It's officially been a day and a half on Santorini and I have to say that I'm loving this island. Yesterday the ferry brought us in without a hitch and our Hostel picked us up at the port. The Hostel is called San Giorgino Villas and it costs 20 euros a night. A young married couple runs the place and it is exceptional to say the least. First off, the owners are amazing. From the minute we checked in they walked us through all the different things we could see on the island and local recommendations for everything from food to island cruises. They also took extra time to explain the different beaches and the best ones to hit up. Second, the lodging accomodations are fantastic as well. They gave us a private room with a private bathroom and our room opens up right to this private pool that no one really knows about. The location of the Hostel is also ideal as it's right off the main square in Thira (the main town on Santorini).The island itself is quaint and has a much different feel than the island of Capri (which we visited earlier in the trip). It doesn't feel like a rich snobby island, but more of a haven for middle class younger adults. There are a few expensive restaurants, but it seems most are priced fairly reasonably. There are a string of shops and scooter rentals pretty much every place. To get to the various beaches you have to take about a 20 minute bus ride to the east and west coasts of the island. So far, we've hit up almost every beach. We've been to the red sand beaches, black sand beaches, and white sand beaches. So needless to say, we are really working hard since we got here.
Tonight we took a sunset cruise (per the recommendation of our hostel owner) and it was phenomenal. It was a five hour boat cruise for approximately 30 euro and it was worth every penny.
The first stop on this boat tour was the volcano. We docked at the edge of the volcano and hiked up to the top. I have to say, it was not as impressive as I was hoping. Today it got up to about 90 degrees or so and it really wasn't too much fun walking across a barren wasteland of black rock. The hike was extremely grueling and the view from the top (while impressive) wasn't really worth the exhausting hike.
After we got back to the boat, we waited for everyone to finish walking around and then set sail for the hot springs near the volcano but on another smaller island. I really enjoyed this part of the trip. The guide let us jump off the ship into the Aegean Sea (about a 15 foot leap) into the cold water. After we jumped, he put the ladder down for everyone else so they could lower themselves in. From the boat it was about a 50 meter swim to the hot springs. It was more like the luke warm springs because the Aegean Sea keeps the temp at about 30 degrees celsius. But it was still pretty cool nonetheless. At that point, the cool water felt great after our long volcano climb about a half an hour earlier.
After playing in the ocean for a little longer, we swam back to the boat and set sail for another small island where we docked for about an hour and had some wine and cheese. Then we set sail once again and watched the most amazing sunset I have ever seen in my entire life. We cruised around the Aegean Sea as the sun was slowly setting just to the left of Santorini.
It was definitely one of those moments in life that I will never forget. I think I can actually die a little happier (hopefully not for a long time though) now that I've seen probably one of the most beautiful places on this earth. As the sun was dropping into the sea, the captain turned off the engines and a serene hush fell over the boat. No one talked for a good few minutes while we all attempted to internally process the beauty that we were watching. It was an incredibly moving moment that even caught me a little by surprise. It's nice to know that our planet can still inspire us and leave us breathless with an amazing sunset that makes us appreciate how lucky we are to be alive.
