Santorini
Trip Start
May 24, 2008
1
5
12
Trip End
Jun 23, 2008
Santorini,
Greece
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Another great view in Fira
. ferry. They rushed out of there and tried to make a later one and we didn't think much of it after that. However, a couple of hours later as Erica and I were waiting for the bus into town, we saw Ryan coming back on the hostel's shuttle. He had decided to stay in Mykonos and is still there - planning to work all summer. We agreed it's perfect for him as he always has a Heineken in his hand. We think that's what he spends most of his money on...hilarious. This place has that kind of effect on you...Speaking of partying, we definitely did our fair share in Mykonos. We mainly hung out at the gorgeous beaches all day - either Paraga Beach, the more peaceful one near our place or Paradise Beach, the more crowded and rowdier place to hang out (at about 5 every day the bars along the beach start blaring music and encouraging beach-goers to start dancing on the various platforms). Most nights we went out in Mykonos town at various clubs until the early hours of dawn. Mykonos is the party island and we had a blast. Yesteray we were feeling the pain for drinking and staying up all night for four nights in a row. Mykonos is a challenge to any seasoned partier - even for three girls from the Big Easy. Fortunately, we were able to meet lots of cool people at our hostel (Ryan as we've already mentioned) as well as two different groups of guys from West Virginia and Yale. We also randomly ran into a guy who we had hung out with our last night in Athens
Having a blast on the ATVs
. It's crazy how that happens when you're traveling throughout Europe. We even have plans to meet up with him in Rome as we'll be there for one night of his stay. Like I said, yesterday our bodies hated us for the abuse they took in Mykonos but we were able to arrive in Santorini in one piece. We found the hostel that was recommended to us and dragged ourselves to a cute Italian Restaurant on the water. Afterwards, all we wanted to do was pass out, so we headed back to our room and started to get ready for bed. We were all claiming how much we enjoyed our private room with its own bathroom ater our accomodations in Mykonos. Erica even said, "I've never in my life been so happy to see a towel. This place is like the Ritz." Nina and I agreed and were making some other comments about our comparably luxurious room, when I spotted the biggest spider I've ever seen in person outside of a zoo. It was at least the size of a baseball with weird markings all over it. Of course we all screamed and jumped on our beds, not knowing what to do next. After a few minutes, a nice Canadian couple came by (I have a new appreciation for that country!) and asked what was wrong. After another 20-30 minutes of watching it and trying to figure out what to do (seriously it was that scary), I ran down the street for help and found what I thought was a really tough looking guy who claimed that he wasn't afraid of spiders
One of the many gorgeous views in Santorini
. He came back with me to be our hero, but when he saw the size of this thing, he quickly told us he couldn't help us and left. Finally, one of the Canadians (the guy of course) attempted to kill it will one of the huge travel books I'd packed. It took him another 10 minutes, but he finally smashed it and we were able to try to sleep (although we refused to open any doors or windows despite the stifling heat). So we haven't had a crazy night out in Santorini yet (tonight hopefully), but we did relive Arachnaphobia (spelling?). This morning we woke up newly refreshed from a full night of sleep. We rented ATVs and went to Fira, Santorini's biggest town. The ATVs are by far the best way to get around here and we had such a blast riding them. In Fira we wandered around and did a bit of shopping. Seriously, I can't stop taking pictures here.
Before I forget, I realize I said I downloaded pictures on facebook in my last entry; however, I found out later that it didn't work. However, I'm trying it again today so check back if you get a chance!
Now for some more random thoughts/comments about our time in the Greek Islands so far from Erica:
Hello all! As you have probably realized this is my first entry to the blog. The trip so far has been amazing for me but none of us has come out of Mykonos unscathed. The injuries are quite numerous and varying. Mine happened one night walking from our beach to Paradise beach en route to a club. It was pitch black, I mean no light whatsoever, and I lost my footing and just slid down the side of a rock scraping my right leg from foot to knee. So I know have several really nice looking scrapes all down my leg. Nina had an unfortunate incident in the ocean. While in the ocean she sat on a sandbar and just happened to sit smack on top of a sea anemone!! Needless to say extreme discomfort soon followed... And as for Megs, upon finding out she was locked out of our bungalow she decided to climb through the window and now has a large scrape on her back. Oh well it's only a small price to pay for being in such an amazing place!
Ok we have to go because our time is running out but we'll try to write more again soon!
