This episode would be a short one because I fell ridiculously sick! I was really scared because I have never fallen sick in foreign country before and I didn’t wanna miss our flight to Santorini. While Shine helped me to pack all of my stuff into our luggage (thank God we shared!), I forced myself to get back up, get myself ready and dragged myself out of the door all while leaning on every possible wall and sitting on any seat I could find to breakfast. I had packed some medications for this trip in case of times like this so as much as I felt I couldn’t stomach anything, I knew I needed to so that I could take the medicine. We ditched our initial plan to take the metro to the airport instead, Shine got the hotel to call a cab. We were going to Santorini, I didn’t care if I puked all the way there, we were going.

I suspected I couldn’t take the cold weather and the strong mineral content of their tap water even though we boiled them till it was piping hot. So from then on, I didn’t dare drink anything that didn’t come in a bottle. After Shine had bought our tickets and checked-in our luggage, we proceeded to our gate to wait for our flight while I caught up on the sleep I lost. Felt a lot better when I got up to board the plane. The medicine must’ve kicked in.

We got the next hotel from Groupon which made us come for this Couplemoon. I use to tell him about all the places in the world I’d like to visit someday and one of those places was Santorini. I was surprised when he told me that he had booked a place in Santorini at a good deal. However, for the price, part of the term is that you’ll be visiting during their low or mid season.

Upon my arrival at the airport, whatever that made me sick just went away! I was so excited, we survived and are in Santorini!

Blue Diamond Bay

Address: Beach Road, Perissa Beach, Perivolos 84703, Thira.

Blue Diamond Bay is a sweet little hotel located on Perissa Beach. It was quiet there during our stay as it was low season in Santorini as winter was almost ending. Upon our arrival, the manager (whom we affectionately called Mama) treated us as part of the family. I learned that in Santorini, most of the hotels, bars, restaurants and shops were family owned businesses. Most of the staff and managers were somewhat related to one another (family, friends or neighbours) and the people of this island are very closely connected.

We were given the VIP treatment from the beginning and offered us such impeccable service by making sure we were comfortable each day, cooking us home-cooked dinner, providing us with a driver when we were concerned about the public bus schedule that never seem to come by and even informed us that we could visit the volcano! We didn’t add it to our itinerary as most of such services were not available during January to March but surprise, there was one company that was operating in March during good weather. We were so excited as Mama said she can help us call to book and got us a discount of 18 Euros instead of the usual 20. Shout out from Singapore, thank you Mama! More about our volcano visit on the next episode, for now, let me present to you our little abode in the heart of Perissa Beach.

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Perissa Beach

Perissa is a little fishing village located 13 km to the southeast of Fira, near the Messa Vouno rock and is famously known for it’s black sand as Santorini is located near a volcano hence the sand consists of tiny fragments of lava which gives them it’s colour.

The wind got really cold by 5pm and it was beginning to get dark so we headed inside for a warm shower and an early night.

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The next episode, we’ll take you down 600 steps to Fira’s Old Port, ride on a Pirate Ship to a volcano, visit a unique little bookshop and watch the sunset on top of a castle ruins at Oia. Thank you for all for your kind support and readership, I hope you’ve enjoyed this short entry.

More from the Couplemoon Series: