Santorini Sunsets

This morning we woke up and left our hotel in Mykonos and took the ferry to Santorini. The ferry was late and of course took almost an hour longer than it was supposed to take.  This kind of laid back timing and structure to everything is one of the things that I notice the most differs from country to country.  Here everything is on such a laid back time and what happens, happens.  This is unlike the US where things are pretty organized and unlike Japan where buses are on time to the minute.  Anyways, once our ferry landed in Santorini, we took a bus to the center of Fira.  From here, we had lunch at a really beautiful restaurant overlooking the town (that was also super delicious!!) and emailed our hotel to pick us up.  While it is only like a 10 minute walk, it is SUPER hot (especially with our backpacks on) and since the hotel offers a free pick up from the center of town, we decided to take them up on it.

After checking into our hotel, we walked back to the center of Fira.  Santorini is exactly how you picture Greece to look.  It's the stereotypically view you get from pictures and from the movies.   Shops and restaurants all built on a hill with the most beautiful views.  I loved Athens and Mykonos a lot but Santorini was exactly how I pictured it.   We spent the entire rest of the day walking around the town, getting authentic Greek yogurt, and exploring the little shops.  There were all kinds of fun stores and we eventually had dinner at this restaurant that had the most beautiful view.  We also saw the donkeys that make the ride up the cliff but we didn't ride them.  While I think it'd be a really neat experience, I feel bad for the donkeys.  Actually, we didn't see any people on them.  I think with the new(er) cable car to the top, few people take them anymore.

Afterwards we got some frozen yogurt for dessert.  The frozen yogurt and even the regular Greek yogurt is so freaking good.  So much better than any Greek yogurt at home. It was so good we had it twice in one day and chose it over ice cream and crepes. Who have we become?!?

On the walk home we decided to rent an ATV while we are here.  In Mykonos and in Santorini there are cars but most people ride motor bikes and ATVs.  While they have a bus system here much like Mykonos, we decided to rent an ATV to get around.  Santorini is much more spread out than Mykonos is and it will be nice to have the freedom to check out all of the beaches that spam across the island, on our own time table.  We opted for the ATV because the drivers here are insane and ATV seems much safer.  Will had never driven at ATV before but his 30second lesson from a man who barely spoke English seems to have sufficed.  It was also 10:30 at night so I used my iPhone light to help Will see all the buttons. When Will asked where the fuel gauge was, the man just opened the gas tank and told us to look inside.  Ha!  So tomorrow, we are off in our ATV to the beach!

Side note: Every single meal we have had here has been awesome.  Not just good, but seriously amazing.  We can't get over how much we love the food here!