Santorini

This past weekend I exercised some of my last remaining free time before the semester really gets started (Notice it is already the middle of October. Greece is fantastic!) and went with seven other students to the beautiful island of Santorini. The day started as almost everyday does with a trip to the hospital to complete another one of the many medical tests required so we can extend our visas. After a quick exam we got a cab to the bus station and then we were off on our long journey to Santorini.

First stop, the port of Pireaus right outside of Athens. The port was incredible! I have never seen so many huge ships. The dock must have been at least a mile long with ships packed in like sardines. The ferry we took was was more like a cruise ship than any of the ferries we have back home. There were airline style seats, cabins and a restaurant. Armed with my economy class ticket I went up to the top deck and the general admission seats. There I hunkered down and the open air deck and took advantage of the amazing views high over the emerald water. As we left port the sprawling city of Athens shrank in the Mediterranean sunset and I could hardly wait to get my feet onto that black sand beach.



The ferry arrived in Santorini at about 3 am, 8 hours after we left Athens. As the boat sailed into the caldera of the volcano the lights of the little towns glistened along the 800 foot tall cliffs surrounding the port. Once off the boat we found the bus to our hotel, the Villa Romantic. Leaving the port we began a hair raising ascent on the road that knifes up the cliff face to the town of Thira. The driver sped up the steep mountain road and passed everything from mopeds to trucks around the hairpin turns. By the time we got to the hotel I was exhausted from the nearly 13 hours of traveling and fell right asleep.

The next two days were filled with beautiful scenery, plenty of relaxation and a few shots of Ouzo. We got up early and caught the bus down to the beach in Perissa. The bus took us past many of the blue domed churches and breathtaking views of the Mediterranean made famous in Santorini. When we arrived at the beach we were welcomed an enormous cliff that plunged into the crystal water and then abruptly turned into a black sand beach. The beach was full of chairs in which anyone can just plop down. The weather was great with plenty of sun and a high of about 80. The water was pretty cold and took some getting used to but was definitely worth the few minutes of discomfort. The perfectly clear water was a little more salty than in NC which gave me more than my usual abundance of buoyancy providing for some excellent swimming.





I felt like I had been placed into a spread in a magazine complete with a beautiful German couple playing with their butt naked, curly blond haired two year old son. They spoke perfect English and the father was airline pilot! What kind of a paradise fantasy world had I been dropped in to?

After a few hours on the beach lazing about and becoming more and more jealous of snorkelers just floating around, Gary and I decided that we should give it a try. Upon procuring a mask and snorkel from a nearby mini-mart we set out on our first snorkeling expedition. Nate, my college roommate, role model, and expert scuba diver, told me that breathing under water was pretty hard to get used to and man was he right. After about a minute of short labored breaths and a general feeling of panic I was able to settle down and enjoy the view. There were thousands of fish of all different sizes and colors. About 200 feet from the shore there was a steep drop off with pretty deep water and a large congregation of fish. This made for great dives to the bottom where I could swim with the fish along the edge of the drop. I could have spent a whole day swimming around the island but sadly I had to catch the bus back to town. The beach in Perissa is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been and I hope to make it back someday.





Back in town we had dinner at one of the many restaurants built on the edge of the caldera. The view was amazing and so were the enormous shrimp that I ordered for dinner. After dinner we went out for a couple of drinks and just like everywhere else in the world stumbled across an Irish bar. There were still enough vacationers on the island for there to be a little night life which a few of our group took more advantage of than others.





I awoke in the morning at 6 to catch the bus down to the ferry and start the long journey back to Patra. It was hard to leave Santorini but the sunrise and the cliffs were a great going away present.