A little change of pace

Greece has been quite an experience so far. Firstly, after arriving in peraious on Saturday night after our long ferry from Venice. We were all so happy to have our own beds after two nights of sleeping in transit. The hotel was run by the nicest Greek man, who informed us that he spent 1.5 years in Baltimore working before being deported.

There was a transportation strike in Athens which delayed our original ferry departure, so after a great night sleep we had a day to kill in athens before our fairly left for santorini at 11pm. We quickly found out that a transportation strike means no metro, so we had to find another way to get from the port to downtown Athens. After some confusion, and a talk with a Greek man, we got on a bus to Athens that was packed to the brim. It took us about an hour in these tight conditions to reach the city, where we learned that the strike also meant the acropolis and roman agora were also closed. So we spent the day walking through the flea market and using the wifi at our hotel. Finally, it was time to head to the port and we prayed the strike wouldnt create any further problems. Other than a small group of port workers, no further problems occurred and we arrived safely in santorini at 5am! I should comment that it was interesting to see the port workers chanting for communism after the struggles Greece has had under a capitalist system.

Now, santorini is amazing! We slept in this morning, which was much needed after another night in transit. After a nice breakfast by the black sand beaches, we rented ATVs and went on a wonderful adventure. We drove all over the entire island, which happens to be a big C. We had a blast driving around, i dont think any of us have ever had more fun. A 30 minute ride took us to the lighthouse on the west end with a beautiful view of... The east side of the island. We then went on a nice long ride all the way around the island to the east side, which has a town called Oia. This place is absolutely amazing, and the quintessential Greek isle. It feels completely isolated here, and it's a great escape from all the cities we've been in over the last month. I'm sure Greg will post pictures soon. After driving the entire island, we went back to the lighthouse to climb some rocks and watch the sunset. We ended our day with a nice pasta dinner cooked in our hostel. Then we sat on the beach with some beers and some dogs that befriended us. The dogs were very welcome visitors for all of us, and a nice source of entertainment. What a great way to end a fantastic day.

-Steve