adventures on santorini

we woke up one morning in our little cabin on the cruise ship and walked up to the pool deck and this is about what we saw: (although this picture was taken later in the day)
a bunch of older people laying in the sun yet somehow behind them some snowcapped mountains?? yes on the senior sunbathers but actually what looks like snow on top of those cliffs is the enchanting whitewashed village of fira on the greek island of santorini!

santorini is just the dreamiest. i went there in 2007 while traveling through bits of italy and greece after finishing a semester abroad in jerusalem – and was completely enchanted. there’s got to be no place like it – so stunning and charming, dramatic and quaint, all at the same time. i was so excited to go back with the boy! – and our day on the island turned out to be quite the adventure.

since santorini’s shoreline is nearly completely sheer cliffs, the splendour of the seas (yes, i like calling it that) dropped anchor out at sea and all passengers had to take tender boats from the ship to the island. it was a beautiful little ride as the sun just barely peeked over the cliffs:

we went on a bus with our tour group to an archeological site and decided we’d rather spend the majority of our day wandering around the outrageously picturesque village of oia and finding a place to swim in the sea (hence ian wearing his swimsuit – we had been wanting to get in the mediterranean every hot, hot, hot day all week!). so we waited for a public bus to take us to the other side of the island while the rest of the group went into the site. it was a bit of an ordeal but we finally found a ride, and halfway back to the town of fira, ian realized he had left his phone on the steps where we were sitting near the bus stop. soooo, when we got to fira we quite frantically looked for a way to get back to the archeological site. there was an scooter and atv rental place right there, so we impulsively and quickly rented a four wheeler, hopped on, and sped back to the location of the left phone the best we could (ian trying to figure out how to drive that machine while i tried to figure out the confusing map we’d been given). somehow we made it back and the phone was still there – hooray! and..we had an atv to cruise around on for the rest of the day. so that worked out pretty well :)

we had an exhilarating drive along the side of the mountains and up into the blue and white cliff-side wonders of oia. it was really, really fun!

and we were pretty happy when we got there, just a couple hours later than expected :) we wandered around and took in the scenery and snapped photos. so so dreamy, right?! we didn’t have enough time by then to find a place to swim, but we immensely enjoyed the time we did have to explore this amazing spot perched above the sea!

here is what we looked out on from a terrace as we ate lunch. the freshest greek salad and the most lovely views – i was a happy girl:

we ran into my parents, who had stayed with the group, on the main drag in oia – yay! so we joined wandering and marveling forces for a while before heading back to the tender boat port and the ship:
 
mom and dad took a taxi back to fira, and we drove our four-wheeler back!:
 
and then the boy and i took the switchback stairs down the cliff while mom and dad rode the donkeys, which turned out to be a chaotic, smelly, uncomfortable experience that was maybe harder on their bodies than just taking the stairs – ha! but at least it looks like they are having some fun!: 

last views of those amazing white-washed villages from the tender boat:

and a last note just to say – i love my parents. they are the best and the cutest – see?:

next stop…more greece – olypmia: the home of the olympic games!