the good life: Greece!

For the second part of the trip we spent 5 nights in Santorini, Greece in a town called Oia. Rome was so fun, but there are absolutely no words to describe how amazing and perfect Greece was!

Greece has always been one of my number one places i wanted to visit. I decided on our location after watching "sisterhood of the travelling pants 2" and googling where it was filmed - simple as that. I got my expectations of Greece from that movie and i wanted to make sure they were met - and they were 100% exceeded! Oia is famous for having one of the most beautiful sunsets in the world.

We rented a traditional cave style house from a company called old Oia houses - it was perfect! We had two double beds, our own bathroom, a kitchen, a patio and free breakfast (fresh baked bread delivered to our door every morning. Our house was perched right on the cliff and with all the of the other traditional Greek white cave houses.... Just like I've always pictured Greece to look. There were no roads through the town, only stairs and footpaths. Our patio overlooked the sea and the caldera (the volcano of the island) and the silence and peacefulness of it all was enough to catch your breath. One of the most lucky parts of our trip is that we were staying there at a time where the wi-fi was not working. For 5 days we were all completely disconnected from everyone but each other - it was so nice to have nothing distracting us from just relaxing and having a good time.. I loved it!

our patio

the view from our patio

other view from our patio :)

the kitchen

The days in Greece all blend together - the sign of a true vacation. The second night there we stumbled upon a restaurant in town called Strogili. It had a nice patio overlooking the water and reasonable prices so we decided to check it out. BEST DECISION EVER. It only took us a few bites to decide that there was no need to eat anywhere else the rest of the trip. It was one of the best meals I've ever had and everyone agreed! I got pasta salad el greco, and colleen got chicken in Vissanto (a sweet dessert wine famous in Santorini) cream sauce. The boys each got some kind of stuffed chicken and pork. The server loved us and we made sure to tell him it was the best meal we'd had in Europe. He seemed so genuinely happy to hear that and said thank you about a million times with the biggest smile. We went back each night after that and he was always so happy to see us and even saved a table for us! He also brought us free dessert each night and free wine for our last night as well (fun fact: the server who brought out the wine informed us that the wine was made by his old physics teacher - she quit her job and started making wine. The brand is Kastelli and it was the best red wine I've ever had!) On the last night he gave us all his card and said he hopes to see us on facebook. I cant wait to look them up and give them the best review!

dinner at Strogili

chicken in vissanto sauce

best server ever!

Phil in front of Strogili on our last night :(

The best way to get around the island is on ATVs (you can drive the entire island in 1 hr round trip!), so we rented those every day. It was so much fun! Colleen and i let the boys drive most of the time (which they obviously loved) while we just got to enjoy the amazing views and the wind in our hair... It was a win-win. We woke up every day at 8:30 and had breakfast and changed into our bathing suits. The only decision we had to make/worry we had was what beach we were going to spend that day on. After the beach we would shower, watch the sunset, and get dinner. after dinner we spent the night with several bottles of wine, listening to music and playing cards. Some nights led to outrageous dance parties while others led to a massive Taylor Swift sing along piled into one of the double beds. We'd do this til around 2:00 am then go to sleep and do it all over again the next day. Couldn't be any more perfect.

breakfast time

a typical night in Santorini... making Ouzo punch

The two main beaches we went to were Peruvilous Beach and Red Beach - both made of of volcanic sand and rock! Red beach was a red sand beach tucked in between red cliffs. It was so neat to see the contrast between the clear blue water and the red sand underneath... One of coolest things I've ever seen! We spent our time on that beach swimming in caves, jumping off rocks into the water, and relaxing (obviously).

the red beach

us on red beach

The other beach, Peruvilous, is a black sand beach and is considered the party beach of the island. It's lined with beach bars, cabanas and tiki huts. We spent a good amount of time at a beach bar called Jojo. It had a huge, perfect pool, fun music (this is where I first witnessed Phillip Sheppard's dance skills) and tons of lounging areas both inside the bar and out on the beach. Some of the lounge chairs were the size of queen beds and each umbrella had a call button you could push when you needed a new drink... Heaven on earth.

The rest of our time in Santorini was spent wandering through the town and it's many adorable shops. In most shops you would walk in and see the owner sitting at a table working on the products they were selling (making jewelery, carving wood sculptures, etc) so it made me want to buy everything in sight (I guess its good that my bank account is pretty much empty.. Kept me from shopping too much!) Santorini had some of the most beautiful jewelry I've seen in Europe... Cant wait to go back some day when i have more money!

I was a little nervous 5 nights would be too much time on the island and that we would get bored with it. Honestly I could have spent an entire month there with the same group of people and I think all of us would agree it still wouldn't be enough time. I have had some amazing experiences this semester but I can easily say this was the best trip of my life. I couldn't ask for a better, more fun group of friends to travel with. I have never felt so relaxed, happy and carefree - I was so sad to leave! CANNOT wait to get back there some day.. As soon as possible!

While I was dreading leaving my little slice of paradise, I am now just incredibly excited to get home! I am currently sitting in Rome Ciampino airport and I wish I could just fast-forward to tomorrow at 3:00 pm US time when I will land in the USA! Tonight I am staying in Madrid in a hotel near the airport and I leave at 12:30 pm tomorrow! It it such a weird feeling to know that tomorrow night I will be in my house and sleeping in my bed. I am so, so excited and cant wait to see my family and friends!

More random pictures from Santorini: