Santorini: When Life Gives You Grapes, Make Wine

Santorini was amazing, it was easy to see why it's such a popular tourist destination.  They didn't recreate the scene from Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants where Lena rides a donkey in Oia, but they did wade through a sea of donkey's to get down to the old port, successfully avoiding being pooped on or kicked.  The famous white wines of Santorini were definitely worth the wait - especially the time they mistakenly ordered a litre of the house wine at a nice restaurant and then were brought an extra half a litre for free because they were having such a great time. Hospitality in Greece has been spectacular.  They did a wine tour and sampled 4... err 6... different types of Santorinian wine, some of the best they've ever had.  However they decided to buy the cheap wine to take back to the hotel and it was some of the worst wine they'd ever had... The day they hiked 4 hours to Oia from Fira to watch the sunset was the only day of rain they had the whole trip.  The sunset was a bit lackluster but they got great suggestions for food in Mykonos from two women also trying to watch the sunset.  Luckily, the night before they had caught the sunset in Fira complete with 500 photos.  Ash and JD have determined that Britt is next on the show Intervention to deal with her photography addiction.  Britt not only saw her first active volcano but took a number of volcano 'sulfies' (it smells like sulfur, they're clever, see). 

Where they stayed: San Giorgio Villa, right across from a bakery and the main square of Fira.  The villa was run by an adorable family and their three children.  They basically planned out their three days for them and told them how to get everywhere and where to eat.  They also gave them free homemade cake, made by "mama" (aka grandma) and coffee each day.  

What they ate and drank:  The best gyros from #FoodBar (Bagiatiko Food Bar) ... twice the first day they arrived and then again before they left.  They also had the best meal of the trip at Noussa [who, coincidentally, also provided the free wine], which consisted of a greek salad, mousaka, and a garlic mushroom pasta.  Ash expanded her horizons to include parsley, and Britt uttered the words "I enjoyed that" after eating an olive.  They also had some nice big breakfasts in the main square, ate an unmeasureable amount of pastries and managed to find a lemonade strawberry slushie in the middle of nowhere along their long hike from Fira to Oia because JD was craving it.  

What they did:  Thanks to strange ferry schedules, they had almost four full days here, so they did a lot - starting with a wine museum and tasting.  The museum wound through a cave under ground, which sounds cool, but was actually really musty and consisted of a series of scenes about wine production played out by creepy looking manequins.  They had a night out on the town, at 'Town Club', which offered the best two for one drink deal.  They took a guided tour of Santorini's volcano island, hiking to the top to see the large craters and a spectacular view.  The guided tour then took them to hot springs, where Ash managed to convince JD and Britt to join the brave few who jumped off the side of the boat into the cold Aegan sea to swim to the hot springs... they must love her a lot... especially since the hot springs ended up being luke warm and full of a suspicious red sludge.  Turns out the entire time swimming their Ash was panicking about the possibility of drowning, JD was panicking about sharks, and Britt was just cold, and blind, since she couldn't wear her glasses.  Totally worth it just to say they did it, though.  As mentioned, they hiked 14 km from Fira to Oia, which takes in shape people about 3 hours and took them about 4.  From the walk they saw the picturesque beauty of Santorini and had lots of time to chat, which turned most often into singing snippets of songs.  They also visited Akrotiri, an excavated ancient city of Santorini, and finished off their trip to the island with a visit to the Black Beach, where Ash swam and JD and Britt got some sun.  

Lessons learned:  Always trust restaurant recommendations from your hotel - especially if the restaurant is also listed in travel guides and has a good review on Trip Advisor.  Don't put cologne on before going to the bus stop - you will miss your bus by 30 seconds.  Bay Breeze's have a lot of alcohol in them.  The Fish Boy Frescoe from Akrotiri may be in storage - ask before you go to Akrotiri to find him.  Impulse buys at bakeries may turn out to be poor decisions... or the best decision of your life.

Biggest Secret of Santorini:  The "Hot Springs" are actually luke warm - aka, the temperature as if someone recently peed in the water.  But so much fun!

A few more questions for Milos... 

1) Will JD find sunglasses that rival the prices of Crete?  He's been searching the whole trip to replace his free sunglasses that broke when the screw fell out.  Unfortunately tape wouldn't hold them together.  

2) Will Ash's premonitions of having to walk everywhere or hitchhike in Milos be accurate?  

3) Will Britt become famous from her photos of Klima fishing village?  

Stay tuned!