literally travelled all day. flew from rome to athens then from athens to santorini. ever been on a propeller plane over the mediterranean sea? well, i have. ellie and tara were super nervous, understandably so, but jess and i were laughing the whole way through the turbulence. we all made it in one piece. a guy from our hostel picked us up from the airport, we got settled a little, then headed out for dinner at el greco restaurant. fried zucchini, tzatziki & bread, greek salad, and baklavah yummmm.
thursday, october 28
the hotel breakfast was bread and butter with warm milk for plain flake cereal and airbone-tasting orange juice. gross. we were moved to a nicer, sister hotel down the road where we unpacked and then set out for the day. we walked up a very long road to fira centre that ended up being a short walk if we make a different turn. anyway, the view once we reached the top of the mountain was incredible. exactly what you imagine greece would look like - a very 'sisterhood of the traveling pants' moment for sure. got another gift then we stopped for lunch at zafora overlooking the sea and the volcano. i had greek penne and it was amaaaazing. we shopped for a while in fira, i got myself a shot glass and another gift. we took a donkey ride down to the old port harbor. mine's name was marcos he was white and gray and it was so much fun, i loved it. we sat in the sun then took the cable car back up to the center for more shopping, i got a few more gifts before the weather quickly changed and it started raining. we had dinner at ladokolla, i got tzatziki and pork kontosouvli, and the restuarant gave us free greek yoghurt panna cotta for dessert. after getting cleaned up a little at the hotel, we went out to find any bars still open this late in the santorini season. 'tropical bar', 'town club', and 'tithora rock club' are all very different but none were that great or that bad. we got cheap chicken souvlaki on our way home to complete the day.
friday, october 29
we decided that weather.com is the devil. it was wrong every day in greece, but we dealt with it. ATVs were first on the agenda for the day. we tooled around the island, first to kamari, a black sand beach, then around and up and down one of the mountains to vlichada beach and harbor. on our way out from there, jess unfortunately crashed. she wasn't hurt, but there were some damages to the ATV so we headed back to the rental place near our hotel. the guy was really rude at first but his boss came and explained everything that needed to be replaced. it was no bueno. dealing with all that for a while made us hungry. lunch at the pelican i had a veggie omelette with feta cheese, then we got gourmet belgian waffles for dessert, mine was topped with chocolate walnut and whipped cream. we all napped for a few hours after that, ellie with her ancient thira blanket lol. and then it was our last night out! we went back to 'town club' for a little because we made friends with one of the bartenders, but were all pretty tired so we didn't stay out super late.
saturday, october 30
the guy from the ATV place knocked on our hotel door because jess owed more money from the crash, he sucks, and the whole situation sucked. so ellie, tara, and i had to go without her on a volcano and hot springs excursion we had been planning to take. a boat took us to the volcano and we hiked around it, none of us in the right kind of shoes. then we went to where we could jump off the boat and swim to hot springs at the bottom of the volcano. i was the only one to do it, and im so glad that i did. the hot springs were weird because the water was brown from the kicked up dirt, but the mediterranean sea right outside the hot springs was so so so refreshing and clear and just unbelievable. i did not want to get back on the boat. when we got back to the port i took a donkey ride by myself back up the mountain on bella while the other two took the cable cars. we all met up again and headed to lunch at stamna garden tavern where we all enjoyed classic gyros. then jess went early to the airport - she just wanted to get out of greece, i don't blame her. the rest of us shopped some more, i found a pair of earrings with lava rock and turquoise for myself, and a city dog named frieda followed us around while we ate pastries and watched one of the most beautiful sunsets i have ever seen. it was a bittersweet goodbye to santorini because we all knew we needed to get back to london, to familiarity, but the vacation time was just beyond amazing. we took a taxi to the airport, flew on a regular plane to athens, flew easyjet (screw easyjet) back to london, took the express train that wasnt so express to central london, a night bus near our flat, and walked the rest of the way to our beds. its strange but good that i can call london home, for now.
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