Exploring Oia

Oia! You might be tempted to pronounce this town “oy-ya” like I did,
but you’ll quickly be corrected by a smiling local that it is in fact said “ee-ya.”

This is the iconic Santorini spot that you see in photos and imagine when you
picture the island. It’s the top tourist destination and come summertime, the
narrow streets are packed full with tourists and cruise ship day-trippers. We
decided to stay in the overlooking town Imerovigli because of this, but we spent
a good amount of time in Oia as well. Because we came in April just before the
true busy season, we were pleasantly surprised to find a gorgeous quiet town
that fulfilled all of our Greek isle dreams. We had breezy 75 degree weather and
just a handful of other tourists, which is pretty different from what people describe
in the summer. Either way it would be amazing! The first morning we hiked from
our hotel all along the coastal trail to Oia. It was about 7 miles of steep beauty, and
landed us in the town for a day of jumping in the sea, eating fish, and wandering. 
It’s always interesting to finally make it to a place that you’ve
seen so many photos of. I always like seeing how it is in real
life vs. my imagination. There is nothing that can compare to
experiencing a place for yourself, whether it’s good or bad.
We went straight through town and down to Ammoudi Bay for a dip in the
sea + a memorable lunch. We were hot and hungry hikers by this time!
This is the port you can ride donkeys up to town from, but I was
afraid my pregnant belly would tip over on it :) We opted to walk!
We sat down at the much-recommended Dimitri’s Taverna
which lived up to every good recommendation…including our
besties Tom & Tammi who had eaten here on their honeymoon.
It is the freshest fish in the best of settings – WOW. 
Everything in this country seems to begin with some version of a Greek salad.
Not complaining, except that I could never eat the feta!
Next came some calimari, always a favorite of Chase’s ^^
^^ FAVA. One of my favorite Greek dishes that we discovered while
here. It sounds different, but it’s a yellow split peas purée made locally
from Santorini. It’s like hummus but probably even healthier! It’s so
creamy + rich + delicious and it very quickly became a favorite of mine.
Fresh lobster with a view of the sea ^^
My very favorite was the simple, FRESHEST sea bass with the owner’s
homemade sauce made up of olive oil, lemon juice, and oregano. It was
so simple but melted in the mouth with each bite. Mmm mmm mmmmm!
We had some fresh octopus + famous Santorini tomato fritters mixed in ^^
Somehow we ended our long heavenly lunch with some baklava + gelato.
I have had some less-than-delicious (overspiced) baklava before so I wasn’t
sure, but this was done just the right way and we fell in love! It was paired
with local gelato from Lolita’s and Chase and I were fighting over each last bite.
^^ What a memorable lunch here at Dimitri’s! Do not miss it.
We passed up the donkeys on the way back because we felt the need
to walk off a bit of that lunch on the hundreds of steps back to town.
They sure were cute though! ^^
^^ Baby bump grew a bit after that big lunch! :)
After some more walking we felt like we deserved yet more gelato from
famous Lolita’s…and so we did just that! Pistachio + greek yogurt favor.
We also paired chestnut flavor + dark chocolate. YUMMMM!
Finally (mannny hours later) we stopped in at the prettiest hotel in Oia
to enjoy the sunset from this end of the island. Since our hotel was back
in Imerovigli, we did dinner reservations at Canaves Oia and enjoyed the
last hours of the sun at the pool before having a light dinner with the sunset.^^ We sipped some strawberry banana smoothies by the pool before dinner.
The cool corridor leading to the pool restaurant ^^
Greeks are so good at salad…not just Greek salad, all salads.
I had so many good ones here with the freshest and best combinations!
^^ Darling mini olive trees on the table + the best view.
^^ I think I spied Leonardo DiCaprio dining at the hotel…
…or wait, upon closer look is that Chase? Looking so posh ;) 
My beet salad ^^ Perfection.
We split a plate of souvlaki to end the night ^^
What a day in beautiful Oia!
One more post from sailing Santorini to come.

xo