Santorini

Monday, we arrived in Santorini via a high-speed hydrofoil. It only took us two hours to get here from Crete.


We met three Canadians, Danielle, Ky, and Brittany in Crete and we convinced them to catch the ferry with us and stay at Tony's Villa. Tony is a legend in Santorini. His son has Down Syndrome and in order to convince the government to let his son go to school, Tony chained himself to the highest mountain in Santorini for six days until the Prime Minister of Greece took notice and rectified the situation.


We found out that Ky was able to drive stick shift, so we rented a car to go about the island. At 25 euro a day, split five ways, it was completely worth it! In fact, Kelly and I are determined to learn how to drive stick when we get back to the states. Anyone up for teaching us?


Our first stop was wine tasting at Boutari winery, the same place we checked out in Crete.

In the afternoon, we went to the beach for a bit, got some groceries, and drove to the capital city, Fira, to catch the sunset and do some exploring.



Tuesday morning we checked out Santo's winery and bought a few more bottles of wine.


In the afternoon, we relaxed on one of the scorching hot black volcanic sand beaches that Santorini is known for.

In the evening, we decided to walk the footpath from Fira to Oia, the northernmost city on Santorini. It was a 14 kilometer (8.7 mile) hike past all the beautiful villas on the cliff's edge as well as up and down paths made of volcanic rock.



We made it to Oia just in time for sunset and then grabbed a table at a cliffside restaurant to get some dinner. Kelly opted for the moussaka, a traditional Greek dish made of ground vegetables and mincemeat (ground beef) topped with cheese and breadcrumbs. Don't be fooled by the picture, according to her it was filling and delicious! I had the stuffed tomatoes and rice as shown on the left:


Wednesday, the Canadians left and Kelly and I took the bus to Fira to pick souvenirs and wander the maze-like streets.


We also made friends with some boys who were also staying at Tony's. They turned out to be a pretty good time and we almost took them up on their offer to go to the island of Ios with them. Instead, we boarded our ferry to Mykonos for the last leg of our journey. Paradise Beach, here we come!