Santorini, Greece

After a brutal train ride, I arrived in Athens early in the morning, just in time to catch the ferries out to the islands. Unfortunately though, none were bound for Ios that day, so I just jumped on the ferry to Santorini, one of the most picturesque Greek islands. The Aegean Sea is a crystal-clear blue and the weather hasn't been anything but perfect since I arrived, making it a wonderful area to relax and have fun. The island of Santorini has towns perched on the edge of huge cliffs, whitewashed square buildings, churches with bright blue roofs, and winding little stone alleys that snake through the towns. As if that wasn't enough, just west of the island is a large black volcano easily seen from the large towns. While the place is overrun by tourists, the scenery and architecture give it a feel of Greek authenticity if you pretend a little bit. I'm glad I got to see the island, as there is nothing quite like it, but I'm also glad I only spent one night there, because it's just a little too boring. After spending a night there and an afternoon looking around, I was able to get a ferry to Ios. As I said, it is quite picturesque, so here are the pictures!:

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Details:
There are two trains from Istanbul a morning and a night. They both take a little less than 24 hours. I took the morning train ($70/50€ plus $9/6.50€ supplement at Greek border plus $12/8.50€ bed supplement at Thessaloniki, departs 08:30). First you go to the Turkish border, get the passports stamped, then stop at the Greek border, get your passports stamped and wait for a few hours for the train to Thessaloniki. That one arrives around 23:00 and it will be a very close connection to make it on the train to Athens, so just go to the platform and insist that you must get on the train and you'll pay the supplement on the train. Then you arrive at about 06:00. I'm not sure this is the best way to do the route, perhaps a train to Southwestern Turkey and a ferry from there would be a better option. Anyways, from the train station (you are at Larissa Station), take the metro to Piraeus, the port of Athens ($1.40/1€). This will leave you right at the port. There are some ticket offices there. If you are looking to save some money, book your ferry to the closest island and get off at whichever one you would like, they don't check the tickets as you leave, with the exception of very full ferries and ferries bound for Piraeus. The fare to Santorini from Piraeus is $47/34€ one way on the slow boat. If you are on a budget, stay in Perissa, the beach is right there and it is much much cheaper than staying in the classic towns of Fira or Oia. I stayed at a nicer place for $21/€15€ but there are much cheaper places there, reportedly as low at $8/5€. Buses connect Perissa and the rest of the island $3/2€ with fairly frequent service and there are also ATV and moped rentals ($17-21/12-15€ per day).