Day 38,

our first full day in Santorini,

the resort does not have a restaurant, but breakfast is included and is brought to your room,

we would have eaten on the balcony,

but we brought the wind, cold and rain with us,

which is the problem with out of season holidays, you have the place almost to yourselves but you may be unlucky with the weather,

we made our way up to the main street,

looking back from near the top of the stairs,

I should mention in the off season you may not be trampled by tourists, but keep an eye out for the donkeys!

Diana braved the elements,

the wind was really blowing,

behind us one of the many churches on the islands,

we continued along the main street,

Diana now with her warm gear on,

every time I took the camera out before I had time to press the shutter a rain drop would appear on the lens,

but I had to keep trying,

we carried on walking,

to one of the larger churches,

looking back from the way we had come from,

we then passed this strange looking shop,

selling books, and rather bazaarly,

offering a rent-a-cat service, €5 an hour I guess, how strange, I mean what happens if you lose it whilst you have hired it?

in the season this is a photographers paradise,

blue skies and blue topped domed buildings,

I liked this view,

so camera out again,

another wet lens,

and this is what I was looking at, not one to keep,

we decided to warm up and have a bite to eat, so into Lotza we went, 

spaghetti bolognese for Diana, fish and chips for myself,

normally there would be a clear view from here, but plastic blinds have been pulled down to stop the rain coming in and the heat from gas heaters getting out,

not to worry we have put up with worse!

meal paid for we made a move outside,

and then it was,

look out donkeys!

many people do not take donkey rides in the summer as they think it is cruel, 

but in reality taking people up and downhill in the summertime,

is the donkey equivalent of a holiday, let me explain, the average UK male weighs in at 83.9 kilos, look at the sacks on the donkeys,

3 sacks at 50 kilos each, that is 150 kilos, and the fact of the matter is that, other than man hauling there is no other way to move building materials, other than to use donkeys, so it is in the winter time when building is being done that the donkeys really do have to work hard, 

jacket off,

for another picture,

cement below us being unloaded,

we are trying to convince ourselves it is getting brighter,

if this tree is anything to go by it gets pretty windy up here,

and cold,

more clouds rolling in,

Diana popped inside the shop, 

as soon as I sat down the locals moved in,

I have never meet such a friendly bunch of cats,

they made a fuss of Diana as well,

so cute,

then another pack of donkeys,

or maybe the same ones,

came towards us, 

and then turned downhill,

we continued into the main square and then retraced our steps,

back to our room,

the sky on the right looking very ominous,

but to the left all was looking good,

so time to watch the sun go down,

before our evening meal,

and as if by magic,

the skies cleared,

well sort of,

Diana decided to come out to join me, 

yes it really was that cold!

for our evening meal we walked back into Fira and found this restaurant in the main square,

and ordered this platter of mixed meats,

it was huge, and to think we were going to get one each!

a small bottle of house white and we were good to go, after our meal we had a walk around town, then back to our room and we were off to bed.