Scenes of Santorini

Celebrating Someone Special in Santorini

Since we knew we'd be traveling over Johnny's birthday, I decided to plan a birthday trip I hoped would be really special....so we headed off for Santorini!  (After all, he is very special, and he joined the 30's club!)  

Santorini, Greece!

A Little History on How Paradise Came To Be....

Santorini, or Thira, in Greek, strikes me as an evolutionary and geographical anomaly.  Basically, it's a circular archipelago that formed from volcanic eruptions dating all the way back to prehistoric times.  A dozen vehement eruptions occurred, once every 200,000 years or so, causing the center of the volcano to collapse upon itself, creating a crater under the sea known as the Caldera.  It makes for some of the most stunning cliffs, sapphire waters, and spectacular beaches I've ever seen. (And yes, I know I'm a bit of a geek.) ;)

Paradise Isn't Easy to Get to....

We've had the ironic luxury of learning this several times now :)  This time wasn't actually too bad, but the only flight available from Venice landed us in Santorini at 2a.m.!  Because of this, I made sure to book a hotel with airport service, which was excellent!  You see, Santorini was one of only two stops on the tour (the other being Paris for our one-year anniversary) that we did a fair amount of planning for....it turns out the place we originally booked was a bust though!  The airport service was great - the ride itself was amazing - you could see how pretty this place was - the cliffs and lights, with the volcano in the background!  But beyond that, the hotel was really sub-par.  They did pick us up from the airport at 2a.m. (although the "kidnapper van" that arrived for us was the first bad sign, and after the ride it just went downhill from there,) but we crashed there for the night.  The next morning we checked out and just started walking towards the beach with our backpacks.  So much for my planning.  As we were walking, there were these incredibly strong wind gusts accompanied by shards of sand and salt from the sea that were blowing again our bodies - it was pretty intense!  Johnny's hat blew away and I chased after it.  Just as I rescued the hat I spun around to give it to him and nearly knocked him over when I swung around with my backpack on!  The strange wind-storm subsided pretty quickly, and we wandered past some very dry and desolate places with what looked like run-down, parched vegetation that was surprisingly beautiful all the same!  Finally, as we were coming upon the shore we found a perfect place, and get this - it was only 3€ more a night!  It had a nice balcony with the breeze of the sea and cold A/C too!  We totally lucked out that we got out of our first reservation and found the new place!  

At the nice hotel ;)

Settling in....

  

First Stop - The Famous Black Sand Beaches!

Perissa Beach, Santorini, Greece

This black sand was incredible!  It was super soft, but it did heat up, so I kept my sandals on as we strolled.  From what I understand, black sand is created when lava hits the sea and shatters into this amazing substance....as you get closer to the mountain the sand transitions to smooth pebbles and stones. Mother Nature really impressed us here!

That's Mesa Vouno behind us; it separates the Perissa and Kamari beaches. 

The water in the Aegean Sea was wonderful -
strong sapphire and turquoise colors -
and so clear!

Exploring Mesa Vouno

Check it out!

Gotta love Greece!

We stayed and played all day!

We hopped on our 4-wheeler and stopped by a lookout place on our way to a local store for some snacks and fruit.  

Next Stop - The Red Beach!

Yup, you guessed it - it really is a red beach!  We discovered the red-sand beach near the site of ancient Akrotiri!

A little church in the parking lot outside.
The red boulders behind it gave us a clue we were in the right area. :)

Santorini's Red Beach, Kokkini!

It took a short hike, and crossing a cliff to get there, but it was well worth it!

At least there's a warning sign....
in case the steep drop offs on the other side weren't warning enough ;)

On the way!

Here's the sturdy guardrail and secure platform you trust your life to just in case you loose your balance!
Rock climbing anyone? ;)

It was beautiful though! 

 We marveled at being able to see the transition of colors in the volcanic rock from black to gray to red!

I felt like a lizard basking on the warm rocks!

We made it - yay!

Red Rocks!

Red Cliffs!

Red Sand!

There were many red sunbathers too, but we refrained from snapping those photos.  They did fit right in though! ;p

:)

The rare beach is somewhat small, so we went exploring a bit and found this alcove.  It was amazing seeing the colors change.  It reminds me of that old Popsicle commercial where someone is screaming "The colors dude, the colors!!"

Creative storage use :)

Exploring and enjoying

 We decided to start heading out before the sun went down so we didn't have to make the rocky climb without light.  

On the way back!

Greek graffiti :-/ 

We made it safely :)

Look what he found!  The sun started setting just as we made it back.  

Playing with the camera.  This was way out in the distance.

And this one was pretty close.  Look at that sunflower burst hazel eye!

I love making him laugh!

Heading out

Yes Mom, we wear our helmets.  We stopped at another lookout to watch the sun finish setting.

Checking out another find....

I can't even imagine how old these stacked stone structures are!

