Santorini

When you think of Greece, what do you think of? Whitewashed buildings, blue-domed churches, beaches? If so, then really you just described many of the Greek Islands including the most photographed one, Santorini. And that is exactly where I was just the other weekend. It was an 8-hour ferry ride there in which the sitting options were the cold, windy, and wet upper deck or the hot, stuffy, and smoky lower deck. I opted for the upper-deck and the weather did turn around as we got further south and it was quite nice by the time we reached the island. Our hotel came and picked us up from the port and took us to our rooms in the city of Fira. All of the towns in Santorini are perched high atop the mountain cliffs or built into the side and it makes for some spectacular views.

The island is the result of volcanic activity and there is still an active volcano in the center. My travel group (which consisted of my roommates Katie, Aubrey, and Sara as well as Katie's friends Dustin, Ian, and Greg and her sister Emily) and I purchased tickets on a boat tour and went to the volcano and got a guided hike up to the top of it. It was amazing how much you could see and the island goes in a circle around it. You could actually feel the heat and energy radiating out from under your feet and we were warned to stay on the clearly marked paths because inside the craters there are noxious gases and extremely high temperatures. The entire island was black from lava and tiny red flowers had popped up all over.

The boat tour also took us to hot springs that we had to swim to because the boat couldn't get close enough. This means we had to swim through the freezing cold sea to the luke warm hot springs (apparently they're not really hot until the summer) and then swim back through the freezing sea to the boat again. So of course, we all did it. Unfortunately for us, we neglected to bring towels with us on the boat. We had the foresight to wear our bathing suits for the hot springs, but not to bring anything to dry off with, so we air-dried on the boat ride back to port. It was a bit chilly, but the sun was warm and it was definitely worth it.

To get back to Fira and our hotel for some nice hot showers we decided to take the famed donkey rides up. While it was on my list of things I must do before leaving Greece and it was a unique experience, I don't know that I would do it again in that same touristy capacity. The poor beasts had already brought a group of people up the 660 steps to the top of the hill/mountain/cliff and they were sweating and looked tired. Mine actually tripped once or twice on the steps. I know that they do it all the time, but I couldn't help but feel sorry for them and don't want to do it again. Plus, the guy was yelling at us telling us not to take pictures and we have no idea why, so that was confusing and frustrating as I did not get a great touristy picture of me on a donkey.

After that little adventure we decided to shower and try and find our way to Ia where the sunsets are supposed to be spectacular and then grab some dinner at a taverna. The boys were of course ready before the rest of us and decided to go investigate the mopeds they saw for rent earlier in the day. After a lot of back and forth we wound up renting 4 ATVs and driving to Ia. Eight of us was the perfect number and we had two on each bike. I got to drive almost the entire time and loved every minute of it. There really is no better way to see the island than in the open air like that. A bus would not have given us nearly the same views and experience and everyone really enjoyed driving them.

We used them the next day as well to go beach hopping. All of us collected some black sand and lava rocks as it is one of the trademarks of Santorini (see the previous volcano comments). Then we did a little shopping, got a ride down to the port from the nice people at our hotel, and took the 8-hour ferry ride back to Athens. The return boat ride was much more enjoyable and went very smoothly. It was probably one of the best weekends I've had thus far in Greece and I hope to have more experiences just like it.