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TRAVEL & FOOD/ Discovering Santorini- a guide to Greek food
I couldn’t do a series of travel posts without including a food one now could I? It just wouldn’t be right! This is meant to be a bit of a guide to Greek food in general, however there are a couple of things that are Santorini-specific, which are really obvious. If you’re heading to Greece on holiday later this year of next summer, here’s some if the digits you have to look forward to…
Starters
Fava (fav-ah)
This is a thick, blended dish oh yellow peas – kind of like hummus texture, but I think it’s meant to be eaten as more of a soup than a dip as its served with a spoon. Personally for me there was a little bit too much to eat it that way, so I had mi e with a little bread, but it’s a yummy and refreshing way to kick off an authentic Greek feast.
Baked feta
Baked cheese is my idea of heaven! It melts into a lovely consistency that isn’t gloopy but makes the salty taste a littleess harsh. Served with local herbs, onion and peppers, this is utterly amazing.
Cheese pies and stuffed vine leaves
Well, more like a mini pasty than a pie, but they make a great snack as part of a meze (a selection of small dishes, a bit like a sharing platter or tapas). If you’ve never had vjne leaves and aren’t heading to Greece soon, the good news is you can pick up a great ready made version in Lidl. The leaves are stuffed with rice and seasoned with oil, and are ridicously moreish.
Souvlaki
Souvlaki (soov-lar-kee) and Gyros (jir-oss) are pretty similar and pretty simple to recreate. It’s basically strips of cooked meat (usually chicken, pork or lamb) served with salad, tszatsiki (sat-seek-ee) and pitta. As you can see here, a side of fries is often added when it’s a sit down meal, if not everything is usually wrapped up inside the pitta to enjoy on the go.
Main courses
Orzo and lamb
This dish does have a formal name, which begins with a P, but I’ll be darned if I can remember or pronounce it! It’s basically slow cooked lamb in parchment paper (which, when adding vegetables, is call kleftico) served on top of Orzo pasta, which is traditionally Greek and looks like risotto rice. The Orzo has been cooked in a sauce made of local herbs and fresh tomato and topped with a little crumbled feta. Not gonna lie, this is pretty much my perfect meal! The weekend we came, I cooked this for my mum and she also loves it.
Stifado (stiff-ar-doh)
This is a meat stew with a tomato base served with thin-ish sliced potatoes. It’s quite heart so feels like an odd choice for eating in summer heat, but it’s a really balanced dish that’s yummy and fills you up.
Mousakka
Opa! I made it my mission to get a great Mousakka (moo-sar-kah) as I’ve always liked it, and I managed to find 2 which was a bonus. This is meant to be served warm rather than piping hot, so don’t think there’s something wrong when it arrives at the table.
Santorini salad
I heard about this before we went and I was excited to try it! An alternative take on a Greek salad, which I also adore. However, I’d heard it was made with sun-dried tomatoes when it’s actuary cherry, which I’m not quite as keen on. Much like the Greek this is oy made up of a few ingredients: local cream cheese (a variation of goats cheese), tomato, herbs, cucumber and olives, this one also had a little spinach thrown in. I tried this out alongside our wine tasting and just couldn’t finish it, the photo doesn’t show just how massive it was!
Greek pasta
I was surprised this was a thing in addition to Orzo, but it’s widely available and great if you’re a pasta fiend like me. In the fresh tomato and herb sauce there’s olives, onion, sun dried tomato and feta swirled into spaghetti. Essentially, Greek salad in a pasta dish. Nom.
The Greek Mac
I had to as this one in for the sheer comedy value! Until we popped into Maccy D’s to grab a bottle of water and use the loo I had no idea this even existed, however once I spotted it I couldn’t NOT order one to try, could I? It ended up being pretty similar to a gyros with beef – the patties are smothered in tszatsiki on salad and wrapped in a pitta, so it still totally counts as traditional Greek fayre.
