Tuesday, July 04, 2006

Cafés with a view: three breakfasts on Santorini

I will write soon about my three days in Volos, Greece, but here are some pictures from Santorini. I spent 3 days and 2 nights on the island, where my friends Annemieke (Scottish) & Georgios (Greek) got married in a beautiful ceremony on Saturday night. Three days on the island also meant three breakfasts with gorgeous views in the capital, Fira. Now - this being Santorini - the views are always gorgeous, especially if you're eating on the Caldera side of the island. However, you do pay a premium for those vistas. While I'm sure we could have had a breakfast for a fraction of the price on the other side of the town, we were actually happy to splash out a bit for a the visual privilege. It's not every morning that I can sip my frappé while watching cruise ships, ferries and yachts passing by below.

In the interest of research, I had a coffee (cappuccino freddo on day 1 as featured on my new profile photo, frappe on days 2&3) and yogurt with fruit & honey for every breakfast.

Day 1, Friday: Café del Mar e Sol



Best - though priciest - breakfast of the three. The yogurt was thick and creamy, accompanied by lots of fresh fruit and a generous drizzling of honey. Exactly what a girl needs after floating on the sea for 12 hours.
Frappe €4.50, Cappucino freddo €6.00, Ice tea €4.50 Yogurt with fruit & honey €9.00

Day 2, Saturday: Café Ocean


Most disappointing - if cheapest - of the bunch. The fruit salad had obviously been made in advance (or maybe it was me having a particularly late breakfast?), and the bananas had become all mushy. Nice sprinkling of nuts though.
Frappe €3, Yogurt with fruit & honey €6

Day 3, Sunday (morning after the Greek wedding party): Hotel Enigma Outdoor Café



Though the yogurt only came with apples and bananas, these were freshly chopped and the breakfast was a very good value for money, especially considering that the café is part of the pretty expensive Enigma Club entreprise.
Frappe €3.50, Yogurt with fruit & honey €6.50

Now. I'm still not sure which view did I like best. Which one would you choose?

14 comments:

Kalyn Denny said...

Wonderful photos. I think I would choose view #3. I wish I could go there right now.

Anonymous said...

I like view #2. Actually any view of Greece is a nice view. Before we landed I took a picture from the airplane; as soon as I did they announced on the PA that you weren't supposed to do that. Did they announce that when you went there? I always take pictures from the air and that is the only time we have been told it isn't allowed. A couple of days after we left there had been what they were calling a terrorist bombing on a ferry. Back then I never worried about what was going on in the world; I guess sometimes ignorance is bliss.

Valentina said...

My favorite has to be number two.I haven't had a greek frappe in a very long time. Lovely posts from your holiday.Wonderful that you are back with so many things to tell.

K and S said...

oh my gosh! I love them all :) wonderful!

x said...

i like the €9.00 view! :)

Clivia said...

Before we went to Santorini last year I learned that most postcard photos of Greece are taken there - but didn´t fully understand why until I got to Fira and Oia (we lived in Kamari). I like all the views but maybe number 2 is the very best!
By the way, it is still hot in Stockholm!

Anonymous said...

So difficult to choose between Santorini views! We stayed in Oia when we went and it was amazing waking up to the sheer caldera and impossibly blue sea. Love your 3 breakfasts :) You are making me miss Greek yogurt (which I cannot get here)! Can't wait to hear about Volos! :)

AnnaW said...

I would choose view no. 3 as well. I think it is the extra blueness of the sea that does it for me.

Frappes drunk in the sunshine are bliss!

Anonymous said...

This really makes me want to go to Greece!!!

Anonymous said...

I really thought you were going to Santorini with an express ferry. 12 must have been very tireful dear Pille. Haven't been to Santorini yet but high prices are famous as well we the breathtaking view. Hope to meet you next time:-)

Anonymous said...

I like all the views and the first breakfast, I'd pick first. ;-)

Paz

Anonymous said...

Hi Pille,
I'd go for every one of them, because I've never been there and would love to! Is there something better than enjoying Greek yogurt (the best!) on a beautiful Greek island?
And I hope you are enjoying the time back home with your family. I thought of you, when I bought baby chanterelles over the weekend ;)

christine said...

Wow, those are beautiful, both the breakfasts and the views!! Santorini would make the most gorgeous backdrop for anything. And that first fruit bowl, wow, it's making me drool!

I went to Santorini with Joey (80breakfasts) a couple of years ago and we had some great seafood by sunset and moussaka atop the caldera. I wish I had known of these yummy breakfasts then! :)

Pille said...

Kalyn - I hope to go back to Santorini soon (and re-visit some of the breakfasts), but definitely when it's somewhat cooler:)

Terry - I've taken pictures from the air before (http://nami-nami.blogspot.com/2005/08/back-in-town.html), but I guess I was sneaky and nobody saw me;)

Valentina - I had been missing frappes since I first had them back in 2002. But this summer, all my friends seemed to be preferring cappuccino freddos - apparently they're kinder to your stomach?

k&s - I still can't choose my favourite either, they were all nice, at last in terms of the views!

Chloe - you're one classy and expensive lady!

Amyjames - well, some indulgence is allowed, I guess:)

Clivia - it was still hot in Stockholm, and then it was also hot in Estonia. I guess I was travelling with the heatwave. Re: Santorini being THE tourist image for Greece - that's so true. The only other Greek island I've been to is Sifnos, and it looks totally different..

Joey - I quite like the Total Greek yogurt you can get in the UK, and I will miss it once I move back home. I'll write up my Volos post soon!

Anna - the sea was blue everywhere:) I didn't really believe it until I saw it myself few weeks ago (back home sea is greyish blue at most).

Bea - Greece definitely is worth a visit. I've been there thrice now, and am looking forward to going back..

Tülin - believe me, next time I'll take the fast boat:) Sorry again that I missed you this time!

Paz - a wise choice- that definitely was the tastiest of them all!

Nicky - lucky you getting hold of those baby chantarelles! (And thanks for thinking of me:) Sadly, because of the heatwave we've had in Estonia for far too many weeks, there are no chantarelles to talk of. I saw NONE when I went to the secret forest which usually has quite a few apparently. I did resort to buying some Lithuanian chantarelles from the market instead!

Christine - I agree, Santorini is visually a stunning place! I must go back (once I get a pay rise) to have some of the delicious-sounding fava balls with capers and Santorini tomatoes and chloro cheese in Selene restaurant - the place seemed to have fab views and a fab menu. Next time...