Santorini, Greece.
Supposedly one of the most romantic islands in the world. Good thing I was visiting with my bestie...and not my boyfriend.
The story of how we got to Santorini from Mykonos is quite eventful. We were supposed to leave on a ferry at 2:30pm. However, there were some technical issues - that no one bothered to explain to a crowd of at least 100 people - and the boat didn't actually leave until 9:30pm. I guess there are worse places to be stranded though.
We made friends with a lovely Aussie couple, killed time eating salted caramel ice creams, and Angie might have napped. Good thing she carries around that dodgy blankie with her.
The view coming into the Santorini Caldera is supposed to be quite lovely. We of course wouldn't know since it was about midnight and pitch black when our ferry finally arrived at the bottom of a very steep cliff. Sad.
We spent the first night in Perissa. Explored a bit the next morning. And then went on to our next stop - Astarte Suites - overlooking the caldera. All I can say is, wow.
The pictures don't even do it justice! This place...this place was absolutely stunning.
We went on an adventure to visit Red Beach. However, this beach was noooot so condusive to beachy lounging. It was more like the surface of Mars. Or the sun. Whichever analogy you prefer. It was very pretty though.
Note to future Santorini travelers -- Rent a car. Or one of those scary ATVs.
We had our hotel drop us off at the beach, but then we couldn't quite figure out how to get back. We considered walking (over those hills?! nope), hitchiking (legal here?), a bus half-way to our hotel (and walk the rest of the way? with no directions?). We ultimately settled on begging a restaurant to call us a taxi.
They were very concerned about us. So they gave us free wine as we waited. Hah!
We also began referring to our sunset and wine dinners as quite "ro-tic." That is, romantic...but because it was just us 2 girls, we had to take the "man" out of it. Awesome? Yes, we think so too.
Breakfast on our terrace before heading to our next hotel included a "surprise" nutella pastry and a smiley. Yes, a meal on the terrace AND chocolate for breakfast. Like.
And then we were off to Fira, the main city in Santorini, for the last few days of my visit. Much more touristy than Mykonos. And there were donkeys. We'll get to that story later though.
Our hotel in Fira could not have been any more charming. I loved the courtyard. And those red doors.
Each room is a little "house." And we had a pretty fantastic balcony. On the edge of the cliff overlooking the caldera.
The Santorini donkeys wear bells, so you can hear them coming. Angie was trying to focus on writing, but I kept running to the balcony when I heard the bells. "Donkeysssss!"
And then there was the Santorini sunset.
Which was so incredibly gorgeous from our balcony. Where we were treated with Santorini wine and cheese while we watched the sun go down. Angie promptly put some classical tunes on her iPhone - a lil mood music - and we enjoyed our last "ro-tic" evening in style.
The lighting was so incredible, we just couldn't resist a lil Santorini sunset photo shoot. We have well over 30 pics from these few hours, but I'll only leave you with 2 of my faves.
Oh, and the sunset of course. Love.
We rode the cable car - or funicular - down the cliff to the port for more adventures. I'm fascinated by these cliff houses. Who built these? Who lived there? How do they have electricity? Is it like a cave inside? Mind-boggling.
"Funicular? That's not a real thing. You're making it up."
Angie looked at me with the below face. Like I was the crazy one. SHE was the one using made up words, not me. What's wrong with "cable car"? That's nice and simple and self-explanatory. Funicular? Ridicular!
The view of Fira from the active volcano in the middle of the Santorini crescent. We didn't quiiiiite make it to the top. A 30 minute uphill hike? Nahh, this is plenty high enough for me.
After the volcano, our boat took us to the hot springs. We forgot our towels. Oops. And I somehow convinced Angie that we didn't come all the way out here to look at the hot springs, we must swim in the ocean! She was skeptical, that water looked coooold.
Good intuition. It was very cold. And real salty. But now we can say we swam in the Aegean Sea!
To round out our Santorini adventure, we decided a donkey ride back up the cliff to Fira was probably necessary. I mean, how bad could it be? Santorini is known for this! We had to!
Our donkey driver was the angriest Greek man we'd met in our travels. He yelled to the donkeys, he yelled at us, he yelled at passing donkeys coming down the cliff. Angry!
"Shhhhh" "Not donkeys, burros. Burros!" "No photo! Photo after!" "Shhhhhh"
I'm sorry sir, but I did not climb up on this donkey to not have photos of the experience. So yell all you want. I will continue to take these pictures.
The entire 20 minute experience was terrifying. Did you know donkeys are competitive? Bet you didn't. My donkey and Angie's donkey were vying for the leader spot. I would get ahead, Angie's would speed up and cut mine off. Then she would be in front, and mine was not having that at all.
"No running donkey! Slow! Stay away from the cliff walls! Wait! I can't control youuuuu! Are we done yet? Why would anyone do this?!"
Terrifying. Terrifying I tell you. As soon as our feet were safely back on the ground, there was a stampede of burros! Angry donkey driver + competitive donkeys + 20 minutes up a cliff = terrifying.
And then...it was time for me to go. Noooooooo.
Goodbye friend / world traveler / crazy adventurer. I shall leave you now to your alone time. No more pretending to listen to me when I talk (bc I'm always talking). Back to your quiet and solitude and independence. I know you think you won't miss me, but I know you willllll.
Do I have to?? Can't I just stay?? Ok. Fine. I'll go. But I'm not happy about it.
So long Santorini. P.S. I think I might love you.
Well...except for carrying my ridiculously heavy suitcase up massive hills. I did not love that part. That part was rough.
Real life awaits.
But not quite yet. Just one more small stop before heading home.
I had a very long layover in London. And I studied abroad in London in 2005. I haven't been back since then. So even though I was worn out, and it was hot, and my shoulder bag was heavy, I spent the majority of my London layover strolling around the city I fell in love with 6 years ago.
Funny how quickly the city all came back to me. I was suddenly completely familiar and comfortable. So many memories. So much fun. I remembered why I loved it here. And how after living here, I decided city life was definitely for me.
London was the best ending to one incredible adventure.
Greece was everything I thought it would be and so much more. It was endless laughter, sunkissed skin, a salty breeze, new friends, feta cheese, killer sunsets, a blue and white paradise.
I loved it there. Every minute of it. Especially the "ro-tic" ones.
Miss you Angie! Thanks for letting me come to play with you for a little while! See you state-side. Soon!
