Mystical Santorini, Greece

We visited Santorini in Aug 2016. This was our second visit to Greece - we had previously visited Athens and Crete in 2012 (blog link)

Santorini

Santorini is one of the most touristic islands in Greece. By some counts, 6 million tourists visited Santorini in 2015. The main touristic months are April-Sep; it gets the most crowded in Aug, and it also gets pretty hot then with temperatures reaching 40 degrees celsius. So July is probably the best month to visit Santorini.

Santorini is actually pretty close to Crete, and there are regular ferries running between the two islands. So it is quite possible to stay in one and visit the other for a day trip. Of course, a day trip is never nearly enough to explore the true beauty of the place.

As this is Greece, there is of course plenty of Greek mythology associated with Santorini. According to one such legend, Santorini was the 'Lost city of Atlantis' before the volcanic eruption (link). So feel free to look for it while you are there :)

Santorini is a big island and there are primarily two cities where you can stay: Oia and Fira. From the airport, Fira is like a 20 minutes drive, while Oia is another 20 minutes further from Fira.

Oia

Comparing Oia (pronounced 'Ia') and Fira, Oia is the more laid-back, picturesque, and "expensive" destination; while Fira is the bigger city with a bigger market and nightlife. So choosing between the 2 really depends on your tastes and budget.

Yes, there are (ultra) luxury accommodations in both Oia and Fira, so it is a bit difficult to compare between the two as a "luxury" destination; however in general there are more luxurious hotels in Oia, and the prices of restaurants and souvenirs are also higher in Oia.

Also, if you are interested in photography, and want to capture the signature "blue domes" or stunning sunsets in Santorini; then Oia is the place that you should stay.

Hotels

Most of the hotels, at least the good ones; have rooms facing the Caldera. Without going into a lot of scientific details regarding how the whole region was formed, suffice it to say that there was a huge volcanic eruption hundreds of years ago - which led to the creation of a huge crater (the Caldera). So for hotels facing the Caldera, you get amazing views of the water filled crater with volcanic mountains in the background; whichever way you look!

We stayed at Mystique, which is a luxury hotel by the Starwood group. If you collect loyalty points, this is one of the very few hotels in Oia which is associated with any of the major hotel chains. Location wise, the hotel is perfect: (i) All the rooms offer stunning views of the Caldera. (ii) It is very close to main walking / shopping part of Oia. The hotel has all the usual luxury suspects like the infinity pool, spa, and great restaurants.

Below is a stunning night shot of the hotel:

The only disadvantage, and in fact the main complaint of people in e.g. Tripadvisor reviews; is the number of stairs that you have to climb to reach your room, or even the reception, from the main road. In a way, you can also think of the stairs as one of the most distinguishing features of the hotel, as many local people we talked to knew about the (in)famous "stairs" :)

From our point of view, the stairs can indeed be a bit daunting if you are not in the best shape. The best is to plan so that you only have to climb them once a day. Basically, you have to climb less if you stay at one of their entry level rooms, as they are more towards the top. However, then you would have to descend (climb) more to reach "food", as the hotel's main restaurant, spa and infinity pool are all towards the bottom. OK, in all fairness, they do have an alternate pool and restaurant towards the top as well, so you surely won't go hungry if you are feeling a bit lazy :) Other than that, the staff are super friendly, the rooms are modern and well decorated, and the views stunning - so definitely recommended !!

Exploring Oia

Oia as a city itself is quite small, so you shouldn't have any problems in locating the main (and only) shopping street in Oia. If you are staying at Mystique, exit the entrance on the main road and start walking left - you will be there in 5 minutes.

The street itself is quite long, and it is good that there are no cars allowed on the road. So its great for long leisurely walks in the evening. There are many cafes, bakeries, restaurants, shops, etc. on the street, so it is not that you will get bored!!

While we are on the topic of Oia streets, let us also touch upon the best vantage points to get the classic 'Santorini shot with blue domes' and the perfect sunset. As mentioned earlier, between Fira and Oia; Oia is the place to be if you are a photography enthusiast. The are many churches / buildings with blue domes in Santorini.

However, the characteristic shot is the one with at least 3 domes (below).

To get this shot, keep looking at the alleys on the left (on the sea side) as you walk along the main street. There are 2 or 3 alleys which you will find more crowded than the others - this is usually a good sign that it is one of those vantage points :) Note that the alleys are narrow, and some of them can get very crowded during sunset - so pick your time wisely!

