"Santorini Island...a complete package " a Santorini Island Travel Page by mapakettle

Ma Kettle and I had never heard of Santorini Island prior to March 2004. Thanks to VT Auctions, that all changed.

We were newbies to VT, and just stumbled upon the Auction page (sadly, auctions are no longer a part of VT), saw Santorini Island as an offering, and noticed that the bid time was about to expire. After a 'very' brief discussion (using our trusty Canadian nickel), we decided to go for it, with something like five minutes left to bid.

We had no idea where Santorini Island was, really had no idea of any sort what we were bidding on. The hotel being offered looked great in the pictures, and the amenities seemingly could not be beat for the price we submitted.

Well, we won the auction. Now what...

We waited for bells to ring, lights to flash, confetti to fall from the sky, but alas, silence. Ma Kettle and I looked at each, shrugged, and proceeded to do some research on our next holiday destination. Minutes later, a notice arrived from VT, advising of our windfall. Now they wanted money. Odd how that happens.

Admittedly, we went to bed that night, a touch on the giddy side, with an occasional giggle from Ma Kettle, and a quick jab in the ribs applied by yours truly. Now understand, we're both of retirement age, and giddy really does look best displayed by the youth. Onlookers would just assume we had constipation, as pursed lips on people past the half century mark are really a very composed grin.

Coming from Canada, visiting the Greek Isles is almost a dream, something that happens to the ultra rich, or the very adventurous youth. Ha, we were going to Greece, we thought, but still weren't completely sure of our destination. Just wait til we rub our kids noses in this...Dreamland came easily that night, visions of crystal blue water, huge platters of seafood, bare breasted serving wenches (oops, I have that dream every night), and beautiful clear cloudless skies.

The following week we read countless pages, on both Santorini and on Athens. I admit we didn't rate one page, because there is just so much information offered by our fellow VTers. I promise I shall return and do justice someday soon.

One member stood out however, and that was Denise (Befana) who lives in Venice, but has a Gelateria on Paros during the tourist season. Denise gave us oodles of information regarding ferry service, flights from Venice to Athens, and most importantly, information regarding accomodation at Margaritas Place on Paros where we had decided to go as well. We had great difficulty obtaining ferry schedules, information, which, if you are planning a trip to this area, you probably have already found confusing. Needless to say, ferry service does exist, and booking in advance is a big waste of time and expense. Take this advice from someone who was told that very same thing by a dozen other travellers. Fly to Athens, enjoy a couple of days there, and take either a flight from Athens to Santorini, or a ferry. Your choice. But don't let it stress you out. Just be sure you set a few days aside for the wonderful city of Athens. We thoroughly enjoyed our stopover.

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beautiful sun bleached views

The Two Faces of Santorini...

Santorini is a wonderful place to visit. We loved poking about here and there, exploring all the nooks and crannys. One side of the island is very mountaineous, with all the wonderful views, shops, restaurants, and buildings of brilliant white walls with the tradional blue roofs. This is the most photographed portion of the island by far, and for good reason. Be advised it is not for the disabled though, or for those with bad knees or hips, as the walkways are extremely steep and winding. The sun is very hot, and can be hazardeous if care is not taken. However, when you look out over that wide expanse of beautiful blue water, all the energy exerted and body fluids expelled have been worthwhile. It is a sight you will never forget, nor would you ever want to.

The other side of the island offers the beaches, however they don't have the fine white sand you might expect to find. Instead, the black sand is the end result of all the volcanic action experienced by the island, and walking the beach is not a pleasurable act because the black sand becomes extremely hot as the day progresses and also gives way beneath your feet, making walking tedious and difficult. Many sections of the beach offer boardwalks for the wise to tread upon...suggest you do the same. You will find many woman sunbathing topless, all ages and sizes, and at first it was a novelty for this red blooded male. However, show restraint, show respect, and wear dark glasses.

Part of our hotel package included pick up at the airport. Bonus. Our driver was there as promised, and he was very pleasant, and remained the nicest person we met throughout our entire stay. We collected our baggage, in fact simply removed it from the overhead compartment as we were now officially 'backpackers', and deplaned directly on to the sunny tarmac.

