Goodbye Greece!

This morning we woke up and got ready to leave.  We packed up our backpack and were going to make our way to the airport.  Before we left though, we made one more stop for some delicious Greek yogurt and baklava gelato, and actual baklava.  We grabbed a few more peeks at the beautiful scenary and then made our way to the little Santorini airport.  From there, were flew to Athens where we'll be catching our flight home to the States in a few hours!  Greece, it's been great!  Seriously.  I love you.  See you soon!

Santorini Day 3: Lots of fun and then a flat tire

This morning we started the day by going to the Akrotini Settlement which was an Ancient city during Minoan Bronze Age (1600 B.C.).  The settlement was destroyed by a volcanic eruption and everything was covered in ash.  It has been suggested as a possible inspiration for Plato's Atlantis and is still continuing to be excavated.

After leaving the settlement, we decided to make our way back to Ammoudi Bay & Oia.  We stopped at a random small little town for lunch where there were a few small guest houses and a store or two.  It was really quiet but a cute place to stop.  

After lunch, we decided to get going to Oia but then our ATV started making a gurgling noise.  Next thing, we know, we're completely stopped.  Eck!  Being in a foreign country, we didn't have a cell phone and we were literally stuck on the side of a small road.  We were hoping someone would stop soon and we could ask for help but all we could do was wait.  There were a few houses near by but we weren't really sure about just walking up to someone's door and not being able to speak English.  We killed some time by trying to throw rocks into a stray glass bottle close by and we just waited... and waited.

Santorini Day 2: Oia & Ammoudi Bay

With our own ATV this morning, we were free to explore the rest of the island!  First we made a stop at Kamari beach with is famous for its black sand.  It was pretty rocky near the shore so it wasn't the best beach to play in the water so we laid out for a little bit.  Will got some random Greek donut (not as good as American donuts- no sweet enough), we took a nap in the sun, and had lunch.  Will doesn't have a huge tolerance for tanning (he really can't go more than an hour or two), so after a bit we made our way over to Oia.  We did stop at some fun look out points to get a picture.  It was just so fun riding the ATV around and going for the drive. 

 

Once we made our way to Oia, we decided to walk over to Ammoudi Bay first.  We had heard there was some delicious seafood taverns there as well as a fun place to jump off cliffs.  Needless to say, this was Will's favorite part!  He's a little fish and loves to swim and around and play and so we spent a few hours here.  The little cliff we jumped off doesn't look that high in pics and doesn't even seem high in person but when you're standing at the edge it looks scary!  That's because from the edge, you can see the underwater rocks and they look huge and sharp and like you might hit it when you hit the water.  However, when you look from under the water, you realize there's plenty of water for clearance and it isn't an issue at all!  It was fun jumping off.  The jump was high enough that the water would rush up your nose and give you a monstrous headache and wedgie.  It also sometimes hurt depending on how your feet hit the water but nonetheless, it was still fun!

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.