After Rome, I only had 1 week left of backpacking and studying abroad. Can you believe it? Just 1 week later, I would be on a plane back to the states. For my last week in Europe, I spent it on the beaches of one of the most beautiful Greek islands: Santorini. For those of you who don’t know about Santorini, here is a little introduction.
Santorini is known for having some of the most beautiful sunsets in the entire world. Part of this is because of the volcanic eruption that occurred hundreds of years ago. You see, Santorini used to be a circular island, but after the eruption, the volcano blew away the land surrounding the volcano, and now it is crescent shaped, with the volcano as its own island in the middle. That way, when you watch the sunset, you see the sun set into the water, and it is surrounded by a volcano and the beautiful landscape of Santorini. This is all wonderful, but my favorite part of the island isn’t the volcano or the sunset, it is the buildings. They are covered in classically white buildings that have blue accents and blue domes randomly placed about. If you have seen Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, you have seen Santorini. I am aware other films have been shot there as well, but I only know the chick flick. Sorry guys.
While I was on the island, I spent a fair amount of my time on the black sand beach that was right outside my hostel. The sand is really more like little pebbles, making the beach so much more pleasant! I didn’t end up with sand in every little crevice of everything I brought there. I did discover the downside to black sand though, while the light doesn’t reflect off of the sand, making sunglasses optional, it does make the sand scalding hot, so bring a towel and some flip flops, because you won’t be walking anywhere without them.
When I wasn’t lying around at the beach, I was driving the ATV 4 wheeler that I rented around the island. Since I hadn’t driven anything in 5 months, it was so refreshing. Plus, you get to feel the sea air blowing past you as you drive down the highway at a mindboggling 30 miles per hour! I know, I’m a speed demon.( It does feel faster than you’d think though, in my defense.)
After spending part of a day outside in the sun, I quickly realized that was not going to be an option for the ENTIRE day, I don’t have the Mediterranean skin for it. I spent some time getting to know the staff at the hostel, who were very nice, and tried Greek coffee. It was surprisingly strong but sweet, and still has the grounds in the bottom of the mug. Apparently you can have your fortune read at the end. Who knew?! Also, the hostel had a cat, Charlie, who hung around. For the first time in 5 months I was actually able to pet an animal that was hanging around! The cat was named after Charlie Chaplin, due to her resemblance, and would sit by me for hours as I went online at night. It made me miss my cat back at home that much more.
After enjoying my vacation time in Santorini for 4 days, it was time to return to the backpacking life and go to Athens for my very last stop in Europe. While in Athens, I was incredibly unmotivated. I think it was because I was drained from traveling and getting antsy about returning to the States. I ended up seeing the acropolis, Olympic stadium from the first modern Olympics, as well as Zeus’ temple. It was really interesting, but a bit wasted on me by the end. The Parthenon was starting to look like any other ruin. That is never a good sign. It seems like it was time for me to be a bit less cultured lol. Luckily it couldn’t have come at a better time. The next morning I woke up, got on a flight to Madrid, spent the day cleaning my apartment and packing up my things, and then flew home to the USA.
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