Santorini...

Santorini was ok, definitely not likely to be amongst my favorites. Not anything to do with why I wasn't stoked on the island, but... Getting in, the bus driver and his cashier or whatever (they're on all buses to take the fair and give change and such) were total jerks. The bus was supposed to take 30 minutes, so after about 20, we headed towards the front to find out how we know when to get off. Well, apparently we had passed the stop we wanted & instead of just telling us this, the bus driver proceeds to yell at me in Greek, except the part where he tells me we were sleeping, he saw us--which is amazing, cause we weren't. But anyway, decided not to talk to him anymore, since it was obviously pointless. Another passenger was kind enough to tell us we missed it and how to catch a bus back. Then, we told the cashier guy we needed to get our bags and he yelled at us too, saying he told us three times. Ok, Ok, we get it, we didn't know the drill with the busses--now we do. p.s. I think he was talking from his seat in the very front to the right of the driver on the extremely packed bus, so it's no wonder we didn't hear him. Anyway, that's my venting for the unnecessary Jerks.

Our Hostel was... well... we got what we paid for. :) no hot water--well, only at 1pm, which of course we weren't there for (it's solar heated). It took us about 10 minutes and a complete circle before we determined which door was the front door. The obvious front with a reception area and such, was locked and pretty much empty. So when we finally found it and clopped on it--they the guy and his family - hanging out smoking at the table across from the reception desk - looked very surprised to see us--we had to double check it was a hotel & finally saw the reception sign. The guy was cool though, it was pretty funny. We walked in and he spoke nothing but German... yes, German. So, with a combination of charades and figuring out a few english words he knew (whew for us), we managed to explain we booked online (which I'm pretty sure he didn't know it existed, which still confuses us, but oh well) and here was the fun part, that we already paid part through a deposit. Got it all figured out, amazingly. He was really nice and very patient with us. The beds weren't comfortable, but oh, well.

After we got settled, we walked to Perissa, the nearest beach with Black sand (well, let's be fair--black and Grey rocks). it was pretty kinda from a-far, but not enticing to lay-out on. It's supposed to be the most popular beach, so we were wondering how we were going to kill three days there at first. So, we mosied off and found some dinner at a little place across from the water--great view. We had a traditional Greek dish, P....ssio? similar to lasagna, sort of, but no veggies and has noodles in it. It was different, but pretty good. And of course, Greek salad, which we've had with about every meal-the tomatoes are fantastic here. after dinner, when we were about to leave, the restaraunt bribed us to stay with a free glass of wine--and then another... ok. They want people in the restaraunt so that others will come. It's funny, but some restaraunts will be completely empty, while the one next door is packed. We're learning this doesn't necessarily have anything to do with the food, since it's all tourists who don't really know better anyway, and it's definitely not the menu, since they're practically all the same--so, it likely has to do with whichever atmosphere and the people already there look most appealing to the passerby. The owner was really cool, he spent a while explaining what we should see and why in Santorini, so that was very helpful.

The next day, we took a bus into Fira, the main city and trucked around for a bit. The Caldera, is the part that overlooks the water and the old port, where cruise ships now come and go. It was beautiful. We just walking through shops and eventually grabbing a crepe for dinner--salty, not sweet--with turkey, or a greek one... We then hopped on a bus to OIA, the north most part of the island, to watch the sunset. It was beautiful, but I have to say, I think Seattle's are better. :) OIA was a super cute little town though, very picturesque.

The next day, we rented an ATV and cruised around the island a bit. We saw the views from the monestary and the Red Beach. We also cruised around in attempt to find the White Beach before finally learning you could only get there by boat. :( Oh well, next time.

Off to Paros...