The Santorini Trip and More

So, as promised, I am now going to divulge the details of my glorious Santorini (Greek island) adventure. To begin... Greece is amazing. Words cannot accurately describe the natural beauty and atmosphere. When we arrived we stared in awe at the deep blue water, rugged cliffs and white village sitting atop the towering volcanic rocks, standing speechless. When then subsequently spoke when we realized that the white village sitting atop the volcanic rocks and cliffs was the white village where we would be staying, a white village that happened to be four hundred feet above us only accessibly by winding roads on the edge of the cliff, an hour long walk with the constant threat of imminent death. With suitcases packed for two weeks of travel and a fear of heights (and death) this was problematic. Luckily, the hotel we had booked (a cheap hotel, 10 euro a night per person) sent a van to the port to pick us up which was surprising, but surprisingly delightful. The hotel was owned by a family that owned four other hotels on the island and we had stops at each one of those as well. We arrive at the first hotel, a four star hotel (not ours...) only to find out it was in fact ours! The family had not opened their other hotels because it was the off season and so we got upgraded to a four star hotel, everything included, for 10 euro a night. Yes, luck was on our side. It was quite the nice beginning, needless to say.

The first day we explored the island, hiking up along the cliffs, traversing the narrow streets, passing the donkeys and blue tiled fountains. The next day we took a boat trip to the volcanic island just to the side of Santorini, the hot springs, and to Thirissa, another island, untouched by tourism and quite cozy and, dare I say, authentic. We witnessed the sunset from atop the volcanic cliffs, fell in love with pitas and Greek yogurt. We rented ATVs and explored the island, making our way to the black sandy beaches, hiking atop the ruin of the ancient city of Thira, and to an old winery converted to an art gallery off the beaten path. We rode donkeys up the hills and through the town. We ate dinner at the some of the finest restaurants, as they were willing to give us quite good deals to eat there since it was off season, overlooking the island as the sun set. We sat on our balcony, soaked in the sun, and literally rejoiced at the warmth we had been so unfortunately deprived of in Denmark. We lived it up.

It was paradise.

But, as all things do, it came to a end. Only to have us thrown back into reality when we arrived back in Denmark with two group projects, a 1000 pages of research to submit, articles to write, and insurmountable reading to do. It was time to go back to Greece.

Since returning I have developed less of an appreciation of volcanoes as they seem to erupt at incredibly inconvenient times. They seem to erupt when I was planning on taking four girlfriends to the French Alps for a weekend of relaxation, hot tubbing, wine, and cheese. But, hey, I guess since Iceland is running low on cash, they tried to compensate by sending ash.

Enough bad jokes and nostalgic tales, I'm off to rest up for my quarter marathon tomorrow and my extreme joy for when its over.