Fall Break in Greece! Part 2: Santorini

     On Tuesday Morning, we got up at 5 am in order to catch our ferry which left at 7:30. Although the ride on the ferry had some nice views, it was very long and boring, we were on there for a total of eight hours. We arrived in Santorini at 3:30 and got transportation to the hostel by the free pick-up that the hostel offered. The hostel turned out to be a simple, yet lovely little place. We had our own little kitchen in our room as well as a little balcony. We had two spectacular views from our hostel; one of the mountain behind us and the other of the Mediterranean Sea. After settling into our room, we walked along the beach which has black sand! It was so strange, I've never seen a beach with black sand. The entire beach area was pretty deserted since it was the off-season. Many of the restaurants were closed and the ones that were open only had a few people inside and didn't have everything on their menu. Yet, everything was quiet and peaceful; a nice escape from crowded, noisy cities.

     For our first full day in Santorini, we climbed the mountain that was near our hostel. There were several paths that we could take. One path led us up to a cute little church on a cliff overlooking the island. I wondered if anyone actually came up here on Sundays to attend services. Another path took us near the top where we could see the other side of the island. At the very top of the mountain, there were some ancient ruins that we had no idea about. Unfortunately you had to pay to get in and, not realizing that there was even anything up there, we didn't have any money with us. It was fun just to hike the mountain though.

Small Orthodox church in a crevice.

Church overlooking the island.

   
     For the afternoon we went swimming and met this Greek guy named Rango whom we talked to for a little while. His lifestyle seemed very laid back and care-free. He didn't speek much English, but he kept telling us, "Life is life. Welcome to paradise!" Later that day we met these two Australian girls at the resturant we were eating at. They had been traveling all around Europe and were just going to stay in Santorini for one night. They invited us to hang out with them at a bar that night, so we said, "Why not?" The bar was really fun, they had great music and just the right amount of people: not too little, and not too many. I had a delicious banana daiquiri and then afterwards danced late into the night alongside the Australians as well as a few Greeks we had met. It was probably the best night I had had during my stay in Greece.

     The next day we explored the towns of Phira and Oia. We got to see the famous white buildings built on a cliff alongside the blue-domed churches:

This is the sunset we saw on the coast of Oia.

     On the last day, we just allowed ourselves to relax and soak up the sun. Lord knows, we might not get a chance to sunbathe again until May! So we took advantage of the nice weather while we still had it. We had to leave on our ferry at 3:30 and it didn't arrive in Athens until 11:30. Fatigued from the long boat ride, we got to our hostel and went straight to bed. Thankfully we didn't have an early flight the next day which allowed us a few extra hours of sleep. Everything from that point on was uneventful; we got to the airport in time, the flight went smoothly, and we were able to get to our train in Milan on time and head back to Florence. It sure felt good to be back in Florence, it was like coming home. After being in the huge, crazy city of Athens, I now feel that I have been seeing Florence with new eyes. Florence truly has a beauty and quaintness that cannot be found anywhere else. The city is big enough so that you'll have plenty of things to do to keep you busy, yet it's small enough that you can walk or take a short bus ride almost anywhere. Italy, in general, has this "magical" feel to it that I cannot really describe and that I haven't found in any other country I've been to(which, aside from the US, has only been El Salvador and Greece, but I think my point is still valid). Athens was fun for a few days, and Santorini is a beautiful place for a vacation, but I'm glad that I chose to study and live here in Florence. It just suites me, and I could not have chosen a better place to study abroad in. I'm still looking forward to the many adventures that I will continue to have here in this marvelous country of Italy.

     On a side note, I'm going to Switzerland this weekend with my friend Sarah. I'm not sure what we'll be doing there yet, I guess we'll just show up and see what happens. Let the adventures begin!