Dessert
Baklava
Whether is a full blown dessert or as a light nibble with a coffee, you have to try Baklava (back-lav-ah). It’s layers of flaky pastry laces with nuts, cinnamon and honey. Dee-lish. Usually they’re bite-sized portions but this massive specimen was served to me one evening, warm and with a nice dollop of vanilla ice cream on the side, which I wasnt mad at.
Fro yo
There seems to be somewhere to pick up frozen Yoghurt everywhere (don’t worry; there’s gelato and soft scoop ice cream too) and it presents the perfect opportunity to create a lovely little Insta-food masterpiece. As yummy as this was (we shared large pot of Yoghurt flavour and mango flavour topped with strawberry and coconut) it was charged by weight and ended up costing 10 frickin euros!
So that’s my whistle stop tour of Santorinian /Greek food, I hope this helps you when you visit or are next looking for new recipe ideas, and apologies for making you hungry! This is officially my last Santorini post (sob) coming up soon will be some more UK adventures as well as bringing things around to autumn a little. See you there.
Thanks for reading,
J xx
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FASHION & TRAVEL/ What I wore in Santorini
I wanted to squeeze this in as an extra little post before I got to the Greek food part of my Santorini series, in case it gives those of you that are heading on later sunny holidays a bit of inspo whilst there’s still a few bits in the shops!
Maxi and classy
Dress, AX Paris / Shoes, Nasty Gal
This is what I wore to our wine tasting evening – I wanted something that would keep me cool and comfy but still looked dressed up and, let’s face it, florals are always a winner in the sun!
I’m not 100% sure I felt the flatforms went the best with this dress, but there were a lot of hilly areas and these were the only non-flat shoes I had with me. They were very comfortable and easy to walk in, I just think I’m not used to them.
Candy stripes
Jumpsuit, Glamorous /Shoes, Nasty Gal (as before)
I’ve worn this jumpsuit most of the summer, for a long time it virtually the only suitable outfit I had for the unseasonably warm British weather! It’s very comfortable and eye catching and can be worn for day or night, my only quibble is that the straps were pretty tight woth no give so I was always worried they would break when I put them on and off.
Jersey stripes
Jumpsuit, Topshop / Hat, Accessorize (similar here) / Bumbag, Primark (similar here) / Slides, Miss Pap
Jumpsuits are definitely my jam rn, I seem to have loads of them all of a sudden. I have this one in 2 colours and it’s incredibly comfy and easy to wear in hot weather, however it’ll also be great to chuck on with a white tea and biker jacket when things start to get cooler. The shape is quite slouchy but looks really put together when belted.
The hat was an impulse purchase at the airport – I could barely see from under the brim but it kept me shaded and feeling a teeny bit more glam whilst sweating. The bum bag I already had before they exploded this year and is glorious for walking about hands free. The slides I’ve had ages and wear on the daily just for running about.
Sports chic?
Tee, Adidas Originals (similar here) / Shorts, Pretty Little Thing / Slides, Miss Pap (as before) / sunnies, Peacocks
Since I was struggling to find holiday clothes this year, I thought I’d try a couple of items that I wouldn’t normally, and cycling shorts were one of them. They are ridiculously comfy and longer in the leg which is what I usually prefer with shorts, so that was a win, so to keep with the casual vibe I just chucked on this Camo tee (I customised the choker neckline) and knotted it at the bottom. I was quite happy with this look in the end, and even wore it on the flight home.
Rainbow and denim
Sunnies, Primark / Cami, Topshop (similar here) / Shorts, Topshop
This look was something of a clothing frustration win – I ALWAYS struggle to find denim shorts that aren’t halfway up my bum cheeks and fit my waist properly, however I stumbled on these that are super soft and stretch with an elasticated paper bag waist that worked really well. The other items were just a ‘I’m on holiday, let’s be colourful’ kind of a vibe.