The sun was wonderful, even though it was late in the day. Athens airport workers decided to call a strike this day, and their action caused our flight to be cancelled for about eight hours. That is another story, but if anyone cares to know where the most comfortable seats are, and the location of the cleanest restrooms in Athens airport, just ask. I can tell you that the least used seating can be found in the Arrivals area, and whole sections are yours for the asking. Food kioshes are less frantic in this area as well, as people just arriving in Athens are anxious to sample Greek crusine, real food, not airport eats.

However, I digress. Off to our hotel. Turned out to be only a hop, skip and a jump from the Santorini airport. In fact, we could easily have walked five minutes from the terminal, climbed the fence separating the runway from our hotel, and beaten our driver back. Yes, our hotel was located right beside the runway. However, on the bright side, we learned the arrival and departure times of every flight that serviced Santorini Island, including all the night flights. Saves having to read a timetable any day.

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view from the first suite we were offered

Check in at Damea Palace Hotel...

Finally, we had reached our dream destination. Our vacation on the Greek Isles was about to begin. We had a beautiful One Bedroom Deluxe Seaview suite at Damea Palace Hotel to look forward to. Admittedly it was directly across from the landing strip, but hey, who knew, a minor inconvenience. Besides, sleep is for the young.

We were welcomed by a lovely young lady who wore a beautiful smile. Check-in was swift and efficient, with no credit card to present, after all we had already paid months ago. This pleasant young lady quickly told us about the amenities the hotel had to offer, which included daily shuttle service to Thira or Kamari. We were then shown to our Deluxe Seaview One Bedroom Suite, and left alone to enjoy our new digs.

Problem was, it wasn't a suite, rather an efficiency style hotel room, with a crappy kitchen table, and a refrigerator that almost toppled over when I opened the door (it was sticky). The bed seemed smaller than a regulation sized double, and everything appeared a bit ratty, and threadbare. Ma Kettle and I looked at one another, and were crestfallen. The bathroom had a lingering smell of...well...a bathroom, however still unused by present company.

The sea view, ha, well, we 'could' see the water, but I know that the position I had to assume to do so, would do damage to my neck eventually. The balcony overlooked shrubbery that had seen better days.

I was not pleased, Ma Kettle was not pleased, therefore that meant we were most unhappy. This room was nothing like the pictures shown on the VT Auction site as being the super duper Deluxe Seaview One Bedroom Suite we bid on, and where was this glorious view we had envisioned for the preceeding few months.

We returned to the friendly desk clerk, and advised that obviously a mistake had been made, we were tourists, not hired help. (just joking, as we were 'very nice', but questioning).

She lost her smile, but to her credit, remained pleasant and ran to retreive the owner/manager. Now I had exchanged numerous emails with this lady over the previous few months, had shared a couple of jokes, so I felt confident that things were about to get better. Wrong...

She was most insistant that we could see the water from the balcony of that room. She asked where we were standing when we looked?? We discussed the merits of a Deluxe One Bedroom Seaview Suite, and mentioned that a suite has a separate sleeping area...just like the pictures on the VT site. Just like the one we bid on... and had paid for months before.

This most helpful owner/manager turned her back to us, mumbled something under her breath, then turned to the poor desk clerk, pointed off handedly, then proceeded to her office, with nary a return glance our way.. The desk clerk grabbed another key from the pigeon hole, and led us to a different section of the resort.

The new room closely resembled the photos we had seen on VT, but was still a bit shabby. However, it was a suite, of sorts, but somewhat smaller than 'imagined'. The bathroom still had the aroma of fresh excrement, and the balcony still had a less than perfect sea view. The floors were a tad dusty, the painted surfaces required a fresh coat, but, to be fair, it was constructed of beautiful marble...
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Please Note: VT must not be viewed as being responsible for the hotel fiasco in any way. If the hotel was unhappy to allot a room to us due to the amount we paid, they should have requested a reserve bid, or minimum be imposed prior to being offered to the public.