Phew it has been rather hectic these days so I haven’t gotten around to updating. I’m so way behind time (almost a year late!) but I’m determined to get this done!
On our third day for Santorini, we went on a road trip to the beaches around town. We decided to rent a car since it was nearly the same as renting two ATVs (if I recall correctly, it was 60 Euros for one car which was good for four people). Plus the sun was merciless!
But of course before setting off, we had the luxurious breakfast as usual.
Sky looks so gloomy here haha but it was hot af
We packed the extra bread as usual and piled onto the car for our road trip! The roads at Santorini tend to be narrower so it’s not that easy to drive there. Since the city is so small we took maybe 20 min to reach the Red Beach.
Dropping by the convenience store to buy snacks and chilly drinks, I remember trying to buy sunblock because it was so scorching hot and I didn’t bring one. IKR? At that point I was still at the heck skin care kind of stage, it was really bad looking back at the photos because my skin was peeling and my face was uneven af because of the burned areas. I looked horrible. I actually think this is one of the reasons Europe wasn’t as memorable for me as the other trips, because I was so unprepared for both the cold AND the scorching sun. So either I was peeling and burning everywhere, or freezing to death most times. That definitely dampened my spirit most days.
I digress.
So, after parking our car and grabbing our snacks, we actually got quite confused because not sure where to go to the beach. There were no obvious signs and turns out you just had to follow the path and climb a little bit to navigate the cliffy areas to get down to the beach area.
Rockfall warning signs but this was the only way through to the beach
Once we did navigate the complicated paths, we were treated to a pretty sight that gave the beach its name!
Probably because of the off-peak period, the beach was really empty and there were only a couple of us chilling around. No beach umbrellas or chairs like how it looks on Google search. Quite deserted actually. We just pulled a broken chair nearby to put all our stuff haha.
The BF chilling with the beer. As you can see at the background, not many people and everyone just sitting around near the rocky areas.
Can’t see the red rocks oh well.
There wasn’t really anyone swimming tbh so we didn’t either. We didn’t stay for long, maybe just half an hour.
To be very honest, Red Beach was a pretty sight but not a place I’d go back to if I had the choice. I guess we were kinda underwhelmed by how different it was compared to photos online.
We headed off to Kamari beach next! Now this one was love!
Leading up to Kamari beach itself, there was a whole touristy complex of accommodation, food and shops. I think we all agreed we liked this much better than Red Beach because it feels so much more alive, despite the beach itself actually being rather empty.
We stopped by for lunch first at an Italian restaurant, where everybody’s moods are noticeably brighter compared to the meh feel at Red Beach. I remember we started joking around again and also I think the rest were super happy to have pizza and pasta haha.
Lunch!
The beach itself!
Kamari beach is actually made up of these tiny pebbles rather than sand which was at first really hot to walk on haha. But after we got used to it, it was super nice to lie down and enjoy the warmth since the weather was still rather chilly. Cool winds, warm ground – one of the best feelings in the world!
The planes flew so close!
Only the BF and Terence went to play a bit in the waters. I was lying down when I take this shot. Such a lovely feeling lying on the warm pebbled beach.
Not forgetting to take a shot of our cute car!
We left around 4pm and headed back. On the way I was requesting for us to make a slight detour to drop by Santorini’s famous local brewhouse that produces Yellow Donkey, Crazy Donkey and Red Donkey beers. The brewhouse is called Santorini Brewing Company, can be found on the map. I’m not a fan of beer but the logo is cute af and you’d see the beer everywhere in the shops. We weren’t sure if were were too late but we dropped by anyway.
Crazy donkey!
When we went there, they were already closed and they had info on when the tours are held and when they are open for business. That was really sad. I was kinda indignant though so I actually pushed through one of the doors and it opened. Hahaha. A woman came out to talk to us and Calvin managed to convince her that it’s our last day in Santorini and we were really hoping to see around. She hesitated but told us she’ll let us in, but only to purchase the beers.
Okay that was good enough.
The front of the brewery. As you can see, closed 😦 Go earlier and check the timings if you want a tour.
Damn cute how they have their souvenirs and all.
We bought the different types of beer. Calvin was especially excited to try them all. Later on we drank the beers at night, it was nice. Sorry I’m unable to give a better analysis cuz I just don’t drink in general LOL.
Calvin was arranging them all trying t get a nice shot.
We also picked up our laundry along the way. They have tons of laundry service shops around so it was a good opportunity for us to wash everything while we traveled. The laundry shop messed up our laundry big time though. After the first bag, I was checking and found a couple of stuff missing. Calvin had some missing too. We alerted the shop and the lady in charge was so adamant on insisting that we must have thought wrong. She kept telling us to go home and check because we might have forgotten and I was so pissed because half our clothes were missing and we’re damn sure we didn’t leave them at home.
Another lady stepped in and helped us. At least she was nice. She went through the bags to help us search, even going to the back where they hung the laundry. After 10 minutes where we just stood there refusing to leave, another customer came and the lady attended to them. That’s when we overheard the customer exclaiming that those were not her clothes, and the lady turned to us to ask if it’s ours. And voila, there were our missing clothes.
The rude lady finally apologized when she realized she was wrong. Later on we found that our clothes weren’t even dried properly before they were packed in. Lol. Not a positive experience at all. I forgot the name of the shop already, but be careful and check and double check! It’s gonna be such a downer if you lose your clothes overseas.
Check and double check!
We retired to an early night after packing some food. I skipped the fresh food and went straight for Korean cup noodles from the convenience store hahahhahah. I just NEED Asian food, like spicy, soupy and salty stuff, and the past few days didn’t give me that at all.
Tatsed SO good after many days of bread and pasta.
We chilled the night away with Termanda watching shows and drinking donkey beers. Haha.
Twas a good few days in Santorini and it will always be one of the most beautiful islands I’ve ever experienced.
darmawanders 