Red red red
Jumpsuit, ASOS
I adore this jumpsuit – it’s really flattering with the wide leg and ruched waist, which also made it really comfy, however the front is super plunging which causes some issues around boobage. I have a pretty large chest, so going braless isn’t an option for me, so the options are either one of those sticky bra plaster things (which I was wearing here but didn’t apply it properly and combined with the heat it didn’t stay in place at all) or a nude cami which is visible but a little more comfortable for me.
So that’s my holiday wardrobe for 2018! I hope you’ve enjoyed having a nosey and may have taken a little inspo if you’re off on your travels soon. My final post for Santorini will be up soon, which is a guide to food. Nom.
Thanks for reading,
J xx
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TRAVEL / Discovering Santorini- A few things you should definitely do
Part 2 of my Santorini travel series is coming atcha a little bit later than planned… We’ll say its cos I’m working on Greek time K? Hehe.
After doing an extensive amount research and using mine and the Mr’s unique blend of wanting to plan ahead but procrastinating terrible due to indecision, we ended up getting up ro a week of things that were typically Greek, totally Santorini, fun and chill. If you’re heading to this part of the world at any point in the future, this is what I think should be on your itinerary…
Wine tasting
Even though its a pretty small island, you can barely drive for 5 minutes without coming across a vineyard or winery. So it’d be rude not to visit at least one, right?
We chose to do an evening 6 flight tasting with food pairing at Santo Wines on the West of the island, perched high up on the Caldera and a very popular spot for destination weddings. When you walk in and see the view, it’s not hard to see why.
We chose to arrive at 6.30pm so that we could enjoy the view as the sun was setting, it was due to set around 8.20pm.on the day we visited so we wanted to ensure we arrived in plenty of time to enjoy the wine and the views, but did worry we may be rushed into leaving in favour of the next guests. Not the case at all. Our waiter was lovely and made it clear from the start we had all the time in the world – drink the wines as you want, just let us know when you’re ready for your food. He gave us a little talk about the wines (some red wine is actually made from white grapes left out in the sun, who knew?) we were tasting and a leaflet with more information so we knew what to smell/taste for.
This definitely isn’t a cheap experience (the wine and 2 main courses cost us around 90e) but its one I’m thoroughly pleased we had.
If you’d like to follow in our footsteps and want to get a decent seat/view, book in advance and then drop them a nice little e-mail asking to get a seat at the front. I did this about 48hrs before and got a reply back the same day confirming this request had been granted. Pretty good going for mid-August!
Be sure to manage your expectations a little regarding other visitors though – they want a good view too, and if they haven’t been organised enough to get a front row table they will certainly be squeezing up next to your table to get it.
Open air cinema
I literally found out that Santorini Cinema existed a few days before flying out when I spotted a tweet from someone I knew who was currently on the island. Even better, it was about 15 minutes walk from our hotel in Kamari.
Inside the screening area it was like a really chilled out vibe – director chair seating, lots of greenery and rat pack tunes playing between the film. The film is changed weekly and I found it more than fitting that when we visited Mama Mia! Here we go again was on the bill for us.
Tickets cost 8e per adult which are comparable with UK prices and there’s a bar area serving cinema food as well as hot, soft and alcoholic drinks. Films are shown in English with Greek subtitles and have a 20 minutes interval in the middle.
Doors open at 8.30pm for a 9.30pm start, it’s very popular so you need to be there by the time they open at the latest. In high season (July-August) arriving around 8 is a good idea.
Visit Oia and watch the sunset
Greece is synonymous with pictures of Oia, and Oia is synonymous with beautiful sunsets, so every every evening people flock there to see it. And you definitely should too! It’s beautiful, however don’t make the same mistakes we did.
Everybody wants to get the best view of the sunset, the best photos, the best sassy shot for the ‘gram, and they will start to claim them along the walkways over an hour before the big moment. Its fairly civilised but EXTREMELY Crowded and can be a bit stressful when you’re trying to leave, so I would definitely consider putting your hand in your pocket and booking a bar or restaurant that has a great view of the skyline. The ones with the prime views won’t be cheap, but it’ll be a lot less cramped/sweaty and you’ll have a lovely wining/dining experience to boot.
