santorini

i imagined myself amongst the cast of the sisterhood of the traveling pants many a time during our visit to santorini. (the rory gilmore story when she goes to greece. obv) the backdrop of this small island appeared painted at every turn. the bright blue water we'd become accustomed to in crete also surrounded us here, as well as sheer cliffs tipped with domed white buildings that created the perfect setting for every photograph.

we stayed in an area of the island called karterados.  there was not much in our area outside of the breathtaking view, a few superb beach side restaurants, and our own lovely hostel, artemis village (where there was no shortage of free iced coffees and poolside sunbathers). the town of fira was only a few minutes away on a bike, and since we became quite skilled in crete, once again we rented a scooter.

unlike in crete, this scooter -while yellow and cool looking- was quite terrifying. it was small and shaky and struggled on every hill and corner. but he was a trooper and took us safely to all our destinations. fira was quite lovely with its winding streets, hidden markets and shops, and tasty but cheap gyros!

we took a ferry out of fira to visit volcano island. the hike to the top of the volcano was overwhelming and boiling hot, but climbing amongst the black rock was neat, and the view unbelievable. we also went swimming in the volcanic hot springs, which was one of my very favorite things we did on the islands. at first the sulfur in the air was overwhelming, but soon the natural heat of the water and natural exfoliation of the mud we wiped all over our bodies overtook my fear of suffocation.

our visit to greece was straight out of a bright romantic teen movie. we didn't meet any local men to fall in love with while we shared lucky pants that magically fit both of us, but other than that it was perfect.

lovefromkt

here are the links to our facebook pictures in greece if you haven't seen them!

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10102262384475310.3477724.13930058&type=3&l=e831558852


http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10102267220453970.3478643.13930058&type=3&l=b52a02ad79


http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10102267536834940.3478703.13910842&type=3&l=7903c66988