It's been ages now since we returned from Greece, and I'm very embarrassed to only now be putting up pics! But I hope they will be worth the long wait :)
After only a few short days in Athens, we set off for Santorini, an island in the southern part of the Cyclades. It is made up of two inhabitable islands, a large half-moon shaped one and a smaller one, which encircle a crater, known as the caldera, housing an active volcano.
To get there, we traveled through the Aegean with Blue Star Ferries. It was top notch!
As Santorini is pretty far south, our ferry stopped at a few ports along the way. Here we are in the port of Naxos.
And at last, after many hours at sea, we approached Santorini.
We had to go down to the belly of the ship to get our car. There, traffic controllers shout at you "left, left, left, come, come, come, stop!" to help you navigate through the tunnel of the ship. They seem endless, but then suddenly you see natural light coming through from the distance...
...and then you are out into the bustle of the port.
We drove up the long winding road from the port up onto the island itself.
We could look down and see the ship we had just gotten off of!
We then arrived out our hotel, the Villa Georgia, which was its own lovely oasis.
We immediately went for a swim.
And afterwards, we set off to one of the nearby beaches for dinner.
Fix - an authentic Greek beer experience.
After our first feast on the island, we spent the rest of the evening walking up and down the beach, scoping out what the nightlife scene might be like, then headed to bed pretty early.
The next morning, we were up early, and set out to explore the ancient city of Akrotiri, a city destroyed in the 1627 BC Theran volcanic eruption, leaving it buried (and preserved) in ash, much like Pompei.
We were treated to some amazing views along the way.
As the site is still currently under excavation, with a huge portion of it still unearthed, it is entirely covered to help keep it preserved.
This was one of my favorite parts, I loved the beautifully painted vessels.
This was an entire street they had excavated. It was amazing to be able to walk down a street that was more than 3,000 years old.
After exploring the ruins, we decided it was time to hit the beaches. We set out in search of a beach called "Red Beach". We could tell we were getting close when we started to see some red rocks.
We hiked up over a cliff, and then suddenly, Red Beach appeared in front of us!
We set up camp under one of the rentable umbrellas and enjoyed some swimming before climbing aboard a water taxi to visit a different beach.
We sped past white cliffs rising out of the turquoise sea, our boat driving playing around as if he would hit one, then turning away at the last minute.
Hidden in this cove is a small beach known as White Beach.
However, instead of getting off there, we headed to a different beach, Black Beach, as our boat driver promised us it was more exciting, with sea caves to explore.
Walking back from the beach after a very full day, we were treated once again to some very spectacular views of the island at sunset.
Famished after so much swimming and walking, we went to a restaurant called the Cave of Nikolas Taverna, which was suggested to us by our very hospitable Villa Georgia hosts. It is one of many restaurants nestled into a series of "caves" built into a cliff face looking out toward the sea. These caves were originally built by fishermen, who came to the island to work and needed a cheap place to live. Now, they have been turned into restaurants serving local fare.
Spyros's moussaka.
My rice, mixed with santorini fava, and surrounded by some extremely fresh mussels.
It was one of the most memorable days of my life, one I will remember for a very long time and that I am so grateful to have had. And the best part is, it ended with Spyros telling me he had booked a surprise adventure trip for the next day :)
