Days 3 - 6 Santorini

I guess my initial fear of missing out on the World Series in Chicago can now be erased :-( How is everyone in Chicago handling this disappointment? I'm sorry guys! What a bummer! AMY GAURI...did you go to either Game 1 or 2? This could explain why they lost the first two.

I've been in Santorini for the past 4 days and it's been incredible! Santorini is everything I imagined it would be. Prior to coming here, I had seen so many pictures and several movies that have taken place in Santorini (Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, Mamma Mia). Each image was so picturesque that I figured everything was digitally enhanced. Now that I'm here I can honestly say that nothing is digitally enhanced. The images in the pictures and in the movies that we see are 100% real. I was speechless when I walked to the edge of the mountain to see the amazing cliff of bright white buildings with bright blue features on one side and then the midnight blue Mediterranean Sea on the other side. You could stand there for hours and just admire the landscape in front of you.

I've been spending my time in the Greek Islands with Kelley, the Canadian backpacker that I met in Athens. We are getting along great and we found a few interesting similarities:

1. Kelley and I are both backpacking for 4 months. (she just started 2 months before me).
2. Kelley and I are both going to Europe, Southeast Asia, and Australia.
3. Kelley and I both have awful driving records. (Although she is not Asian, she looks like Katherine Heigel).
4. Kelley and I both love desserts. We could be extremely full for dinner but we still find the local bakery and buy ourselves a yummy treat.
5. Kelley and I both hate peanuts and love sushi.
6. Kelley and I always end up with the girly straight guys. I've given her previous stories of my past and she was able to top some of my interesting ones by saying that she and her ex had a custody battle over the hair straightener.

SO, you can see that we've gotten to know each other pretty well and we've been having a lot of fun!

On Day 2, Kelley and I both rented ATVs to get around the entire island. This was my first time driving an ATV so I was a bit scared because I've never been on one before. I didn't want to chicken out because Kelley seemed so comfortable driving one so I didn't want to be the buzz kill. She taught me how to work the gas and the brakes and then we were off to explore the island. I got used to the ATV really quickly and ended up loving it. We hit the different beaches on the island: Perrisa, Akrotiri, and Kamari. All of the beaches have their unique characteristics. Perrisa is also known as the Black Sand Beach. This was the first time for the both of us to see black sand. Akrotiri is the Red Beach because of the red boulders/mountains that surround the beach. Kamari is definitely the most resort like beach with all the restaurants and outdoor lounges/cafes lined up along the sand. When we were in the water at Perrisa and Akrotiri we noticed that the surface was not sandy. Instead it is filled with rocks and pebbles. It was definitely different from what we are used to but we were glad we got to experience it.

After beach hopping, we ended up taking our ATVs up to the northern part of the island called Oia. Santorini is known for some of the world's famous sunsets and Oia is the reason why. Remember when I mentioned the pictures that I had seen before I came here? All of those pics are from Oia. This area draws a HUGE crowd so we were glad we got there early and found a table for dinner that overlooked the sea. The food was fantastic and the sun started to set as we were finishing up dinner. We seriously had the best seat in Oia! Kelley and I were joking about all the tourists that came with their tripods to take pictures. Who actually packs a tripod for vacation? Of course these tripod tourists were all Asians.

On Day 3, Kelley and I decided to go on the donkey ride tour. I heard about this tour from Caroline when she traveled to Greece a few years ago and she said it was a MUST DO in Santorini. The donkey took us from the bottom of the island to the way top. The path was very curvy and the weather was extremely windy. These donkeys had a mind of their own so you don't really know what to expect. Fortunately, we made it up safely and had a few laughs up the way. It was another fun experience and we were glad to check out the island from a donkey's back.

Today we are leaving for a different Greek Island: Mykonos. I've heard great things about Mykonos so I can't wait to check it out. I'm having problems posting pics on Facebook and on this blog. Hopefully I will get everything straightened out by the end of the week. I miss everyone! Happy Birthday to Kate Siemsen and Mary Holmsely!