Santorini to Sifnos (09/08/2009)

On our last day in Santorini (Tuesday, September 8), our ferry to Sifnos didn't leave until 5:30 pm, which gave us plenty of time for a little more sightseeing. We had decided we'd like to go back to Oia, so we could see it a little better without the mad rush and crowds for sunset viewing. The weather was variable -- sprinkling one minute and sunny the next, with lots of wind. But we had a really nice afternoon in Oia, including lunch at an outdoor taverna overlooking the caldera. We made it back to the hotel with no problems, picked up our bags and said goodbye to Panos, our wedding coordinator.

The driver who took us to the ferry port told us about the cruise ship that crashed and sank into the caldera in 2007 -- we had noticed that the area was still marked off as if there were an oil spill and asked what was going on. They had recently brought in a company to drain the oil out of the ship, which sank almost 200 meters and will be there forever. You can read more about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MS_Sea_Diamond or see videos of it here: http://bit.ly/4i8aZF. (After hearing that story, you can bet I paid extra-close attention to the safety video on the ferry...I even had a plan for how I would remove the memory card from our camera and take it with me from the sinking ship, thus saving all our photos.) I don't think the Wikipedia entry has been updated for a while, because our driver told us that the two people who were supposedly missing later turned out to be running a scam for the insurance payoff.

Don't worry, though, we made it to Sifnos just fine, although a little late. The owner of the place we had booked met us at the port in Sifnos and gave us a nice tour of the island on the drive back (even though it was dark). We dropped our stuff off at our place (more like an apartment than a room or suite), and headed out to get some dinner. It was a big adjustment coming from Santorini, which was so crowded and touristy, to Sifnos, which seemed practically empty. The village where we were staying Platys Gialos, seemed like a ghost town! We had a quiet dinner at a taverna on the beach and then enjoyed the rest of the evening on the balcony of our place.



Click here for more photos from this day!