Greece (according to me) is now officially the most beautiful place on earth.
I arrived in Santorini very early Tuesday morning. I hadn’t slept at all during the previous 24 hours, so I went to my hostel, slept for a couple hours, and went directly to the beach to continue sleeping. My hostel was on Perissa beach which is made up of black sand (basically tiny little black pebbles) and a large cliff at the edge of the beach. Since I was so tired, I actually fell asleep in the sun for 4 or 5 hours throughout the day, and ended up getting pretty sunburnt. Overall it was a great day though.
The next day, I woke up and decided to hike up the mountain that was situated next to my hostel. In between some large cliffs in the mountain was a small traditional Greek church. I stopped at the church first to take pictures and then climbed the rest of the way up the mountain which was probably a good 3 miles. It was well worth it though because there was a beautiful view.
After climbing back down the mountain, I decided to rent an ATV. All you needed was a driver’s license and it was only 12 euros a day so I couldn’t resist. I took the ATV all the way to other end of the island which took about an hour, and ended in the most beautiful place on the island called Oìa (pronounced ee-uh). This is where the picturesque Santorini village is. I couldn't believe that I was finally starting at what I had been dreaming of for so long.
The next day, I went on a tour of a volcano, swam in hot springs (that were actually really cold) and watched the sunset in Oía.
On Saturday morning, I got on a ferry to go to my next destination, another island called Ios. I am absolutely IN LOVE with Ios and am already planning on coming back here next year and getting a summer job. It is sooo beautiful, the people are so unbelievably friendly, and it also happens to be the party island of Greece :)
As soon as I arrived at my hostel (which is actually a beautiful beach resort that cost me next to nothing) I went straight to the beach. I signed up for a boat excursion where we started by visiting caves in the sea that you can walk through. We then went to a small secluded beach, had lunch, and went snorkeling. The water is so clear here I can't believe it's real. I can see the bottom of the sea even where the water is 30 feet deep. From the beach we finished our trip by jumping off a cliff which was one of the scariest things I've ever done. But I survived!
Yesterday, I went crazy and decided to do the tubing challenge they offer at my resort. The challenge is if you stay on the tube the whole time, you get your money back. It was insane! Unfortunately I did fly off once because my tube completely flipped upside down. But it was still a whole lot of fun.
I decided to take advantage of all the opportunities I have here, so today, I went scuba diving. You can do it here without being certified which is awesome. We had a lesson on how to breathe etc... before we really went out. We were only out for about an hour but it was really incredible. I saw so many different fish that were all really cool looking. There were also old crates and chains from old boats that used to be anchored there. Overall it was an amazing day.
I've met at least 100 people here from all over the world in the last 3 days and we've been having so much fun. I just want to stay here forever!!
I arrived in Santorini very early Tuesday morning. I hadn’t slept at all during the previous 24 hours, so I went to my hostel, slept for a couple hours, and went directly to the beach to continue sleeping. My hostel was on Perissa beach which is made up of black sand (basically tiny little black pebbles) and a large cliff at the edge of the beach. Since I was so tired, I actually fell asleep in the sun for 4 or 5 hours throughout the day, and ended up getting pretty sunburnt. Overall it was a great day though.
The next day, I woke up and decided to hike up the mountain that was situated next to my hostel. In between some large cliffs in the mountain was a small traditional Greek church. I stopped at the church first to take pictures and then climbed the rest of the way up the mountain which was probably a good 3 miles. It was well worth it though because there was a beautiful view.
After climbing back down the mountain, I decided to rent an ATV. All you needed was a driver’s license and it was only 12 euros a day so I couldn’t resist. I took the ATV all the way to other end of the island which took about an hour, and ended in the most beautiful place on the island called Oìa (pronounced ee-uh). This is where the picturesque Santorini village is. I couldn't believe that I was finally starting at what I had been dreaming of for so long.
The next day, I went on a tour of a volcano, swam in hot springs (that were actually really cold) and watched the sunset in Oía.
On Saturday morning, I got on a ferry to go to my next destination, another island called Ios. I am absolutely IN LOVE with Ios and am already planning on coming back here next year and getting a summer job. It is sooo beautiful, the people are so unbelievably friendly, and it also happens to be the party island of Greece :)
As soon as I arrived at my hostel (which is actually a beautiful beach resort that cost me next to nothing) I went straight to the beach. I signed up for a boat excursion where we started by visiting caves in the sea that you can walk through. We then went to a small secluded beach, had lunch, and went snorkeling. The water is so clear here I can't believe it's real. I can see the bottom of the sea even where the water is 30 feet deep. From the beach we finished our trip by jumping off a cliff which was one of the scariest things I've ever done. But I survived!
Yesterday, I went crazy and decided to do the tubing challenge they offer at my resort. The challenge is if you stay on the tube the whole time, you get your money back. It was insane! Unfortunately I did fly off once because my tube completely flipped upside down. But it was still a whole lot of fun.
I decided to take advantage of all the opportunities I have here, so today, I went scuba diving. You can do it here without being certified which is awesome. We had a lesson on how to breathe etc... before we really went out. We were only out for about an hour but it was really incredible. I saw so many different fish that were all really cool looking. There were also old crates and chains from old boats that used to be anchored there. Overall it was an amazing day.
I've met at least 100 people here from all over the world in the last 3 days and we've been having so much fun. I just want to stay here forever!!
Perissa beach
The view from on top of the old church in the mountain
Picturesque Santorini
Crazy tubing!
Scuba diving!