We’ve spent about 4 days in Santorini now, mainly enjoying D.O.R.’s (days of rest) by relaxing in the sun, and taking advantage of the weekend fun.
Some of the highlights included:
- Our little apartment faced onto these black rock beaches. I thought I would miss sand, but I found it was great to leave the beach without having to wash sand off every bodily crevice possible. On the other hand, it gets hot here… so these rocks have the potential to turn into hot coals that burn your bare feet.
- The nightlife is a whole new world compared to home: the clubs are open roofed and empty until 2:30 AM. The parties don’t even start by the time our nightclubs would be shutting down with the lights turning on. Despite the overhaul in our schedule, it’s been so much fun: the people are lively, the music is great, and the weather is warm enough to keep you outside all night long. It just means you have to adjust your sleeping schedule to sleep half of your night before the bar, and then finish the second half when you arrive home post-partying.
The highlight of the photo above was that we were walking in front of Ashley and she stopped to take this photo when a huge gust of wind came and she Marilyn Monroe-d every person behind her. The highlight of the photo below is that these were on-the-house shots given to us at a bar where the bar stools were about a foot from the bus stop we were waiting at. Convenient.
- The issues in Greece have really impacted tourism. The islands are quieter than usual (according to the locals) and we sensed frustration from many business owners. I spoke to a few Greeks who confirmed that tourists seem scared to visit, and that places seem to lack the liveliness they used to have. However, those that remain positive have been wonderfully friendly, fun, and boisterous.
- There remains a continuation of foods along the Mediterranean. Baklava still predominates dessert menus, and feta & olives are standards. Now add in Tzatiki, Greek salad, souvlaki, mousaka (minced meat dish with melted feta on top) and you’ve got some standard Greek dishes. The bonus is that most restaurants bring dessert with your bill!
And now we are saying good-bye to our little samplet of Greece. The time went by quickly and I feel like we’ve barely seen enough. But now we’ve flown by baby propeller plane (in a wind storm) to Athens, where we are calling the airport home for the night before we fly out to Croatia in the morning. Hopefully no one will mind that this bench seat is stolen by a row of blankets with the occasional masses of blonde hair sticking out:
Looks like you all had a great time there!