So this post (and probably the next few) will not have any pictures in the blog. I'll post a link to the albums I have on facebook for you all to enjoy. :)
We started with quite an early morning. 5:30am at the metro. We had the unfortunate experience of meeting with our fist pickpocketers. They really do make a big commotion and shove up against people. The victims: iPhone and camera. After that experience we were on a ferry for 7 hours! Ferries are pretty cool. You get to see a lot of water and Greek islands.
And then we arrived. Santorini really is a giant cliff in the middle of the ocean.. All the cities are perched well above sea level. We bussed up and attempted to find our hotel- which ended up taking 5 hours or so. We basically walked right past it, continued for 30 min and then came back. We also lost our 1st victim to the black hole of Santorini. Mach was apparently looking at a bus schedule when all 29 of us walked off. After sending out several search parties, we finally found her at the bus station. Good job staying put when lost. :)
Friday we pretty much enjoyed our gorgeous hotel before going out. Epicness ensued in the form of bar hopping. In honor of Chris' birthday I had my first shot: tequila! Pretty good actually. Eventually all 30 of us ended up at the same bar (a pretty amazing feat)- classic rock and cheap alcohol will do that to college students. The following hours were filled with dancing and drinking. Super fun. Note for my mother: I was careful. I did not get drunk.
Saturday morning started with a boat tour, which was pretty terrible for those who were still feeling the night before. I thought it was beautiful. Nothing like a giant sailboat on the open ocean. As part of the boat tour, we got to hike around a volcano (check that one off the bucket list!) and also swim in the hot springs (mostly mud and not that warm). After our tour, we rode the infamous donkeys back up to town! Pretty funny. The donkeys have a set path in their mind and don't really consider what the rider might go through to follow it. Everyone made it up safely though!
Next on the list: ATVs. Awesome. I highly recommend it. Jen, Laura, Chris and I drove 2 to a black beach (halfway across the island). Unfortunately, our ATVs were slower than a baby crawl- but we still had fun! Laura and Jen went parasailing at the beach- for which I was the photographer. Chris spectated. Post-parasailing we chilled in the black sand, buried Chris, and then hopped back on the ATVs.
We went across to opposite end of the island for Oia. I'm really glad Chris was driving here and not me. The roads were dark, windy and on the cliff edge. But we made it safely! The 4 of us spent a quiet evening wandering Oia. Quite pleasant. Then we hopped back on the ATVs and returned to the hotel. Tried bar hopping, but ended up turning in pretty early- worn out from a great day.
We didn't have much time on Sunday, but we made it count! We went back to Oia for daylight views. The views were definitely impressive- as were the crowds. So many old people. We managed to escape them and went cliff diving! Super fun. For those of you familiar with Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants- we went the same place they do in the movie. After drying off we hopped back on the ferry and returned to Athens.
It would seem like the weekend was at a close, except for one travel challenge! We were planning on taking the metro back from the port, but our ferry happened to run late. Late as in past-midnight-late, which meant the metro was closed. Called up our friends at CYA who told us we could find a bus station and a bus would take us to Syntagma. We did this, waited for a bus for 45 min (yes, for those of you keeping track, we did take a bus at 12:45am) and finally returned home- exhausted from a fantastic weekend!
Pictures link:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150322222787346.368626.520592345&l=000c5c8744&type=1
We started with quite an early morning. 5:30am at the metro. We had the unfortunate experience of meeting with our fist pickpocketers. They really do make a big commotion and shove up against people. The victims: iPhone and camera. After that experience we were on a ferry for 7 hours! Ferries are pretty cool. You get to see a lot of water and Greek islands.
And then we arrived. Santorini really is a giant cliff in the middle of the ocean.. All the cities are perched well above sea level. We bussed up and attempted to find our hotel- which ended up taking 5 hours or so. We basically walked right past it, continued for 30 min and then came back. We also lost our 1st victim to the black hole of Santorini. Mach was apparently looking at a bus schedule when all 29 of us walked off. After sending out several search parties, we finally found her at the bus station. Good job staying put when lost. :)
Friday we pretty much enjoyed our gorgeous hotel before going out. Epicness ensued in the form of bar hopping. In honor of Chris' birthday I had my first shot: tequila! Pretty good actually. Eventually all 30 of us ended up at the same bar (a pretty amazing feat)- classic rock and cheap alcohol will do that to college students. The following hours were filled with dancing and drinking. Super fun. Note for my mother: I was careful. I did not get drunk.
Saturday morning started with a boat tour, which was pretty terrible for those who were still feeling the night before. I thought it was beautiful. Nothing like a giant sailboat on the open ocean. As part of the boat tour, we got to hike around a volcano (check that one off the bucket list!) and also swim in the hot springs (mostly mud and not that warm). After our tour, we rode the infamous donkeys back up to town! Pretty funny. The donkeys have a set path in their mind and don't really consider what the rider might go through to follow it. Everyone made it up safely though!
Next on the list: ATVs. Awesome. I highly recommend it. Jen, Laura, Chris and I drove 2 to a black beach (halfway across the island). Unfortunately, our ATVs were slower than a baby crawl- but we still had fun! Laura and Jen went parasailing at the beach- for which I was the photographer. Chris spectated. Post-parasailing we chilled in the black sand, buried Chris, and then hopped back on the ATVs.
We went across to opposite end of the island for Oia. I'm really glad Chris was driving here and not me. The roads were dark, windy and on the cliff edge. But we made it safely! The 4 of us spent a quiet evening wandering Oia. Quite pleasant. Then we hopped back on the ATVs and returned to the hotel. Tried bar hopping, but ended up turning in pretty early- worn out from a great day.
We didn't have much time on Sunday, but we made it count! We went back to Oia for daylight views. The views were definitely impressive- as were the crowds. So many old people. We managed to escape them and went cliff diving! Super fun. For those of you familiar with Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants- we went the same place they do in the movie. After drying off we hopped back on the ferry and returned to Athens.
It would seem like the weekend was at a close, except for one travel challenge! We were planning on taking the metro back from the port, but our ferry happened to run late. Late as in past-midnight-late, which meant the metro was closed. Called up our friends at CYA who told us we could find a bus station and a bus would take us to Syntagma. We did this, waited for a bus for 45 min (yes, for those of you keeping track, we did take a bus at 12:45am) and finally returned home- exhausted from a fantastic weekend!
Pictures link:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150322222787346.368626.520592345&l=000c5c8744&type=1
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