First Leg: Santorini
We took a 6 a.m. flight from Stuttgart to Athens (after staying up all night), and walked around for 4 hours until we caught our 9 hour ferry to Santorini. We arrived at 2 a.m., a bit delirious but ready for our vacation.
We stayed in 2 rooms that were like little villas. The one I stayed in was on the second floor, so we had a balcony.
This is the biggest town on the island: Fira. I took this from a cafe where we stopped for a drink.
Us at the cafe...
Cliffside hotels. There just aren't words to describe how beautiful everything was, and the pictures truly don't do it justice.
Day 2: ATV's!!!
We rented 4-wheelers to get to a wine vinyard/museum and do some exploring. This was possibly one of the best, most fun days of my life. We just rode around, beach hopping and terrifying the locals. I can't even begin to explain how much fun we had...
Marc, Ingvild, and I with our feet going numb in the very chilly water. None of us were really prepared for how cool it still was in Greece.
Black beaches! Or, as our hotel owner said with his accent "Black bitches." Yeah, we never got tired of that one...
Erik and Marc at the top of a mountain we rode up. What a view!
Last day in Santorini:
We took a boat trip out to the famous volcano- the Caldera. There were also supposed to be hot springs to swim in (which was what we were really excited for). Let me recreate the day for you....
Everything cost more than we thought it would. That's ok- it'll be a cool experience. We freeze our asses off on the boat, however.
Yup, we were a little cold- but, we had hot springs to look forward to! (ha ha, read on)
Then we get to the volcano, which was wicked cool, don't get me wrong. However, the hot springs aren't here, we need to make another stop on the other side.
(That's Santorini in the background)
Elliot swimming back...
Ok, moving on...
After the boat-trip debacle we hopped on a ferry to Naxos...
View from the balcony of our hotel. We only paid 10 euros each per night, and the place was beautiful! Not to mention the fact that we were the first guests of the season, and had the entire hotel to ourselves.
"Man eating aloe vera plant," Erik and I were amazed by the size of these things, and they were everywhere.
Just amazing...
Naxos was a gorgeous island. Thanks to Elliot for capturing this one
Downtown Naxos. There were a bunch of cute shops and cafes
Naxos coast. We rented ATV's again and went exploring- it was the best way to see the islands!
Beach time!! Naxos had gorgeous beaches- this is Marc and Adam in the middle of "Frisbee wars, 2007." The water really was not warm at all, but they were having a great time (and entertaining the locals). It had warmed up quite a bit, though, and we all got some quality sun-time in.
St. Anna's beach. We set up here for awhile
A little further down...
Ingvild and I in the setting sun
The crew
Naxos at night. Again, a huge thanks to Elliot for this one, it's one of my favorites.
Ruins...
View of the Parthenon from the top of our hostel.
Up at the Acropolis....
This is a view of another temple, and the very crowded city of Athens.
Ancient scaffolding and cranes...
We got some culture and enjoyed some wild nights in Athens. However, all good things must come to an end, and our 10 days of paradise ended too quickly. It was back to Germany and to the beginning of my semester.