Santorini Experiences

So now that we've come to Santorini our vacation has slowed down. This is the part where we planned to sleep late every day and just play it by ear on what to do....so far that's exactly how everything is working. Although the first day we did discover that although things on Santorini start late (think 10AM or later) like the rest of Greece, it closes down MUCH earlier than the rest of Greece (10PM vs 2AM).

On Tuesday we really just hung around our hotel room and then explored the town we're staying in (Fira the capital of Santorini). Here's some shots of the gorgeous view from our private balcony:





Unfortunately the majority of the shops were closed either because of the national holiday or because it was so late in the season. However we did have an good lunch of authentic gyros and then we found some handmade ice cream/gelato that was AMAZING! Unfortunately dinner was a comedy of errors, bad food, bad service, and general frustrations.

Wednesday we were in our hotel room until the maid actually kicked us out so she could clean. We then made our way down to the bus station to catch a bus to Oia. Now a couple of things, these buses aren't like the T buses back home, they're super comfy mini-greyhound type buses. However, the roads here are even smaller then they were on Kefalonia, so while the ride is comfy it's scary as hell too.

Now we had gone to Oia specifically because they were supposed to have a "Kastro" (yeah I know if we really wanted to see castles we should have gone to Ireland or Scotland!) and because it's supposed to have the best view of the sunsets in the entire island. Well, once again the Kastro disappointed, it was paved over and really just a place people use to take pictures because once again it has an amazing view (just like the last kastro). Adrienne is convinced that they keep calling stuff castles to suck in all of the western european tourists. Here's the view from the kastro:





Oia was very quiet...much like Sami was on Kefalonia. You can tell it must be hopping during the summer though. I actually enjoyed being able to walk through the uncrowded streets. But the locals were definitely in chill winter mode....even the dogs:



Also Spike you might want to look away because Adrienne totally cheated on you with one of the shop owners dogs who was adorable (she said her plan was to run to the bus with him and pack him her carry-on for the flight home):



After that we did some shopping for people back home, and then the sun was already starting to set (I told you we got a late start!). We were able to get some really neat and beautiful pictures. Here's the best one of us though taken by some nice ladies from NYC who we ended up talking to about the election later (cue Adrienne eye-roll here because I'm obsessed with the election and the polls):



I got this picture afterwards:



Once again dinner was a bit disappointing (not as bad as last night), at this point we really feel like our cousins spoiled us in Thessaloniki, or that the dinner food there is seriously 100x better than here.

Thursday Adrienne wants to visit the beaches.