fresh and even I (I try to like salads but I generally don’t love them) LOVED this salad.

We were also presented with fresh bread with olive dip -which we found out at the end of the night we were actually charged for. It isn’t a big deal – and if the service had been attentive and friendly we probably would not have blinked but the vibe set in that we weren’t in our beloved Mykonos anymore. For mains, Lauren had the vegetarian moussaka, Angela had the mushroom risotto and Amelia and I had the Greek Platter for two. It had veal, roast potatoes, stuffed capsicums, moussaka, tzatziki and hummus. Everything was perfect – the veal was extremely tender and fell away easily and the moussaka was very delicious.

 On our first full day in Santorini we hired our quad bikes and rode down to Kamari beach. The beach at Kamari has black sand and a huge cliff to the right where old Thira once stood. For a fee you can take a look around and see the ruins of the old houses that once stood there. Back at Kamari we stopped in for lunch at a funky little cafe called Mamma Mia’s where our host was super friendly and the place had a cheerful vibe. We ordered our Gyros for only 2 euro (bargain) and tried a Pork one as they seem harder to come by back in Australia.

We were invited to come back that night and we probably should have as our meal that night in Thira was a bit of a disappointment so much so that we didn’t eat dinner in Thira again and I’m not even going to write about the meal.

The next day we got up super early to watch the AFL grand final at a little pub with an amazing view – at 7am we were already drinking beer and loving our Spanakopita’s from a little bakery down the block.

 After that we had some awesome crepes and a pistachio milkshake then got ready for our next big day.

On the last night in Mykonos we ventured down into town and went right along the waterfront looking for seafood. We ended up at the last restaurant on the water’s edge called Little Venezia. Aptly named as this area of Mykonos truly does look like a miniature Venice. For entree we had the grilled octopus which was deliciously flavoured with lemon and also the mussels with white wine sauce. I have had a few dreams about these mussels since our visit . There had been discussion over the trip with the other girls how they didn’t really like mussels – well I’m fairly certain these ones changed at least changed Lauren’s mind for good. It was just a shame when there were no more Mussels left – I don’t put licking bowls and seafood together as the most normal thing to do but I sure could have slurped up that sauce with a spoon – actually I’m pretty sure I did.

For mains Lauren and I decided to share the 65 euro plate of lobster with Bavette (flat strands of pasta – like linguine). I can only describe this as sensational. The pasta was simple with a modest tomato sauce – they are always the best as I always wonder about the sauces that are so simple yet so rich with colour and flavour. Then the lobster was halved and put on either side of the plate…ridiculously generous and plain awesome. Along with the food, the service at the restaurant was very warm and we made good friends with the waiters and owner – proof of the good nature and time the people on Mykonos give to newcomers.

On our last day in Mykonos we were determined to have pasta at a restaurant that Angela and Amelia had already been too – it displayed all its homemade dried pasta out the front and the girls came back with stories of mouth watering brilliance. Unfortunately they didn’t open until 2pm, and our ferry to Santorini was before then so we kept walking and ended up at a restaurant near the edge of town called Ristorante Casa di Giorgi. We were informed by the waitress that all their pasta was home made. Least we were ticking that box. The menu was lengthy with so many varieties of pizza and pasta. All the pasta’s sounded so nice but I settled on the simple Gnocchi Pomodoro e Basilco ( I have this thing where I must try Gnocchi at a restaurant when I know its home made). I get so angry when I ask if its home made and then it comes out and it clearly is not – how can they blatantly lie!!! This was homemade and the Gnocchi  was melting in my mouth and was delicious. The sauce was fire engine red – was simple but very tasty. I was satisfied. Lauren had pasta with porcini mushrooms, pine nuts, cherry tomatoes and pesto. It was a mountain of heaven! Ang and Amelia both had pizzas and these were an impressive size with super thin bases.

After that we were off to the ferry to begin our last leg of our Greek Odyssey – four nights in Santorini – at this stage I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face – what would Santorini bring???

