Buon Viaggio!: Aντίο Santorini!

Yesterday was our last full day in Santorini, and I don't think either one of us was ready to leave! Just about everything in Santorini was beautiful, and it was hard to think about leaving the peace and quiet of Firostefani to come back to the hustle and bustle of Athens!

On Wednesday, the 21st, Cheryl and I decided to go on a full day bus tour of Santorini. We stopped in Akrotiri, Perivolos (the black sand beach), Megalochori, Pyrgos, and ended the tour at Santo wines for a short wine tasting. Our tour guide was incredible. Not only did she have an extensive knowledge of everything we saw, but she also gave us a lot of insight into what is currently going on with Greece and a lot of the problems they are facing. For example, she told us the government is reporting unemployment rates of young people at 35%, but the number is actually closer to 45%, if not higher. She also told us that in Greece you are taxed on the income the government thinks you should be making, regardless of whether you are actually working or not. She also told us the average electric bill is 150 euro (about $205) a month. Yikes!! We asked her if she had studied archaeology at university, and she told us that each (licensed) tour guide in Greece has to undergo a rigorous three year study of archaeology and history, and even then they are not guaranteed to be selected to be a tour guide! Anyhoo...we saw a lot on the tour, but my favorite thing was probably Akrotiri. Akrotiri was a town that was covered over by a volcanic eruption in the 17th century BCE, and the main discovery of the site didn't happen until the 1960s. Only about 3% of the site has been excavated due to budget issues, but the things they have found there are amazing. Each house they uncovered had wall paintings in practically every room, and they found a multitude of pottery, furniture (well, imprints of furniture), and the city even had it's own sewer system! You can actually walk amongst the ruins at the site, and that combined with the extensive knowledge our tour guide had made it an unforgettable experience.

After our tour, we watched a gorgeous sunset from our balcony, and had a delicious dinner. I don't think we had one meal in Santorini that was not absolutely fantastic! That night, we also made friends with another local cat who was hanging out inside the outdoor area of the restaurant, and we were very happy to find out that they feed him every night after the restaurant has closed (he may have also gotten a bit of my leftovers that night as well ;) )

Our last day in Santorini was spent walking around the capital, Fira, and drinking in the last bit of the island. Oh wait, we also had our feet gnawed on by fish!! Cheryl heard about the type of...foot treatment in which little fish gnaw on your feet and make them softer. If you know me, you know I hate fish!! I thought I would be a good sport, however, and I tried it. It was weird, uncomfortable, and I felt like I wanted to throw up a little bit while it was happening, but darned if it didn't actually work! I have to admit, my feet were softer and smoother than they've ever been after any foot massage or pedicure! I don't think I'll be in any hurry to get this done again when I get home, but I gotta say...it works!

We flew back to Athens from the Santorini airport and WOW, neither Cheryl or I could believe how tiny/lax/awful the airport was! When we got there, we had to wait to check our bags because they, "called the police to come and check the bags, but they're taking their time getting here." And who was the officer checking our bags? Why, a guy in a V-neck shirt and jeans of course! We walked through a rinky-dink metal detector (they did more of a security check for a cruise), and when he saw I had a bottle of water, I was told to just empty it in the bathroom that was in the area after security. What?! The airport was also very smelly and had barely adequate restroom facilities. Luckily, we were only there for a short time, and we had a quick 50 minute flight back to Athens.

Our new apartment in Athens is much different than the one we had the first time around. While it is very large and appears very old, it is kind of cluttered and kind of feels like we are staying in the apartment of a friend of a friend, rather than a hotel-y apartment. Here's the link if you'd like to check it out. But, we're in Athens, so nothing is all that bad!

We spent our penultimate day in Athens at the Acropolis Museum, souvenir shopping, and we took a double decker bus tour. The museum was incredible, and absolutely lived up to the rave reviews I've heard/read about it. I wasn't able to take very many pictures as they only allow photos in a few sections, but that didn't take anything away from the experience. My favorite parts were seeing the section on color used on the ancient statues, where they recreated statues with the colors they originally had on them, and the section where they recreated the large friezes from the Parthenon. Oh, and they had a bust of Agrippina the Younger, who, if anyone knows me, knows that she is one of my absolute favorite women in ancient history!

Tomorrow we will go to the Museum of Greek Folk Instruments and explore a little more of Monstiraki since we didn't see too much of it the other day. We leave around noon on Sunday, and although I will miss Athens and I am having a blast on vacation, I am very excited to see my two baby cats! (Oh yeah, and Bryce too ;) )

Μέχρι την επόμενη φορά! (Until next time!)

P.S. Comments are appreciated! :)

My very sweet kitty from our hotel. If I could have taken her home, I would have!!

A very cool picture of a storeroom in Akrotiri

How they do roadwork in Megalochori. This is literally going to take a month for them to finish

Church tower in Megalochori

Beautiful doors in a random house in Megalochori. The town is so small they don't even have street names! The mailman comes once or twice a week, and you better hope you are there when he calls your name if you have a letter! After his third time calling your name, you can pretty much kiss your mail goodbye!