Istanbul gave us memories to dwell on, but Santorini was what we had been dreaming of. Within 2 minutes of our complementary ride from the airport to our hostel at San Giorgio Villas, provided by Giorgio himself, I knew that Santorini would not disappoint me. The only disappointment was that Giorgio was a quiet, middle-aged man rather than the ancient Greek grandpa we had been expecting. The other only disappointment was that a snow flurry arrived on the island right after we did.
That night after dinner at a restaurant Giorgio had recommended us and a few carafes of free wine (one of which was snagged from an abandoned table because we don't support wasting), we laid out our priorities for the short time we had in Santorini. What else do you need but a plan like this?
Our best decision of the trip was to rent a car. You don't have to be 25, you don't have to know how to drive stick, and you don't have to be rich. We christened her Athena and piled her high with snacks and maps. For the next 2 days she shuttled us around and around the island that is much smaller than one would think. We watched the sunset two nights in a row from two opposite tips of the island.
Oia is the part of the island that everyone envisions when they think of Santorini. Yes, we saw the Sisterhood house, even if we didn't realize it until later. It is just one blue door on a cliff of color saturated, picturesque homes and shops.
We basically had the town to ourselves considering mid-March is still considered the off-season on the island. This meant that an open cafe was hard to come by and questions about cliff-jumping were met by statements of "you can't swim, it's too cold." This also meant that we got free dessert at every restaurant and were free to roam the streets that would be wall-to-wall with people in a matter of weeks.
On our last day in Santorini we were gifted with weather than San Diego would be jealous of. We made our way down the 600 steps to the Old Port in Fira for a swim that we had promised ourselves we would complete before we left. After half an hour after sitting on the dock trying to convince ourselves to get in and a seven year old Greek girl trying to convince us not to, Melissa and I jumped in. It wasn't a cliff, but it was a 6 foot dock and it wasn't warm water but it was the Mediterranean. And it was Melissa and I screaming at Lauren and lying, saying it wasn't cold at all until she finally joined us. After 20 minutes of salty splashing, we rejoined our little Greek friend on the dock and decided to wait for the cable car rather than hike back up the 600 steps. After advising us that the cable car only comes every 30 minutes, the little girl's older brother Antonis invited us inside his shop for some Greek coffee (aka Greek mud) and conversation that lasted 5 minutes too long and caused us to miss the cable car a second time. So the steps we took.
By the end of my trip I found myself planning on when I could possibly come back. Santorini is still at the top of my list.
Glad to see some new posts on the blog. We all miss you but know that you are having the time of your life. Mom
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