We all packed into a taxi (there are really no limits on the roads in Greece) and headed back to the airport since the metro closed early for the night. Initially, the consensus was that everyone had wanted to stay in the airport for the night since we could watch each other’s bags, but around 1am everyone decided that it was going to be impossible to get any sleep whatsoever so the girls found a cheap hotel that we could at least get a couple hours of sleep to rest up for the following day. The word “cheap” was a complete and total understatement for the dump that we stayed in. It was by far the worst hotel I’ve ever stayed in in my whole entire life. First off, it was in the middle of nowhere, and when we finally arrived, I had thoughts of asking the shuttle bus driver just to take me back to the airport. The entire place reeked of smoke and the rooms were disgusting. There were mosquitoes in the bathroom, and the towels were all stained. I did a very elaborate check for bed bugs on and under the mattress, and thankfully, we were OK in that department. It was the worst five hours of sleep I’ve ever gotten, and upon leaving the next day, I’d be lying if I didn’t say that the thought of throwing around in the lobby and setting the place on fire didn’t cross my mind. I wish I was exaggerating. We didn’t leave Hotel Medusa soon enough for my liking, but it just made us that more anxious to finally get to our villa in Santorini!
A few hours later, we were airborne and heading to paradise. The flight was only 30 minutes, and before we knew it, we were on the ground. It was another quick 15 minute ride to our villa, and before long, we had our bathing suits on and were laying out, enjoying the warm sun. We were bummed that the pool/hot tub wasn’t filled, but we still made the most out of our vacation. After about two hours, we took a taxi down to the black sand beaches. We enjoyed a delicious lunch, (my Greek salad was SO good) followed by drinks on the beach. It was such a relaxing afternoon, which was just what I needed after our traumatic experience the night before. Before sunset, we headed back to the villa to shower and get ready for dinner. We ate at this delicious Mexican restaurant close by. Liv and I split chicken fajitas which were also phenomenal, like every other food we’ve had in Greece. We didn’t have any other plans for that night other than to rest up for the remainder of the weekend.
The next day, we walked out of the villa to find five four-wheelers waiting for us to explore the rest of the island! We had arranged to use them the day before because A.) it was cheaper than taking a taxi, B.) much quicker than walking, and C.) obviously just more fun! The hardest part was just getting up the steep hill right outside the driveway to our villa; that was interesting, ha! The first place we went that Saturday was down to the red sand beach; it was one of the most incredible beaches I’ve seen in my life! We could only ride so far, and we had to hike down the last part to actually get to the beach. Words cannot describe how beautiful it was; the sand was such a deep red and the water was crystal clear. The pictures I captured were awesome, and they still don’t even do this beach full justice. Since it was a little windier that day, we decided to do a little more sightseeing. We went into Fira and grabbed some lunch, then walked around and explored some of the cute little shops in the town. Later, we decided we were still hungry (not surprising), so we got some dessert as well and enjoyed the gorgeous views of the scenery from the restaurant located at the top of Fira.
We wanted to get back early enough so we had enough time to shower and go watch the sunset in Oía, on the other side of the island. It took nearly 45 minutes on our four-wheelers, and luckily we just made it in time. Afterwards, we drove the rest of the little trip into town and walked through some of the shops again before getting dinner that night. We met these two guys from the U.S. who invited us to eat with them, so the seven of us enjoyed great food and conversation for most of the evening. My stuffed peppers tasted as good as my mom’s (so you can only imagine how incredible they were). I know I’m always raving about the food, but I think I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve gotten something to eat at a restaurant that I haven’t liked. I’ve said it a million times before, but the food in Europe really is amazing!
After dinner, we mounted our four-wheelers and started on the long trip back to our villa. Unfortunately for us, it was extremely dark and freezing outside, so the trip on the four-wheeler wasn’t so fun. The guys had rented four-wheelers as well, so they followed in front and behind us to make sure we got back alright. However, once we got back to the villa, we decided that we weren’t exactly ready to go to bed yet, so we hopped back on the four-wheelers again and drove back into Fira, the town that was only about ten minutes away (luckily!) We went to one bar, but it was packed and had a very strange crowd so we didn’t stay long. We tried to look for our new friends but eventually decided to head back.
The next morning, we made the unanimous decision to rent the four-wheelers for an extra day, so we could make the most out of our last day before it was time for our flight at 8:00 that night. We rode back into Fira and got some lunch at a delicious restaurant that specialized in crepes. The girls all ordered phenomenal looking crepes, and I got an omelet which was probably the best that I’ve ever had in my life. (It’s amazing how two weeks have gone by and I can still remember every meal perfectly.)
Following lunch, I did a little shopping in one of the coolest jewelry stores I’ve ever been in, with so much handmade Grecian jewelry. Afterwards, we took the cable car all the way from the top of the island down to the port, so we could ride the donkeys up the hill. What an interesting experience that was! On the ride up the hill, which was actually more like a cliff, we took so many pictures, pointed out scenery from The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants movie, and enjoyed spending our last afternoon altogether. Once we reached the top, we still had a few more hours to kill before our flight, so we headed back down to the black sand beaches. The sun was so hot that day so it made laying out on the beach that much more enjoyable and that much harder to leave at the same time. I actually got a tan line after just a few short days!
Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end, and although we were all seriously considering just skipping our flight to stay longer, we knew we had to say goodbye to our dream vacation spot at some point or another. I think we all actually teared up as we were boarding the plane, but it made leaving a little easier for Katie and I because we knew we still had some exciting plans for the rest of the week, since we didn’t have school. Poor Liv, Sammy, and Lauren had to go back to school the next day. Despite our unnerving first night in Athens, it was, without a doubt, one of the best weekends of my life, and I’m so thankful I got to experience the beauty of Santorini, even if it was only for a few days. My biggest motivation for leaving was knowing that I definitely will be going back someday. Next family vacay? Honeymoon? (Just kidding, that will be a long time from now) Anyway, stay tuned for my next few blogs about the rest of our adventures throughout Feria week!
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