Watch the sunrise on Kamari beach
The West is where you see the sun go down, but over in our resort was where it rose, and the beach was a mere 350m from our door. We had to get up before 6am (we went back to bed for a little bit afterwards) and it took a while for the actual Sun to make its entrance, but it was a lovely contrast against the black beach and blue waters.
Drink cocktails on the beach…
Kamari and Perissa both have plenty of loungers that offer waiter service from the restaurant/bar they belong to, so take advantage. Some of them will charge you for using the loungers in addition to anything you order, however there are lots that allow free use in exchange for buying food/drink which is much better value (generally speaking, the loungers you pay extra for aren’t a great deal nicer for the money, so in most cases you’re not missing out).
… and with a view
There are views for days, and lots of places to enjoy them from whilst sipping on a cool beverage. When we visited Fira there were tonnes of bars and restaurants looking right over the smaller islands, admittedly a little more expensive than those that don’t but definitely worth it when you need a pit stop in the midday heat.
Smash a plate (or 2)
I’ve been to Greece and the Greek Islands several times in my life and have never taken part in the plate smashing ritual (my mum seems to vaguely think I may have done at age 9 when visiting the mainland, but can’t be sure)
We didn’t see many places that active did this in Kamari – one was Boat House Taverna that advertised it twice per week, the second (and where I did it) was To Koutouki Tou Bekri Taverna and about 20 metres from our hotel.
Hum
They also had some great traditional Greek music from this guy, and pretty delicious food (more that in a future post)
During our stay we also did a catamaran trip along the coastline as we tend to seek out boat trips wherever we can, however for the type we usually do (5/6hrs, swim stops and food included) it was very pricey at 90e per person without getting any more value for money. We booked locally with Sunset Oia that were a really nice company and also had some stunning semi-private boat trips (around 140e per person)
Other things people recommended to do whilst in Santorini include:
Visiting the volcano and hotel springs – most of the better value boat trips offer stops at both of these places as standard. I’m told the volcano is active but currently less than 100 degrees Celsius so is less than a minor threat, however hiking up to the top and back in August heat didn’t feel me with joy. We did visit the hot springs on our boat trip too; disappointly though they’re not hot. Not even warm. Tidal erosion has cooled them down completely, so it’s not really the quirky natural wonder you think it’s going to be. Damn global warming.
Quad bike hire: I mentioned this briefly in my last post as its incredibly popular with tourists, however it’s clear that may of the people we saw using them weren’t using them safely. Driving on the wrong side of TV e road and filming their ride rather than hiding on without helmets…do you have a death wish people??
So that’s flavour of key things to do whilst in Santorini. In my next post I’ll be doing a guide to Greek food and some Santorini specials – it will make you hungry, but it may also inspire you (as it did us as soon as we got home) to try some Mediterranean cooking.
Thanks for reading,
J xx
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TRAVEL / Discovering Santorini – Island hotspots
Santorini Kamari After months of waiting and trying (and failing) to plan activities/ outfits, my Santorini adventure has now been and gone. Sob.
As I’d hoped it’s a great island to visit but there’s definitely more to it than what’s on Instagram, so I’m sharing my thoughts and experiences over the next few blog posts including different areas visited, activities you should put on your “to do” list and a guide to Santorini/Greek food.
Santorini map The map above gives shows key areas of the island we visited.
We stayed in Kamari (cam-are-ee) which is a large village about 10 minutes away from the airport. I found it to be a fairly usual beach resort that was perfectly suited to couples and families, but with a little more polish and charm.
