Santorini

        SANTORINI (By Rachel)

        Santorini is a place to visit in Greece, with its amazing sunsets and terracotta houses and beautiful seaside views.         

        We left Athens of Thursday, November 18th by taking a shuttle to the airport. We said goodbye to our Air B&B and got in a shuttle at 7:15am. The airport was a fairly smooth experience, and we got to our gate and onto our plane with little difficulty. The flight was quite short, it was about 30 minutes long. On most airplanes, looking out the window provides you with views of the clouds and the sky, so we were unprepared for the amazing views out the window; vast glittering expanses of endless ocean in every direction, dotted by beautiful mediterranean islands. We landed on Santorini and took another shuttle to our place, in a town called Oia (ee-uh). A porter came and carried some of our bags, and another person gave us a tour of our lovely terracotta home. 

        The view from our balcony was so amazing, Grandma (Susan) immediately declared that she could spend the whole stay just looking out over the ocean. For those of you who know us, you can probably guess that it wasn't long before Jason, Meggan and Rachel were up and about the town, exploring Santorini and looking for lunch. We discovered a local restaurant that sold savory crepes and brought them back for lunch. By this time, it was sunny and beautiful, and we were all getting Mediterranean vibes. 

        One thing about Santorini: It looks like this

Our AirBnb is the orange/terracotta house

        It's not covered in sand. The island in the middle is the volcano of Santorini, which has been dormant since the 1950s. This place used to be one island, but now it is sort of a C shape around the volcano in the center. 

       Santorini is also known for its sunsets, so Meggan, Jason and Rachel went to go see the sunset the first night, and we were amazed to see the sun go down below the horizon. You probably see at least part of the sunset every day, but watching the whole thing and relaxing for a while is a very different and very fabulous thing. 

While Jason worked, there was a "girl's night" where we watched Mama Mia! You can't get more Greek than watching that movie on Santorini!

        Another thing about Santorini: Over the course of our stay, Ava developed the social lives of all the stray cats on the island, deciding names, family memebers, and laws. The town was covered in stray cats (dogs too, but mostly cats), and there were cats under tables at restaurants, on roofs, huddled against hot tubs, and a lot of other places. 

         The second morning, Jason went for a run, Meggan, Rachel, and Ava caught up on some school work, Grandma watched the bay... It was a nice morning. 

We went out for lunch to a different place that sold crepes and had a nice meal. Meggan and Rachel went to the grocery store, and later in the day, Meggan, Jason, Rachel and Ava went down to the water. In order to accomplish this, we first had to walk to the Flight of A Million Stairs (It's not really called that, but it should be. It's VERY steep.). Then we had to walk all the way down the Flight of A Million Stairs. There wasn't exactly a beach, it was more of a dock, with rocky waters. There was a whole bunch of pumice on the beach, which Meggan and Jason used to give themselves a pedicure, and Rachel and Ava used to play a game with floating rocks. Afterwards, they walked all the way back up the stairs, sweaty but happy. When it came time for the sunset, Grandma, Jason, Rachel and Ava watched while Meggan worked.

        Day 3 was just as amazing as the other two, meaning that our entire time in Snatorini was essentially filled with amazingness. Grandma wrote four postcards over the course of the morning, Rachel and Ava practiced their respective instruments, Meggan and Jason went for a walk. 

Grandma also treated us to another amazing restaurant, where we overlooked the bay and ate our fabulous meals. We topped it off with ice cream, because we were all hot, and also because ice cream. Of course, we also watched the sunset again, becuase you can never watch too many sunsets. 

        Over all, Santorini was an amazing destination. When asked, Ava revealed that (surprise, surprise) her favorite part was the cats. Grandma loved the views the most, especially of the sunrise from our balcony, and the pink clouds after sunset. If you're visiting the Cyclades, you should come to Santorini. To be fair, I'll probably say that about every island we go to, but still. Super sweet Santorini.

Photos of the inside of our cycadelic 'cave house' - an outstanding AirBnb. The views from the shower overlooking the caldera! WOW!