Mykonos was full of surprises – we assumed we would just party in Mykonos and soak in the beauty of Santorini.  If you are older and feel your partying days are over - don’t be fooled into thinking Mykonos is not for you…it has some beautiful beaches, wonderful restaurants and the people are truly charming.  In Mykonos, they bend over backwards to ensure you have everything you need and will not try and make you buy the most expensive thing on the menu by telling you that the cheaper one is not available (this happens in Santorini) or provide you with bread only to charge you 7 euro (this also happened in Santorini). Don’t get me wrong – we found some amazing places in Santorini also, but the facts are we are tourists on a tourist island and unfortunately in Thira especially (the main town on Santorini) we didn’t have the same nice vibe as we did on Mykonos or in other areas of Santorini.

On Mykonos we stayed at the Grand Beach Hotel  and we were completely  awe struck when we arrived. Simply divine, the hotel is situated at Megali Ammos which is a five minute walk from town and was so lovely. Our rooms were not ready so we waited by the pool and had some food from the pool menu. Greek Salad and yoghurt and fruit with honey. Very fresh and very yum.

On our first night, we went to a jam packed restaurant  called Restaurant Alefkandra. We decided to get two seafood platters for 75 euro each and it was ridiculously fresh – we knew we had landed in Greece. The platter had lobster, calamari, fish, prawns and cuttlefish – the pictures still make my mouth water – it was a great start to our Mykonos experience.

Of course during the day, whilst weaving through the picture perfect white streets of Mykonos (they paint the trunks of the trees white too) the best thing to have is a Yiros, or Gyros to be exact. They are even more awesome with hot chips inside which more Australian Yiros shops should really get involved with. A Gyros along with a Mythos beer and you are in Greek heaven.

The second night we ate at Joanna’s Nikos restaurant which is literally right on the beach. The restaurant is just down from the hotel so it was quite pleasant and relatively quite being away from the main part of town. There was a barbeque around the side of the restaurant and a lot of the meals seemed to be cooked off that.  For entrees we had the fried cheese and Taramasalata and Tzatkizi dips with bread along with seafood courgettes. My main was the grilled Swordfish – I found this to be a bit dry but my friend Angela was very happy with her Carbonara pasta – very simple but amazingly tasty. The restaurant is worth a visit just to sit by the water and feel like you are far far from home.

Athens in 6 hours. The old me would have been panicking as we flew in to Athens – concerned that we only had the afternoon to explore and would we see everything in time? Would I eat everything in time? Luckily, for my sanity I chose to not do any research on Athens – all I asked of the travel agent was to find accommodation in the historical centre so we didn’t have to go far in our limited time. She did just that. On the 26th September four  friends flew into Athens around 4pm, checked into our perfectly central and cheap hotel – The Attalos Hotel which, had perfect views of the Acropolis, downed the small bottles of complimentary Ouzo waiting for us and took off on our own mini Amazing Race. It turns out we didn’t have to rush – it’s Greece! Who rushes there! We decided the walk up to the Acropolis was just too much without a Yiros in our bellies to fuel our path up there. So after having a little look around at the busy restaurants in the Plaka (the oldest section of Athens, it lines the base of the mountain), we settled on one that looked simple and had what we wanted – delicious Yiros. The amount of chicken on the plate was scary but we all managed to finish it off and I really needed a nap after basically inhaling our first Greece meal!  In the Plaka there are loads of restaurants to choose from as well as many souvenir, jewellery and sandal stores but we continued up the mountain keeping in mind we didn’t know for sure when the gates of the Acropolis shut.

Being a Sunday, it was free entry to all the historical sites in Athens  so it was quite busy when we got to the top. The view was amazing from all angles and truly remarkable seeing the Pantheon as the sun was beginning to fade.

As much as I wanted to finish the wonderful afternoon on a mind blowing dinner we were all so full from our late lunch -so we stopped in at a restaurant with a pushy Maitre de and informed him we just wanted a light appetiser and some wine nothing more. This was fine and we settled in to sip our red wine, have our olive oil and bread with olives and listen to the live Greek music, utterly exhausted but so happy to be in Athens and excited with our plans for the next day. After we had outstayed our welcome ( there was some money slapping on the table when they realised we really weren’t ordering any mains!) we weaved out way back through the Plaka looking in all the shops that obviously stay open quite late.

Before going to Athens we were told it was dirty and that it wasn’t worth staying there too long. We found the opposite – apart from the usual city mess – I found Athens to be far more cleaner and charming then Rome – I absolutely cannot wait to go back and spend a few more days there – seeing what I missed, eating way more food, and just spending time soaking in its relaxed energy.