Oh Santorini. It was quite the roller coaster ride. I took a 9-hour ferry from Athens to get to the island. I went on Blue Star Ferries, and was quite impressed with the ship. It was a big boat and had a few cafes and restaurants. I lucked out and found a seat on a nice, cushioned bench. So most of the ride I napped. It felt so nice to nap lying down on a mode of transportation. I can only sleep so well sitting up! When I got to the port, I was so relieved to have a shuttle provided by my hotel. It is a steep, curving road that would have taken hours to climb up and to the city center, especially with all of my luggage. So if you ever visit Santorini and take a ferry in, definitely go for accommodations that include transportation from the port. That evening I walked around Fira and enjoyed the sunset. It was a bit cloudy, but still nice. I was so excited to see all the colorful and white buildings built up in to the hillside. It was surreal. The majority of those buildings are restaurants or shops. Santorini gets its lifeblood from tourists, which is so evident with how the whole island is equipped for tourists. When I was there it was clear the season was just starting. A few early birds had their shops and restaurants open, but many of the businesses were gearing up. Every path I walked in the cities either smelled like wet paint or had the hum from some power tool. Everywhere people were renovating their shops.
Friday I spent the morning in Fira and took the cable car down to the old port. The water is so clear and such a gorgeous turquoise. But the port was pretty dead, again most shops weren't yet open, so I hopped on a donkey to head back up the hill. It just had to be done... I mean it's Santorini! It was a pretty lengthy ride, and the scenery was very beautiful. A donkey ride is definitely a must-do. In the afternoon I caught a bus to Perissa, a beach town, to check in to my next hotel. Perissa is a beautiful area. The beaches have a fine, black sand that is really a sight to behold. Again it wasn't very busy and many of the businesses were closed. But it was actually nice to have the area be deserted rather than teeming with tourists milling around. And it had a lot of bakeries, which made me oh so happy! One of the bakeries (only a dangerously close walk of 2 minutes from my hotel) had the most disgustingly delicious, sickly sweetest pastries I have tried. It was a croissant sliced in half and smothered with Nutella, and then the whole thing is saturated in honey, which is huge in Greece. Oh my goodness! It was so good. I also enjoyed a lot of baklava from the bakeries and a tasty spanakopita. I spent most of my time in Perissa either laying on the beach or napping in the hotel. It was a very relaxing time.On Sunday, I rented an ATV and drove around the whole island in the morning. I watched the sun rise at the Red Beach, then I went to the light house. After a brief snack at a bakery, I headed up to Oia, which is the picturesque city of Santorini. It was so beautiful! There were a lot more tourist shops and restaurants with terrace views of the ocean. I didn't spend a whole lot of time in Oia, because there wasn't much to do. So I headed back to Fira and had lunch at Mama's House, a restaurant several people recommended. I tried moussaka, which reminded me a lot of shepherd's pie. It was good, but I think I liked the house wine and butter spread and bread even more! I have to say, Greece does food so well. I think it was one of my favorite places to eat. The gyros, the bread, the traditional dishes, and baklava! Greece does food right. I finished the afternoon by cruising near Perissa beach and checking out ancient Thira, which was basically just remnants of old walls.
Then I got a ride from my hotel down to the port to catch my 17:55 ferry to Crete. Or so I thought. The whole day had been crazy windy. Clouds were zipping through the air, and a few times I felt like I was going to blow over. The wind was so bad that it made huge waves in the water, creating too dangerous of an environment for my ferry to dock or sail in. Ok, so when is the next ferry to Crete available? Oh, not until Tuesday. Well great, because my flight from Crete to Milan left Monday night, so there was really no way to make it. Thank God that there was a 17:00 ferry from Santorini to Piraeus available. And I'm so happy I chose the best place possible to stay at in Santorini, because the manager there, Rich, was incredibly helpful! He figured that my ship would likely be canceled, so he gave me his number to call him if I needed a ride back to the hostel. I was going to stay another night in Santorini, but then decided my best option was to go to Athens. I talked it over with Rich and he gave me some websites to check out. So I hopped on the ferry to Athens, and we sailed through the rough seas for six long hours. Several people got sick, and a few times I was convinced another big wave would come in and flip the boat in its side. But we made it through! I was so happy that I had already stayed in Athens, because I knew where I could get a bed (mind you it was 11 p.m. by the time we arrived). When I got to the hostel I got on to the Internet to try to figure out my game plan for making it to Italy. I was so grateful when I checked my email and saw that Rich had already done the research for me. He showed me a few options for taking ferries to Italy, but none would have made it in time. So I ended up taking a morning flight from Athens to Milan. I only got about two hours of sleep that night, but I figured it would be best to just get to Italy as soon as possible, because I fly from Italy back to the U.S. I was able to get on the flight and made it to Milan. Then I hopped on two different trains to get to Venice. Everything worked out really well. I spent more money than I wanted to, and it was not how i planned it, but it all turned out to be fine. I think this whole experience has shown me that God is always there for me and has bigger (better) plans in mind. So I need to just stop worrying, and start enjoying the wonderful experiences He has blessed me with. I am so happy to be traveling and so happy to see as much of the world as I can. Overall I enjoyed Greece. The food was exceptional, the people were kind and the island was gorgeous. But will I be back anytime soon? Probably not.
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