We're on the Greek islands! Santorini to be more specific, it's a 10ish hour ferry ride away from Athens, down south right before crete. The island is beautiful, it was created by a series of volcanos, so there is a big ridge surrounding the crecent-shaped, sea-filled creator. We managed to find a 3-person apartment (Evan is with us now!) for pretty cheap, and it has a kitchen and everything...and no bug infestations! It's super sunny and hot here, and we have been taking full advantage. Yesterday, after arriving on the overnight ferry (slept outside on the deck, pretty nice actually!) we hit the beach for the whole day. Well, Evan decided to hike up a mountain, but Adrienn and I opted for lazyness instead :) Because of the volcano, the beach is all black sand, well, more like little pebbles. It's awsome! They are small enough to be comfertable, but not sooooo sandish-small that they get everywhere. Not to far away from the beach there are some rocks that you can swim to, they are perfect for laying out on because the wind helps with the otherwise unbearable heat. And what a wind! The swim was pretty nuts, waves crashing into my face, ewwww salllllttttty.
Today we took a boat tour around the inside of the calandra, starting with over to the volcano. We walked up the still semi-active volcano, you can even see steam coming out from the ground (but the pamphlet insured that they would have a warning before it erupts again, haha). Next we jumped off the boat into a part of the ocean warmed by the sulfur from the volcano. It was nice and warm, but the water was pretty orangy-sulfury, not super clear like the rest of the island. We went to another island that was part of the original calandra rim, and walked up the ridge and had lunch. Actually, Evan and Adreinn rode donkeys up! Hehe. I figured my allergies might not approve of that, so I opted for walking instead. Our final boat stop was another town on the mainland, where we walked up the cliff, again. It was so hot by the top that we just collapsed on a bench in the shade and had a nap, haha, it was just what I needed. Now we're just killing time before going for dinner and watching the beautiful sunset!
Greece just continues to be amazing every day. Athens was way cooler than I expected (everyone has said it's a bit of a hole). Our first night there we walked up near the Parthenon and sat on some rocks overlooking the city. It was so beautiful, especially seeing the Parthenon all lit up! I signed up for a day tour, which was about 6 hours and covered all the main sights in Athens, and there are sure a lot of them! It was a walking-intensive day, in the heat, but pretty sweet. The acropolis was quite impressive, but I think it looks better from afar. It was cool hearing about some of the history of the city though, so the tour was really good. Afterwards I headed straight for the National Archiological Museum, where there are artifacts from all over the country held. It was just amazing, some of the scluptures are really impressive. I stayed there until my energy gave out, and then went back to the hostel for a much needed shower. I met up with the others (we all had different Athens days) and we went out for dinner with a nice view of the Acropolis.
Monday morning we had planned to wake up early to visit Delphi (3 hours away), but unfortunatly overslept. We rushed super-fast to the bus station, but missed our bus by like a minute (sure, the ONE time a bus in Greece leaves on time!). Instead we just caught a later bus, and still had enough time to visit the site and return to Athens for our night ferry. Delphi was really cool, one of the best preserved stadiums in Greece and some beautiful temples (aka, ruins of).
We have one more day in Santorini, and the current plan is to rent scooters! I'm going to name mine Sasha, and nothing makes me happier than riding her through puddles after it rains.
I'm home in a week! I can't believe it. It will be sad to leave Europe, especially with how awesome this last trip is, but I also look forwards to seeing everyone! And wearing fully clean clothes! And sleep in my real bed!
Well, I have no idea when my internet time runs out. We're at the EasyJet Internet Cafe, and you pre-purchase time for 3 euro, but there is no guarentee about how long it lasts. Typical EasyJet, hahahaha...
Over and out
Jacqui :)
1 comment:
Your journey was really very dynamic and interesting! Last summer I also spent one week on Santorini! Very beautiful island! We were recommended to stay at Altana Traditional Houses. And we have booked Altana Traditional Houses. The hotel is really good but too expensive. Next time, I think, we'll stay at another hotel.
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