Greece Part II: Santorini

3/6/15

Day 50

Another day, another plane. But today was special, not just because we were going to Santorini- today marks the halfway point of my program. My semester is exactly 100 days long, so we're halfway done today, except I'm staying after so it's not aaaas sad for me :) 

We got up really early so we'd have time to find the bus station and buy a ticket and still be at the airport with plenty of time to make it through security. We successfully made it and I was thrilled that it was only 5€ and we didn't have to shell out for a cab. 

The flight was over before it began so it was impressive that Aegean air can justify charging 150€ for 20 minutes of air time. Anyway, it beat taking an 8 hour ferry because we now had a whole day and a half to spend in Santorini! We suddenly panicked that we might not have a ride from the airport but when we stepped off the plane, someone from our hotel was standing there waiting for us. George turned out to be the owner of the hotel and he was the nicest person I've met on my travels so far. He explained our options and helped us figure out how to spend our day and even called a car rental company when we decided that was the best way to see everything. There was a huge 3D map of Santorini on his wall that he used to show us where everything was.

Then, he told us he could give us a room with a balcony in his brothers hotel if we didn't mind leaving. It didn't take us too long to decide. It was sunny and the breeze was gentle and I'm pretty sure we could even see the ocean from our balcony.

But we didn't want to waste any time, so we are a quick (2€!) lunch and grabbed water from this tiny little store jam-packed with everything ever while we waited for our car.

And then we commenced our adventure. 

First, we drove all the way to the southern tip to see the lighthouse which turned out to be a big disappointment. We couldn't even see it. Instead, it turned out to be perched on a really cool rocky cliff.

I took a million pictures and let it mesmerize me for a few minutes before turning back and moving on to our next destination: the red sand beach. Only we missed the sign for the red sand beach so we continued on to the black sand beach, which was probably cooler anyway (I'm just gonna tell myself that).

The sand was made up of little pebbles that I think are black because they came from the volcano that Santorini wraps itself around. We stayed long enough to take it in and it cured my bad mood. I took a walk down to where the beach ended at the side of the mountain and back. It soothed my fatigue from traveling too much. Actually I'm still not sure I believe in "traveling too much". 

We'd heard that the sunset in Oia ("Ee-ya") was the place to be and had arranged our whole day to end up there around the right time. We traced the edges of the island's curves and rocky cliffs, each giving us a better view of the sea until we'd make it to the end. We got to Oia and saw another group of girls taking selfies on the side of the cliff so we parked and waited for them to finish before moving in to see it for ourselves. 

But, despite a pretty view, we didn't see any of the famed blue houses we'd come here for. Disappointed, we looked around a little before deciding the blue houses must be closer to where we were staying in the middle of the island, in Fira (also called Thira, I think the Greek letter doesn't distinguish between f and th), and there wouldn't be a good sunset because it was cloudy anyway. We raced back to Fira to find the Old Port and hopefully the blue houses before dark. We struck out again. But we did get lucky and stumbled upon this view, so we stayed to watch the sun slip behind the clouds and the islands further out from the coast.

It was so unbelievable that I didn't even want to close my eyes. This is a bold claim, but I think it was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen in person. Maybe. You tell me (and keep in mind that pictures never do landscapes justice) 

Afterwards, it was time for dinner. I opted to try Greek yogurt and honey. It was amazing!

I don't love yogurt to begin with, but the texture that usually disgusts me goes perfectly with the sweet thickness of honey. I was obsessed. We were mid-meal when the same group of American girls from Oia walked in. They had accidentally sat in paint and had white streaks all over their pants and jackets. Then one of them started flirting with the waiter in the most desperate attempt to get his attention. To my horror, it worked! He asked for her number and she said she only had wifi in Greece. He asked for her room number and she said she didn't know. We determined that they were really drunk because the third friend had gone outside, I suspect to throw up. It was hilarious because the whole scene was so pathetic. We thoroughly enjoyed the entertainment of the night. 

It was a good way to celebrate the halfway point of studying abroad.