While the alleys provide a vantage point for sunsets as well, the best place are the cafes / restaurants almost at the end of the street (if you keep walking straight - following the main street); most such places have the name 'sunset' in them :) We were recommended the 'Golden Sunset Cafe' by our hotel and it definitely provided perfect sunset views with the windmill in the background (below). But again, book in advance as it gets very crowded during sunset. It is amazing to see the very crowded cafe suddenly becoming empty as soon as the sun sets :)

Sailing

From Oia, let us move on to areas (and activities) worth exploring around Oia. Sailing in the Aegean Sea is a very popular tourist attraction here. As soon as you land in Santorini, you will see brochures advertising cruises all around. There are of course all types of cruises, varying in duration, covering different parts of the island, including lunch / dinner, available as a private, semi-private, or (public) group tour. This might seem like a lot of variable parameters - so if you need a quick one line reply - YES, a cruise (esp. a sunset cruise) is definitely worth it!!

Advantages of taking a cruise include a fast and convenient way of exploring the main beaches in Santorini, e.g. the famous Red and Black beaches, some of which cannot be reached by car.  The boats either leave from Oia or a port in the South of Santorini (Vlyhada Marina). Hotel pickup / drop-off is usually provided if you are staying at a hotel in Oia. There are usually 2 cruises in a day: 'Day' and 'Sunset'. Our recommendation would be to absolutely take the 'Sunset' one if you have time, as the sunsets here are simply awesome (below).

The 'Sunset' cruises usually start at afternoon, cruising leisurely to the Red and Black beaches. Whether they stop at the beaches really depends on the type of cruise you have taken, and here the difference between private and group tours becomes important. If you have taken a private tour, it is of course like you have rented the boat (with crew) for that period; so you can customize the cruise according to your preferences. The opposite is true for group cruises, which have a very fixed itinerary. As expected, private cruises are of course quite expensive. So, a compromise is to take a 'semi-private' cruise where you will be sharing the cruise with max. 5-6 others; and the cruise can be tailored to a reasonable extent to your wishes.

FYI, we took this 'semi-private' cruise offered by Santorini Sailing Center (link) - and we can absolutely recommend it! We shared the cruise with two other couples and the crew were super friendly and accommodating. We stopped (and swam) close to both beaches, and in the hot springs as well. The water at the hot springs is very rich in iron and manganese -  so be sure to wear a swimsuit which you do not mind getting stained :)

After exploring the beaches, the boat moves to a quieter and more stable (less rocking) place where dinner is served. The crew usually cooks it fresh during the cruise. After the sumptuous dinner, the boat starts cruising again, as the sun starts setting. Take a glass of champagne and enjoy the sun going down in all its glory. Soon after the sunset, the boat docks at its destination port: and you are driven back to your hotel with memories of a wonderful day.

Fira and Imerovigli 

Fira, as mentioned earlier, is the capital of Santorini and only a 20 min drive from Oia - so it definitely makes sense to visit it if you have some time. It is a big city with a much bigger (read longer) pedestrian shopping area with plenty of shops and cafes / restaurants. You can easily spend a day walking (and getting lost!) in the narrow alleys.

Imerovigli is a picturesque village very close to Fira. So if you are anyway planning to visit Fira, do not miss this hidden gem. It really is a village, so there is not much to do other than relaxing and enjoying the views. It does have a few hotels (mostly mid-range) if you are interested in staying here. In our opinion, it is not worth staying here! It is best for a day visit - having a coffee and enjoying the absolutely stunning panorama. 

Finally, it is worth mentioning the Akrotiri ruins in Santorini - between Oia and Fira - which is also a very popular tourist attraction. The ruins belong to a bronze age settlement which was recently discovered and excavated. They are now preserved in a huge indoor structure (below).  

In our opinion, the ruins are sort of OK, and should not be your highest priority unless you are a history / archaeology student or have a lot of time in your hands :) - you are way better off  sampling the excellent Greek food, sailing, staring at the sunset, or simply lying down in the sun :)

Snowed under in the Finnish Laplands

We visited the Finnish Laplands during Easter 2016.

Lapland is a paradise for nature lovers. It is a remote Arctic region which technically spreads across Finland, Sweden, Norway, and even some parts of Russia. In this blog, we will be covering the Finnish part only.

Finnish Lapland

Once we decided that we want to explore the Finnish Lapland, it was a bit of challenge to fully understand what the region comprises and how best to cover it in a short time. In a way, there is almost too much information with every small village in the region promoting itself to be the best place to experience Lapland.

To start with, Rovaniemi is the capital of Finnish Lapland. As such, it is the city with maximum flight connections, though most flights will transit via Helsinki. So you will need to fly international to Helsinki, and then local to Rovaniemi. From Rovaniemi, how far you want to travel and where you want to stay will most likely depend on how much time you have? If winter activities are your primary goal, there are many tours and travel companies based in Rovaniemi itself; which offer everything from snowmobile rides, to reindeer sleighs, to frozen lake walks, etc.

