After 3 nights on Milos we caught a late afternoon ferry from Milos back to Piraeus, arriving after midnight. We went back to Piraeus as a relay point on the way to Santorini, because direct services between Milos and Santorini are infrequent and inconvenient - particularly this early in the season before the wave of summer tourists arrive.
We had an 'entertaining' time trying to locate our hotel in Piraeus in the middle of the night. Even having mapped it out on our gps it was a challenge in the dark and there was noone about to ask directions of. It was with quite a bit of relief that we finally stumbled upon it. The next day we slept in a bit and then took the train in to Athens to visit its famous architectural museum.
Santorini is of course a one of a kind, world famous tourism destination. Its main towns perch at the top of an immense caldera that plunges straight down to the sea. We've imagined coming here for years, but I expected it to be too touristy and a bit of a letdown after the wonderful three weeks that had preceded it.
I was wrong - it's an unbelievable place and one we thoroughly fell in love with. It's no biking destination though - the roads are too narrow and busy, even in the off season, to be pleasurable or really even safe. It wasn't too bad climbing out of the caldera and riding the few miles to our hotel, but once there we were ready to dismount and get around on foot.
In our three days here we did a lot of walking, and also spent a day on a wonderful boat tour of the small islands in the bay. Everything was great, but if I only had one day to spend there it would be on the 12 mile hike along the edge of the caldera from Thira to Ia. Totally amazing.
Santorini is an astonishing place, but no great shakes as a biking destination. Even this early in the season the traffic seemed too heavy and the roads too narrow. After the 5 mile ride to our hotel in Thira we were happy to set them aside for a few days.
