Greek Islands Travel Blogger: Experiencing Santorini’s Spectacular Sunsets

Feeling The Spiritual Sensation At Fira’s Tropical Bar

There are a few places in the world where watching a sunset is a ritualist, almost religious experience.

Key West is one, where people gather each evening on Mallory Square as local performers put on a sideshow by eating fire and balancing on one-wheeled cycles.

And there is Santorini in the Greek Islands.

Unlike in Key West, sunsets on Santorini are not a party but rather a spiritual celebration. Most people will tell you go to Oia, (pronounced eee-ya) but I saw my first Santorini sunset from the patio of the Tropical Bar in Fira and after one evening in the former, I was permanently back at the latter.

You see, the Tropical Bar is more social. On Oia, people (mainly couples) sit silently at a quiet taverna’s table or stand on the walkway. The only sound they make is to occasionally lean into their partner to whisper something to them.

At Tropical Bar, there’s cool, hip Euro music playing subtly in the background, you’re having a beer or cocktail and you burst into conversations with others around you.  You still feel the spiritualness of the moment, but you’ve got someone to do a “cheers” with after the sun has vanished form view.

For me and my friends, the sunsets also provide the perfect mesh point from the day to the night. We had spend the afternoon riding mopeds across the island and we’ll spend the night roaring it up in bars like, well, Tropical Bar and Two Brothers. The sunset makes for a tranquil transition point between the two.

But no matter where you see the sunset in Santorini, just be sure you see it. As in Key West, it’s a daily ritual, one not to be missed; after all, you don’t get this view and this experience very often.