Disclaimer: This incredibly sappy post was written by Carly, so don't worry. Austin still has his man card.
It is incredibly bittersweet writing our last city post. I cannot think of a more beautiful place or better people to be around than the Greek islanders. The slow pace was exactly what we needed after a very busy five weeks. We started out taking a very long ferry ride (7 hours) to Santorini, a place that has held a piece of my heart since I first visited three years ago. We stayed in Oia which is the most picturesque town on the island and the one you see on all of the postcards. Our first evening was spent wandering the surprisingly quiet town after all of the annoying cruisers had left. The highlight was seeing the most artistic sunset fall over the horizon.
Day two was a beach day. We took our ATV around to multiple coloured beaches (red, white, and black sand), laid in the sun, and dipped into the Aegean Sea. Austin seemed to think that only his shoulders needed sunscreen, so now he looks like a lobster with two white shoulder pads on. Carly instead turned a beautiful bronze colour. Just kidding, I got a little burnt too.
Day three was spent wandering the shops and avoiding the sun as we hopped on and off our ATV for lunch, shopping, the BEST greek frozen yogurt, and wine tasting. We ended the day with a walk along Oia's small harbour and a sunset dinner.
Early the next morning, we left Santorini on a high speed ferry back to Athens that cut our travel time by two hours. In Austin's words, it quickly became "the ferry ride from hell," as every third person or so threw up their lunch. We had been smart and taken motion sick meds, but it didn't fix the sounds and smells around us. After that ride, we were second guessing about continuing onto Hydra. In the end, though, we were thankful we had the guts to board another ferry.
Hydra is a small island that is like stepping back into older and simpler times: no cars, cliff hugging cobblestone pathways, and fishermen bustling about as scrawny cats wait for a treat. The people there are very proud of their island, and love the slow and simple life they live. We fell in love with it too! We stayed at a small hotel where the reception area was the peoples' living room. In our spare time, we watched and took pictures as donkeys carried beer, sand, and small appliances from place to place as it is the only way to transport goods.
We went into the small museum in town and learned about the rich history of the island and the role they played in beginning the revolution that ultimately freed Greece from the Turks. The Hydrans are compared to cats: small, quiet, yet fiercely independent and feisty.
So, nothing to complain about except that we couldn't stay in Greece longer! I promised our cab driver that we would be back, so we better start saving money again, Austin. Oh yeah, one more complaint is the long, 12-hour flight back home that we're about to hop on....
αντιο σας Greece! Goodbye, Europe!
Carly