Santorini Kamari Boat House restaurant From bars, restaurants to the beachfront hotels, you can barely walk a few steps without coming across something that was pretty enough to snap a pic of
Santorini Kamari 
Boat house restaurant Santorini Kamari 
Santorini Kamari 
Santorini Kamari Jumpsuit, Topshop / Hat, Accessorize (similar here) / Slides, Miss Pap
The volcanic-black sand is also pretty striking from a distance; however up close much of it was made up of pebbles which made it a teeny bit painful to walk on barefoot.
Santorini Kamari beach 
Santorini Kamari beach 
Santorini Kamari beach If you’re going to spend a decent amount of time on the beach and go in the sea, a pair of special beach shoes are recommended (they’re widely sold in supermarkets and gift shops for between 5-7e)
Santorini Kamari There were over 60 bars and restaurants spread along the sea front and side streets close by, and what the Mr and I both loved was that mot of them offered traditional Greek food (more on that in a future post). That may sound weird, but there are so many places that cater for the nationalities that visit rather than showcase their own local cuisine which is always a shame.
We stayed at Aegean Plaza Hotel which was on a side street about 350m walk from the beach front. The hotel was white, simple and lovely, and the restaurant catered very well for both traditional Greek and international palettes at breakfast time. All of the staff were also lovely.
We had a great pool and mountain view from our second floor room
Aegean Plaza Hotel Kamari Santorini Room tour
The only negative thing about our hotel location was the noise from low flying planes. Due to the resort being extremely close to the airport, the planes are just a few hundred metres above buildings as they’re making their approach to land. Flights take off and land at all hours of all days and, even though the noise only last for a couple of minutes, it’s loud enough to block out the sound of people/ music.
Oia
Oia Santorini The place that absolutely EVERYBODY has in mind when they go to Santorini is Oia (ee-yah) as it’s pretty much the poster child for the whole of Greece – whitewashed buildings, blue domes and views for days, this is where you’ll find ’em all.
Oia Santorini 
Oia Santorini 
Oia Santorini 
Oia Santorini I’ve read that some people were unimpressed with Oia feeling it to be very small and dirty compared to the photos you see of it on Instagram, however I don’t feel that to be true at all. The part that is most photographed is part of a much bigger town which is spread across the top of the Caldera that people don’t seem to capture quite as much, and as you can see from my pictures above everything was pristine.
This part of the town had one main “street” running along the top, with many flights of steps and smaller streets that lead down towards the Caldera edge. All of them are crammed with lovely little shops (designer and souvenir) bars and restaurants which are wonderful to browse. At certain times of day they can get quite crowded as this is also the place that the world and his wife flock to see the sun set each evening (more on this in my next post).
In short you cannot visit Santorini without coming here! The hotels here are far more upmarket (private plunge pools, private sunset terraces and staff posted at every entrance to stop non-guests from barrelling in to get the best angle for their photos. Trust me, I have first hand experience with this) and stunning but I imagine would be a nightmare to get to with full suitcases, no roads particularly close and all the stairs in Greece.
Fira
Fira (fear-uh) is the Island capital and I’d say very similar to Oia but without the iconic reputation. Lots of little streets lined with places to shop/eat/drink and great views over the Caldera. I also believe it’s the place on the Island where the young and beautiful go “out out” so obviously we don’t fall into this category to confirm or deny this!
Fira Santorini 
Fira Santorini Fira is also home to the Santorini branch of Sephora.
make sure you manage your expectations with this one, it’s pretty compact in-keeping with the other shops, however it carries most of the Sephora own range and mini products, plus a pretty decent amount of fragrance and skincare. I picked up ‘a few’ items for the road and ended up 50e worse off, so it’s still pretty easy to part with cash despite its size!
Perissa
Acropolis bar Perissa Santorini Just around the bay from Kamari, this is pretty much the only photo I took in Perissa because we just found it a bit “meh”. Everything was very spaced out, there wasn’t the variety of places like in Kamari and things just seemed more expensive for no apparent reason. The beach is slightly better than Kamari but for me that was the only thing it really had going for it.
