After getting our learn on in Metoera and Athens, we decided to rest our brains and head to a few greek islands to lay down and do little else. Our first stop was Mykanos, known more for a party island, but I was soley intererested in it's crystal clear beaches.
We took a fast boat from Athens to Mykanos and immediately met a couple guys from Bermuda that were staying at our hostel, Jesse and Ambrose. The hostel we stayed at was so odd. It was one part swank resort with a swimming pool, beach view, bar, and lounge music. The other part was the actual rooms, if you can even call it that. That part consisted of an endless row of, what seemed to be, emptied out tool sheds stuffed with beds. What's worse is that somehow on small island with no lakes, there were millions of mesquitos. What's worst, is that our tool shed room's front wall consisted of metal netting, which easily let mequitos into our room. My first night of "sleep" there, I literally got bit 50 times one each arm, as well as some on my knees and legs. Definitely give me a wooden wall over lounge music any day.
The beautiful view from the fancy pants lounge just around the corner from our barracks.
Our first day in Mykanos, Carolyn decided to take a ferry to a small island called Delos to check out some of the ruins. Because of lackluster sleep the night before, I decided to take the day to enjoy the resort part of the hostel, as well as lay out on nearby Paraga Beach. It was a nice, relaxing afternoon of a lot of nothing, but sun.
When Carolyn got back from her day trip, we decided to head up to Mykanos' famous Paradise Beach. Mind you, this was my first experience on a popular European beach, so I wasn't necessarily prepared to intake as much nude bathing as I saw. Mostly old dudes that wore hats. Nothing but hats. We didn't stay long.
That night, we headed into town with Jesse and Ambrose to grab a bite to eat before grabbing a few drinks. We found a spot down by the port because we were all fiending some fresh seafood. That night, I had delicious grilled octopus, one of my favorite meals in Greece (overall, the food in Greece was so-so). It was lightly grilled, drizzled with olive oil and lemon. Really simple and tasty. The next day we ended our time in Mykanos by walking around Mykanos town, which is an intricate weave of narrow and beautifully colored streets. We also met a couple of really cool Argentinians that were studying in France, Pato and Camilla. We discovered that'd we'd be overlapping a lot of our time in Greece, so we traded info and decided to get in contact as our trips continued.
Not a huge octopus fan, but I liked this one...because it was small.
Dinner with Jesse and Ambrose.
Walking the ever white and blue streets of Mykanos.
Our next stop in the Greek Islands was Santorini, the island I was most excited to see. As we shuttled to our hostel, we met a very funny and charming girl named Rachel, whom we were lucky enough to hang out with over the following week. Our first night in Santorini was close to a perfect night. We started off with dinner at a restaurant right next to our hostel, where I finally got to taste moussaka, kind of like a greek lasagna. It was really tasty and filling. We also ordered some fried cheese, as well as a Santorini specialty, deep fried tomato balls. Really good. After dinner, the hostel owner told us that there was going to be a lunar eclipse that night, so we rushed to the market, grabbed a few beers and snacks and headed down to Parissa Beach to lounge for a few hours. A great welcome to Santorini.
Cheese + deep fried = crazy delicious.
Deep fried tomato balls, a Santorini specialty.
Moussaka, or if you watch SNL, moussaKA.
Watching the lunar eclipse on Perissa beach with Rachel.
The next day we went on a day tour around Santorini where we got to sail around on a boat to check out a volcano, swim in a hot spring, and check out a couple of towns' beautiful views. We ended the tour in the town of Oia (which we got up to by riding donkeys), where we watched the sunset while snacking on chips and wine (when you think of postcards of Greece, a large majority of them will be of Oia and its famous blue-domed buildings). Absolutely stunning sunset and a great way to end our tour.
Quite and relaxing morning alone on Perissa Beach.
The famous blue-domed churches.
On our way up to Oia to watch the sunset.
More...
...blue.
Sunset time with some wine.
Rice-stuffed peppers.
At our favorite 24-hour bakery.
Views from our hike.
Our guide, Zeus.
The end of the hike!
The guy recommended a pink helmet for me...
Our last stop in the Greek Islands was Crete. Rachel, Pato, Camilla, Carolyn and I took a ferry to Crete, where we rented a car, got to our hostel, and grabbed a quick bite to eat (gryos, of course), before heading to bed. (On a sidenote: the hostel owner George was awesome. He gave us a detailed run down of the Crete, places to eat, foods and drinks we must try, beaches to go to. His brother even plays professional basketball so we spent a good amount of time chatting about European vs. American basketball - great for me since I've been having basketball withdrawal for about two months).Our first full day in Crete was spent at Carolyn's favorite beach of all time, Elefonisi. It was really a beaufitul beach, with a cool sandbar, white sand, and crystal clear water with not too shabby snorkeling. After about six hours on the beach, we headed back to town, where we met Jon from Kansas. That night we took one of George's recommendations and tried a vegetarian restaurant in town. Pretty tasty, but the best part of the dinner was that we were a part of (hopefully) a rekindled romance. The waitress at the restaurant voluntarily shared that she and George used to date, and broke up the week before. We were like, uhhhh, before she ran into the back, grabbed a folded note, and asked us to give it to George when we got back to our hostel. If those two crazy kids make it, I'd like to think we had a hand in it. After dinner, we walked around the port and got some delicious gelato to end the eventful night.
All the weirdos we met in Crete.
In the gorgeous, clear waters of Elefonisi.
With our buddy Jon from Kansas.
Our last day in Crete was spent on another gorgeous beach called Balos, that was really secluded and was only accessible after driving two hours on a dirt road. After the drive, we had to walk 30 minutes down to the beach, with goats all around us. But it was definitely worth it. Definitely a surreal sight when we finally got to overlook the beach. That night we ended with more seafood down by the port, followed by a rushed trip to the gelato shop (it was really good), before heading to the aiport.
Making the trek down to Balos.
Doesn't get much better than this.
Why's your dad in all your pictures?....haha, are you back now?
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