So the only real reason you might want to venture further is if you want a totally relaxing holiday in the lap of nature - in some remote Arctic village with very few people around. Having said that, even though Rovaniemi is the capital, it is not a very big city by any standards. The city centre (Bus stop: Aallonkatu) primarily consists of the lake bridge and shopping area which you can easily walk around. Aallonkatu is also the stop from which most tours depart from Rovaniemi.

The only other reason why you might want to stay outside Rovaniemi is to be in a better position to experience the Northern Lights. Northern Lights (or Aurora Borealis) is an amazing natural phenomenon to be experienced at least once in your lifetime. Although many Rovaniemi hotels advertise themselves as "Northern Lights" hotels, the chances of seeing Northern Lights are clearly optimized the farther away you are from city lights. In this context, we can recommend the perfect gateway: the Arctic SnowHotel and Glass Igloos (more on that below).

Arctic SnowHotel and Glass Igloos

The Arctic SnowHotel and Glass Igloos is a unique hotel / resort complex - 40 mins drive from Rovaniemi. 

The hotel is located on the shores of lake Lehtojärvi, which is fully frozen in winter. Check out some of the amazing pics of the frozen lake below:

The hotel offers 2 types of accommodation- the Snow Hotel and Glass Igloos.

Snow Hotel

The Snow Hotel is an architectural marvel, which is created fresh out of snow every year. It consists of sleeping rooms, a bar, and church (pics below).

As you can guess from the pics above, sleeping in one of the rooms above is definitely more of an adventure; and you are likely not to get the best sleep of your life. You are basically sleeping on hard ice with just a layer of fur in between. The hotel does provide warm clothing, in case you failed to fully comprehend the "coolness" of the situation. The atmosphere also feels very damp because of the all encompassing water / ice. Having said this, it is still definitely an adventure of a lifetime. So our recommendation would be spend may be one night here, and the rest in the more comfortable glass igloos.

Glass Igloos

As the pic suggests, these are basically wooden cabins which are modeled in the style of igloos. The "glass" part comes from the transparent / translucent roof made of glass. The transparent roofs provide the perfect medium to experience 'Northern Lights' from the comfort of your bed. All the cabins have an attached bathroom and are centrally heated. So they provide the perfect compromise between luxury and ruggedness - you can basically "rough it up" in perfect luxury.

Arctic Ice-breaking Exploration

For those interested in taking the trip, here is the (link).

As mentioned on the website, Sampo used to be icebreaker for the Finnish government. When it was decommissioned, it was refurbished to be used for tourism. You can find most of the essential tour details on the website, so here let us focus here on our observations.

- Yes, we saw the ship breaking Arctic Ice. The experience (and the sound of ice breaking) was pretty amazing to say the least. However, many people on TripAdvisor have complained that they did not get to experience this on their respective tours. Please note that a lot of tours in such remote places are heavily dependent on weather conditions, not just on that day, but the days before - so yes, there is a high probability that you might not get to experience the actual "ice breaking" part - but then that is life!!

- It is a day trip (8 hours) from Rovaniemi.  So yes, you can take it while staying at a hotel in Rovaniemi - you do not need to stay at a hotel in Kemi. Of the 8 hours, you will spend about half the time on the ship - the rest is travel time. If you take the tour from Rovaniemi, then there is first a brief stop at Kemi, where you will have about 30 minutes to explore the Snow Palace (pics below). And, then you will be driven to the port of Ajos, where the ship is docked.

While returning, the bus drops you directly at Rovaniemi (from Ajos) without any stops in between. It will usually be late evening by the time you reach Rovaniemi, so make sure that you have pre-arranged transportation to reach your hotel from the bus stop. While Rovaniemi is "perfectly safe" at night, public transportation including taxis are not very frequent or easy to find. Hence, the advise to pre-arrange your return transportation to the hotel.
The bus has 2 stops in Rovaniemi; if you are not sure which is the closest to your hotel? - opt for 'Aallonkatu' - which as explained above is smack in the middle of the city centre - so it should be easier to find some sort of transportation there (even if you haven't pre-arranged anything).

- During the cruise, the ship stops on a frozen lake; where you are allowed to disembark. The feeling is surreal with nothing but ice all around - check out the pic at the top of the blog. It is completely "white", whichever way you look.