We went back to the hotel and had a quick rest and got cleaned up for dinner.  We worked up quite an appetite being out in the sun all day.  We ate at a Greek restaurant with live Greek music, and the most scrumptious fresh fish of the day.  It was grilled in a lemon sauce and it was simply spectacular.  Everyone knows how much Johnny dislikes fish, and even he thought it was delicious!  

The fish was served whole and even the fins were tasty!
And how can you not choose a Greek salad when in Greece?  :)

We headed back to the pool for drinks and a swim to bring in his "Greece-y" birthday.  It turned out to be quite chilly, only Johnny wanted to brave the polar swim.

Must be the youth of his 20's that got him in there!

Johnny's Birthday!

A tour of Santorini!!  We sailed all along Thira, to the island of Nea Kameni, where we hiked all the way to the top of Santorini's active volcano!  Next, we sailed to Palia Kameni and swam through cold water to get to the natural hot springs where we gave each other these silly mud baths!  After another sunscreen application, we continued on to Thirasia island and lunched on the beach.  Finally, it was time for the real treat - the sunset boat cruise!!  It sounds relaxing after a busy day of adventures, doesn't it?  When I booked it, I was imaging us being a little tired from the day's activities and ready for some relaxation, so a nice easy cruise, probably sipping wine and eating hors d'oueurves while watching the sunset from the water sounded perfect!  Well, we were in for a surprise!  It turns out the sunset cruise was indeed a cruise to Oia, but what they don't tell you is that they drop you off at the base of the cliff and that you have to hike all the way up the cliff to see the amazing sunset!  We'd already hiked to the top of a volcano that day!  There were donkeys available to take you up the trail, but we decided to embrace the challenge and that we could complete this hike too.  We had a couple of minutes of a head start, but Johnny wanted to see if he could, and did, actually keep pace with the donkeys for the first half.  They describe the hike as "a few more than 500 steps" but what they also don't tell you is that each "step" takes 5-11 paces and is rather steep.  Nonetheless, with lots of water and sunscreen, we finally reached the top.  The classic town of Oia was picturesque complete with narrow alleys and blue domed buildings!  We wandered around Oia for a while and got settled in to watch the sunset we worked so hard to see.  

Enough with the talking.....on with the pictures!

Cruising Around :)

Watching the boats come in!

All aboard!
If you look closely you can see the zig-zag paths that cut across the cliffs.

Quick stop at the port of Fira

Coming up on the volcanic island!

Docking!
Ready to explore! :)

The Volcano!

Starting the climb!

Views abundant!

It's a long, hot hike....and it is July (27th to be exact) ....yeah - I was breathing a little heavy by half way up!

 Some of the scenes of Santorini!

Almost there!

Check out that flamingo! (You know, pink, standing on one leg....)

Handsome Man on his Birthday!

We learned a fair bit about how this "new" part of the island came to be....very interesting geological history!

Happy Birthday Babycakes!  We made it to the top!!

A little bit of birthday relaxation on the top of a volcano :)

A panoramic shot from the volcano 

We found some part of the seismometer equipment.  They can predict any type of potential activity at least 30 day before, so we knew we were safe going in.   

But not falling in!

Taking it in!

We saw the active volcano crater and walked on the rim!

A few more pictures :)

Hydrating for the descent.

How on earth did he get a rock in his shoe? ;p

Back to the boat!

Hot Springs!!

Next was Palia Kameni!  It means "Old Burnt" and it is one of the two volcanic islands in the middle of Santorini's Caldera.  We jumped from the boat into the chilly depths of the Aegean Sea and swam to the hot springs; it was refreshing after our hike!  The warm, muddy water made for perfect mud slinging and splashing, we had fun together. :)  The only downside was that the high levels of sulfur, which are great for your skin, aren't so great for your swimsuits.  So the yellow part on one of my favorite suits now has a light terracotta color to it, and Johnny's plaid swim shorts now have burnt orange lines instead of white.  Call it a souvenir, well worth it though!  Our pictures of this part of the journey are just in our hearts.  (The camera wouldn't have fared so well - maybe we'll finally invest in a high quality underwater camera, but for now, we'll just have to remember.)  

Thirasia

Our next stop was a tiny island called Thirasia.  

Thirasia in the Caldera!

I had a little trick up my sleeve....it may not be fancy, but at least it's a cake!
Talk about store bought! :p

For me?!?

Make a wish!

And blow out your imaginary candles!
(Hey, I had a cake didn't I - come on, cut me some slack!)

The two small restaurants on the island didn't really appeal to us, so we had cake and snacks on the beach.  We kept making these little cold-cut rolls - mozzarella cheese with pepperoni - with a side of grapes it was perfectly delicious!  

There's our boat in the middle!

Little buildings 

Off to Oia!

Can you see the trail to the village?
How would you like to have to hike that all the time?

  

Oia

Well, here's the hike and the sunset!

