We are in Athens again, and surprisingly I feel some relief being back in a big city. I love the islands and all, but there's something about a city that just feels like home to me now. Strangely, even though I feel extremely exhausted, I feel like I can breath again. I think being around lots of people gives me energy, and since we were in Santorini in the off season, a lot of places we went were kinda dead.
We took an overnight ferry from Santorini last night and got to Athens early this morning, and met a few other backpackers, so we all decided to commandeer a section of floor space underneath a large stairway so we could catch some z's. Well, at least try... I ended up cold and hungry half the trip, and not very rested.
Anyway, I'm guessing you're all wondering what Colton and I did while we were in Santorini! Well, on our second day we rented a scooter and went cruising around the whole island. The guy we rented from told us several things to keep in mind before he let us get on the scooter: 1. Wear Helmet. 2. Be Careful. 3. Drive on the right side of the road. 4. Watch out for "China people." The last one gave us a good laugh!
So we drove through Kamari, a cute little beach town that looked like it could be a fun place to hang in the summer months. We saw both the red and black beaches, and with the island being so small, we kept seeing the same people everywhere we went. For lunch, we stopped at a place that overlooks the caldera, and ate some of the freshest fried fish we've ever had, and I'm not usually a fish person, but it was really good :) Our waitress said her father had caught the fish that morning. Now that's fresh!
Down the road from the restaurant was the lighthouse that we walked out to, which had one of the best views of the islands and I'm guessing one of the best views for sunset. After that we drove up to the top of a monastery, named after the prophet Elijah, which is the highest point on Santorini. It was so beautiful, with views of the entire island all around. After that we drove all the way up to Oia for sunset. And back to Fira to our hotel. That was probably one of the best days we had in Santorini, just cruising around.
The next day we woke up and drove around a bit more before we had to return the scooter. We hung out in Fira at a cafe for a bit, looking for couch surfers and our next HelpX, which we found out today we got the one we wanted!! We will be working at a place in Tuscany for two weeks at the end of April, for a very interesting woman that is all about unconditional love and spirituality and creating a place for healing and creativity to be let loose. I'm excited to see what it's like, the reviews sound amazing! So after that we ate lunch at a cafe overlooking the caldera again. It was perfect sitting there because everywhere else was so windy.
Later we walked back to the hotel, stopping at a bakery along the way to get some fresh bread for breakfast and some Cretan sweets, yum yum. We chilled in the hotel the rest of the day cuz it was kinda crappy and we needed some rest. We watched The Fountain by Aronofsky, which I was really intrigued by. I like his style a lot, he's really great at telling a story in a unique way. We went to a little restaurant called Mama's House in Fira, and had some of the best food on the island, and the place was definitely Greek...servers yelling at the kitchen staff and running around taking orders... it was quite entertaining. We met "Mama" who happened to live in LA for a while we found out. She was full of spunk and energy.
Our last day was also gloomy and super windy, so we walked to Fira and waited for the bus to Oia where we sat a lot and just chilled. We ended up walking down to the beach and I took a nap. Then we headed back to Fira for a cold and windy sunset, but it was beautiful. We got dropped off at the port around 8:30 last night and hung out until the ferry got in.
After getting off the ferry this morning we went to Starbucks to get online and do some more planning. I slept a bit, which was great. It's really beautiful outside today, so we found a park and crashed there for the afternoon. Now we are waiting for our couchsurfing host to get off work so we can meet up with him. Tomorrow we will be heading to another port where we will be taking another over night ferry to Bari, Italy. I'm hoping this time I will be able to sleep, otherwise it's going to be a long Easter day, and we still don't know if we have a place to stay once we get there, so we may be checking into a hostle, who knows. I'll just be glad to be there :)
We took an overnight ferry from Santorini last night and got to Athens early this morning, and met a few other backpackers, so we all decided to commandeer a section of floor space underneath a large stairway so we could catch some z's. Well, at least try... I ended up cold and hungry half the trip, and not very rested.
Anyway, I'm guessing you're all wondering what Colton and I did while we were in Santorini! Well, on our second day we rented a scooter and went cruising around the whole island. The guy we rented from told us several things to keep in mind before he let us get on the scooter: 1. Wear Helmet. 2. Be Careful. 3. Drive on the right side of the road. 4. Watch out for "China people." The last one gave us a good laugh!
So we drove through Kamari, a cute little beach town that looked like it could be a fun place to hang in the summer months. We saw both the red and black beaches, and with the island being so small, we kept seeing the same people everywhere we went. For lunch, we stopped at a place that overlooks the caldera, and ate some of the freshest fried fish we've ever had, and I'm not usually a fish person, but it was really good :) Our waitress said her father had caught the fish that morning. Now that's fresh!
Down the road from the restaurant was the lighthouse that we walked out to, which had one of the best views of the islands and I'm guessing one of the best views for sunset. After that we drove up to the top of a monastery, named after the prophet Elijah, which is the highest point on Santorini. It was so beautiful, with views of the entire island all around. After that we drove all the way up to Oia for sunset. And back to Fira to our hotel. That was probably one of the best days we had in Santorini, just cruising around.
The next day we woke up and drove around a bit more before we had to return the scooter. We hung out in Fira at a cafe for a bit, looking for couch surfers and our next HelpX, which we found out today we got the one we wanted!! We will be working at a place in Tuscany for two weeks at the end of April, for a very interesting woman that is all about unconditional love and spirituality and creating a place for healing and creativity to be let loose. I'm excited to see what it's like, the reviews sound amazing! So after that we ate lunch at a cafe overlooking the caldera again. It was perfect sitting there because everywhere else was so windy.
Later we walked back to the hotel, stopping at a bakery along the way to get some fresh bread for breakfast and some Cretan sweets, yum yum. We chilled in the hotel the rest of the day cuz it was kinda crappy and we needed some rest. We watched The Fountain by Aronofsky, which I was really intrigued by. I like his style a lot, he's really great at telling a story in a unique way. We went to a little restaurant called Mama's House in Fira, and had some of the best food on the island, and the place was definitely Greek...servers yelling at the kitchen staff and running around taking orders... it was quite entertaining. We met "Mama" who happened to live in LA for a while we found out. She was full of spunk and energy.
Our last day was also gloomy and super windy, so we walked to Fira and waited for the bus to Oia where we sat a lot and just chilled. We ended up walking down to the beach and I took a nap. Then we headed back to Fira for a cold and windy sunset, but it was beautiful. We got dropped off at the port around 8:30 last night and hung out until the ferry got in.
After getting off the ferry this morning we went to Starbucks to get online and do some more planning. I slept a bit, which was great. It's really beautiful outside today, so we found a park and crashed there for the afternoon. Now we are waiting for our couchsurfing host to get off work so we can meet up with him. Tomorrow we will be heading to another port where we will be taking another over night ferry to Bari, Italy. I'm hoping this time I will be able to sleep, otherwise it's going to be a long Easter day, and we still don't know if we have a place to stay once we get there, so we may be checking into a hostle, who knows. I'll just be glad to be there :)
Keep the stories coming. I have been sharing them with the grandma's. They love it!
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