This is also where the famed "swimming in arctic waters" takes place. Now, it is very difficult to predict whether you will like it or not. You are basically given a floating suit which allows you to swim / float on the water. The activity seemed perfectly safe. The tricky part seemed to be in getting in and out of water, where you have to follow a very specific procedure to account for the inflated suit.

Santa Claus Village

The final (and probably the most important reason if you have kids) reason to visit Rovaniemi - is to visit the Santa Claus village. Yes, you heard it right; Santa Claus lives here. Every year during Christmas, he starts from here to deliver gifts to kids all over the world. The rest of the year he works in his office here arranging those gifts.

So yes, if you visit the village, you can meet Santa Claus!! We had to stand in a queue for about 15 minutes to meet Santa; but you can easily expect that to stretch to hours if you are planning to meet Santa during the Christmas / New Year period. They also have an internet TV station where your meeting with Santa will be streamed live - so you can ask your family members to be prepared beforehand - you are going to be a celebrity :)

The village is a 40 minute drive from Rovaniemi, and can be easily reached by public transport. The village is a full resort with hotels and facilities for all different types of activities including theaters, shops, reindeer sledges, etc. So you can also choose to stay here instead of Rovaniemi centre. The village is actually very close to the airport.

Royal Rajasthan - Udaipur

Continuing on our Rajasthan tour, we next cover Udaipur - the 'City of Lakes'.

Udaipur

 

Udaipur is a picturesque city with many lakes nestled among the Aravalli hills, the prominent ones among which are Lake Pichola and Fateh Sagar Lake. Of the two, you are more likely to encounter Lake Pichola. Most of the famous attractions such as City Palace, the luxurious hotels such as Taj Lake Palace, Oberoi Udaivilas, etc. are all located on or around Lake Pichola. 

Taj Lake Palace 

Let me start this blog with a description of our stay at the Taj Lake Palace. Taj Lake Palace is one of the most luxurious hotels in India, which often features among the 'Top 10' hotels of the world (e.g. link). 

If you are a James Bond fan, you would remember this magnificent hotel from the movie 'Octopussy'. The hotel was in fact Octopussy's lair in the movie. And ever since we saw it on silver screen, it was a dream to stay at this hotel.

The hotel is 'very' expensive, even more so if you visit it during the holiday season. However, even before entering the hotel; as soon as you are on the boat taking you towards the hotel - you get the impression that it will be worth every penny you paid.

It is located right in the middle of Lake Pichola. So the hotel reception is actually on the shore, within the premises of the City Palace - so it can be a bit difficult to find the reception. But I am assuming that if you are capable of staying in the hotel, you are sufficiently well-off to hire a local driver / tourist guide - who would know where to go :)

Once inside the hotel, the hotel is very well maintained, and indeed looks and feels like a Palace. There are of course some limitations because of its location, e.g. there is no elevator inside the hotel. But then the hotel is only 2 floors, and the porters carry all your luggage; so you really don't need an elevator. The hotel only has a limited number of rooms, 50 or so, so it feels real "nice and cosy".

One thing to try at the hotel is to have a 'Private dinner' (link) on one of their terraces. Again, it is not cheap - would set you back by approx. 20000 INR - but the food and view are totally worth it. You get to discuss the menu with a "personal chef" who prepares it especially for you. As a result, the food is guaranteed to be outstanding!! 

And, the view (below) just adds to the splendor. There are 3-4 terraces among which you can choose, so the view might be different depending on the terrace - be sure to check it out before you book as it really makes a difference. The view below is from their 'Sarvashresth' terrace.

City Palace, Saheliyon-ki-Bari

As with most cities in Rajasthan, Udaipur also has a Palace - the City Palace. While it is impressive, the "level of impressiveness" might depend on whether Udaipur is the first or last stop in your itinerary :) Basically, it is quite grand and opulent, but nothing very different from the palaces in other cities in Rajasthan. It is nevertheless almost always crowded, and the narrow passageways inside the palace only make the movement of large groups of people more claustrophobic.

Another interesting place (architecturally) is the 'Saheliyon-ki-Bari' (Courtyard of the Maidens). As the name suggests, it used to be the place where the Queen used to entertain her guests. So it quite colorful, with lush gardens and fountains - overall, worth a visit.

Monsoon Palace

The Monsoon Palace (which also featured in the movie 'Octopussy' by the way) is perched atop a cliff. So it is the perfect place to take those panoramic shots of Udaipur city.

The best time to visit the Monsoon palace is during sunset. We were lucky enough to witness an absolutely gorgeous sunset - check out some of the shots below:

Finally, let me close this blog by some night shots of this amazing city! You can capture these from anywhere along the lake - try some of the points from where the ferries leave for the lake cruises.