Oia Oye!
(It's actually pronounced EE-ya)

The donkeys are trained to run back down on their own.
It's kind of weird suddenly having a small herd of donkeys trotting by!

Yay!!  I'm still ahead of those asses!

Okay, now they've caught me.

The lookout point!

We were a little tired from the second big hike of the day.

Panoramic from on top of Oia, Santorini!

The water down below

The donkeys are also used for a host of other jobs, including hauling trash.

Strange Statue

Narrow streets

Happy Birthday Baby!

The Sunset!

It drew quite a crowd

Dipping down into the sky

It wasn't at this shop, but we bought a Christmas ornament while we were there.  We have a thing - we only buy one ornament a year - we figure we'll eventually have a really cool, memorable collection!  We also won't have tons of stuff to keep around, and we can have a small tree for quite a while.  Anyhow, we bought a Greek donkey one for the year - ha!

Heading out!

We found the bus stop!

We had a maniac bus driver on the way back!  He cut through the sides of those steep cliffs like a hot knife in butter.  It was downright scary.  But we drove from the north end of the island back to south side where we were staying.  We were exhausted!  (Volcano hiking and cliff climbing are tough!) Johnny went to get a sandwich and he locked me in to be safe.  Just as I was climbing out the patio window (because I couldn't leave my hubby eating alone at a bar, especially on his 30th birthday, no matter how worn out I was,) he was coming into the room with the food to-go so he could eat with me.  So sweet.  I love that we both always try to act lovingly towards one another.  ;) 

One of my favorite moments of his special day

At some point during the day I'd been asking Johnny what he wanted to do now that he's in his thirties.  Here was his response:
Johnny "A lot of the things I want in life you've inspired me to want...."
Me: "Awww, like what?"
Johnny: "Well, for starters we're in Santorini"  He went on, "A lot of the things I've wanted I've had to work for, but I got them.  I wanted to propose, I wanted to get married....So I guess, what I want to do in my 30's is more like whatever the hell we want to do!"
I wasn't expecting that, and I felt so special. 

Relaxing and Recuperating!

Believe it or not, we got up and went for a jog to the beach the next morning.  It was a wimpy jog, and we slept in first, but we went nonetheless.   When the wind and dust storms do roll in though they're fierce, it really stings your skin, and you have to stop and shield your eyes.  After we got back we got cleaned up and needed some nourishment.  

We refueled with some delicious food and headed to the beach for a swim and a nap.  It was grand!  

 Greek food is DELICIOUS!!

Lunch near the beach chatting with my hubby,
what a great way to spend a day :)

THIS STUFF IS AMAZING!!
Dad, it's called TZATZIKI, you've got to try it if you haven't!
We can try to make it this summer :)

This little patio joint quickly became a regular favorite!
Great owner, really friendly, and fun to talk to!
You can't go wrong with the gyros!

We hopped back on the four wheeler and paroozed the beach for a bit.  We checked out tons of different parts of the beaches.  We even did a bit of off roading.  It was a relaxing day.  

But first, a quick stop to drop off our laundry!

Off roading on some bare beaches!

Finding a place to settle down for the day....
Check out those Ferrari glasses!

Can you see the rebar that is used to
make the thatched umbrellas?!  Smart and sturdy!

Remember that sunset I made us work so hard for the other day....?

Well, I guess it's mother nature's joke on us - it seems we stumbled upon an even better one the next evening.

We took to the crazy cliffs ourselves!

Out and about, we took the four wheeler down the cliff side!
(We were in search of a winery....turns out it was elsewhere - but it was a wild ride - literally!)

It turns out we saw one of those crazy buses swinging around those curves like it was nothing, so I snapped a few pictures.

I don't think they even tap the brakes on those turns!
You can't see either of us because we climbed up on the wall
behind us, in case the driver needed more than his 5 centimeter buffer!
It was scary!

Lovely Sunset

And this one was so much easier to get to ;)

We rode back up the winding cliff and found a nice look-out a little higher up. 

Love.

Beautiful Santorini!

Disappearing for the evening....

We found the winery we were looking for and enjoyed the last few minutes of sunlight up there.

And it's down!

Santo Wines!

While we were there we took a tour of Santo Wines vineyard and winery, and it was wonderful!  Very interesting, very tasty and very fun! 

I loved that place!

Interesting Stuff!

The rest of our journey there was spent relaxing, enjoying the holiday and recharging for the last leg of our journey - Athens! 

This was one of our favorite beaches!

I realize I'm quite late in posting this, but in all fairness, I wrote most it a while ago and just now got around to finishing it up and posting it.  I won't even try to say I'll be better about keeping up with this thing, because odds are I won't be.  We are pretty fortunate though to be exploring so many amazing places that it's hard to even keep up with.  We figure, work hard, play hard.  We're back into work mode now, and the rainy season has begun, so alas, perhaps we will maybe stand a chance at catching up with this thing!  

We love our adventures, but we sure do miss everyone back home.  Love you all! 
Jenni