Way to get around Santorini
Bus: Probably the cheapest mode of transport (each one way journey is 1,80e per person) services run approximately every 20 minutes towards Fira and connect to other places from there. They’re privately run and have a handy sign in the window that says ‘local bus’ as well as a conductor on board that has a decent amount of change. They tend to really pack people on during busy times of day, so be wary that you may have to stand.
Taxi: Probably the most expensive mode of transport (it cost us 20e for a fairly straight, 15 minute journey) but the most efficient and reliable. Perhaps only use them for shorter journeys or those very early or late in the day, or if you’re dressed up nice and don’t want to be sweating next to loads of other people on the bus.
Quad bike/ motorcycle: this isn’t something we used but is extremely popular and widely used by tourists. Definitely approach with caution as locals aren’t sympathetic to inexperienced foreigners and the roads can be quite winding and hilly.
So that’s my whilst-stop tour of Santorini; my next post is going to be about the things I think you definitely need to do during your holiday, so make sure you come back for a look.
Thanks for reading,
J xx
All photos taken using Huawei P Smart and Fuji bridge camera. Nothing has been done to alter the contrast, colour or view in any of these images.
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BEAUTY/ Skincare haul (August 2018)
I seem to be a bit of skincare junkie lately!
Recently I’ve started to understand my skin a lot better – what it naturally does and what effects my makeup/the environment have on it, so I’ve been doing some research into the best ingredients to improve the bits that need a bit of help, in addition to preserving the good bits, which led me to pick up quite a few things from the drugstore…luckily, there were some discounts so I saved about £30 on the RRP!
Nip + Fab Glycolic Fix foaming bubble face mask
I was really just jumping on the sheet/ horror movie serial killer bandwagon with this purchase! I thought it would also be a good ‘support product’ to the other items I bought (keep scrolling to find out what they are)
Nip + Fab Glycolic Fix Liquid Glow
This stuff is unbelievable. After one swipe across my skin, I can see my pores instantly shrink (which is the main reason I got it) which is perfect for adding in other similar products to make the effect permanent. They do enlarge again after a little while but regular use has helped to reduce them down from where they were.
Nip + Fab Glycolic Fix foaming pads
I’ve previous tried the original daily cleansing pads and liked them so thought I’d try the newest version. Boy these babies are intense! I use the bobbled size to exfoliate my face in circular motions as I later the pad around my skin (I pay close attention to the cheek area near my nose, nose and forehead) and it really does get up a good lather. Afterwards my skin feels tingly so I know it’s working (I rinse my skin with cool water to get the foam off, not sure if you’re supposed to) it also has the same instant pore reducing effect as the liquid glow which gives a better skin texture for applying primer.
Nip + Fab Glycolic Fix purifying overnight gel
I bought this to complete the acidic set, as I’m desperate to tackle my pores and reduce blemishes. So far I’m not 100% sold on it purely because it leaves a very sticky texture on my skin for quite a while after applying; I’ve tried using less product and really working it in but it still happens so I think it’s supposed to. I apply at the end of my evening skincare routine (which is usually makeup remover, face wash, cleanser, glow liquid) and by the morning the stickiness is gone. I think I’d be tempted to stay away from this one on holiday though, as I can’t imagine it feeling very nice in extreme humidity.
La Roche Posay Effaclar purifying cleansing gel
I’ve had good experiences with the other LRP I’ve tried which encourage me to try this out. I’ve added it I to my skincare routine in a bid to reduce the oiliness of my face which also contributes to enlarged pores and breakouts, and it’s been working really well. It generates a light foam on the skin when mixed with water, washes off easily and makes everything feel generally really fresh.
So next time you see me IRL and you think I’m looking all fresh and glowing, you’ll know why!
Thanks for reading,
J xx
About Me
I’m Jenny, nice to meet you. I’m a thirty-something who likes fashion, holidays and wondering about life. A lot.
