It doesn't get any better than this

Our cruise boat pulled into Santorini in the early morning, and we moored very close to the cliffs on Santorini, a little boat ride away from the actual dock. This was the view off the back of the boat.

The island of Santorini used to be a circle. Then after a volcanic eruption the centre bit disappeared under the sea, creating the darker blue water that is now in the middle of the land masses, called the Caldera.

This was our very first view of the trademark blue and white architecture of the Greek islands. We thought the name of the café was kind of cool, too.

We hopped on a bus and drove up to the little town of Oia, which is the most picturesque. And then we spent the morning wandering around, enjoying its perfection.

Almost everywhere we go, we see sleeping dogs.

Seriously, it doesn’t get any better than this.

You saw a lot more of Oia in my ‘Snapshots of Santorini’ post.

The bus then took us to the main town on Santorini, Thera. I thought this image (snapped from the bus) was an excellent representation of Greek island perfection meeting reality.

It used to be that the only way to or from the town of Thera perched up on the ridge was by donkey. Nowadays there is a cable car to take people directly up and down, but there are still a few donkeys available if a tourist wants the old fashioned option.

The doors to the hotels look like they lead to absolutely nowhere, because of the steep drop off. There are definitelysome stairs leading downwards from this doorway, I checked.

Instead of returning to the boat for lunch, we found a lovely little restaurant and sampled some of the local delicacies, namely tomato balls (essentially deep fried tomato-flavoured batter), and fava (like hommus, but from a different kind of bean), pictured below.

We’re almost jealous of ourselves, looking at this image.

After such a big meal, we definitely needed a siesta. Such a hard life.

I got to know a Greek god a little better.

Time for a coffee with a view.

Tom was in desperate need of a hat, so we decided on this one. Perhaps not the most fashionable, but easily smooshed up into a bag.

We admired more of the beautiful colours…

Tom met his match in a bronze seahorse.

We were captivated by our own shadows…

And the very cute signs.

Tom seriously considered becoming a statue, with a backdrop like that.

And then we found this place. And couldn’t bring ourselves to leave.

Ten points for figuring out who has made an appearance again!

Since of course we couldn’t enjoy this view without ordering something, we went with a waffle. Not exactly a traditional Greek dessert, but we saw it on so many menus we couldn’t resist this time.

Of course we then had to walk it off, so continued around the town. This was as close as I ever got to a donkey. This one may have had a political message. Hmm... not the best shot of me. I promise I'm not that fat...yet! Give me some time in Italy though, and I may just get there.

And once again, the view stopped us in our tracks.

So of course, we had to stop and enjoy another drink.

One final photo together, with our cruise boat visible on the right.

Then it was time to hop on the cable car back down to the dock.

Tom may have been a little too enthusiastic.

And so ended our perfect day in Santorini. It’s going to take a lot to top that.