The moment I decided on studying abroad in Greece there was one trip I knew I HAD to go on, which was Santorini. Last Thursday, all ten of us headed to the airport to begin our trip. The planning of this trip was much more intensive than the others as it was for all ten and we went from Thessaloniki to Santorini then to Crete and back. Luckily, I was able to arrange all our transportation so we could all travel together, making things much more simple.
Upon arrival in Santorini, we were lucky enough to have prearranged transportation to our Airbnb thanks to our host. Our house was incredible. It was only about 15 minutes from the airport in Monolithos right on the beach! Actually, two beaches on either side with a small harbor in front full of fishing boats. The house had a nice deck with plenty of outdoor seating to accommodate all ten of us. To top it off, there was an awesome restaurant about 100 meters down the road with fresh, daily caught fish.
Friday, we got up early, made ourselves breakfast, and headed out for a prearranged, private tour of Santos Wines Winery courtesy of our amazing study abroad coordinator, Helen. This winery is one of the most famous in the world, attracting more visitors than any of the wineries in Napa Valley. The grapes in Santorini are very special as they are growing in ancient, volcanic soil and receive no form of irrigation. These grapes are extremely hardy and many of the vines are hundreds of years old. Santos Wines has a cooperative system where they source all their grapes from local farmers that own shares of the winery. This helps generate income for families across the entire island and gives recognition to the farmers that make it all possible.
The tasting was nothing short of amazing. With it being the first one I have ever done, I think I have very high expectations for those in future years. Luckily, they have deals for sending their products internationally so I was able to send my parents a nice gift.
After our stop at Santos Wines, we headed to Oia, the most famous city on the island to tour around and watch the sunset. Oia was so much more beautiful than any picture I had ever seen and filled with so much history. Although there were still quite a few tourists, there wasn't near as many as during the peak season so it was much more enjoyable and easier to view the city.
After some time going through shops and getting some coffee, we finally settled and found the perfect spot for the sunset. It was so mesmerizing to see. Everyone and everything seemed to come to a halt to observe its beauty.
The next morning, at a brisk 3:30 a.m., we all hopped in a van to take us to the port to get on a ferry and head to Heraklion, Crete! I've been on ferries before, but this one was huge! Like Titanic x10. The top half of the ferry was outfitted for passengers and bottom being for cargo and vehicles. It took a bit longer than expected, roughly 6 hours. Upon arrival to Heraklion, we decided to rent two cars as it was the much cheaper and convenient option to navigate the island. The catch is that they were both manuals. There were only two of us that could comfortably drive a manual (Shoutout to my dad), so I got stuck on chauffeur duty. Once again, Airbnb failed us and we had to find different housing. After a good meal at a local tavern, we decided to head to Chania, which was over two hours away. The car ride was... .nerve wracking to say the least. About 75% of the drive was going up mountains with no guard rails and crazy Greek drivers. I think my knuckles were white for a grand majority of the time. Our new Airbnb was in a remote village about 15 minutes outside of Chania with most of the population being older couples. It was really refreshing and fun to get away from tourist-heavy areas and experience a traditional Greek community. We mastered the art of traveling and staying in Airbnb's and began cooking ourselves! Being that I love to cook I made my famous fettucini alfredo and a few other side dishes to go along with it. It all turned out good and it was nice to all work together to cook our meals.
Sunday morning before breakfast Costa went on a walk through the village. When he got back he yelled into the house for us to come outside as he found "A new friend." To say we were all a little worried about what this "friend" was an understatement. To our surprise, it was an adorable puppy that followed him back! She was a little dirty and hungry, but oh my, was she cute and very sweet. We named her Ellie, after Elaine the Swan from Iowa State, as she rolled over after Mallory said "Roll like a cyclone." She stayed with us all morning, got babied, and definitely got plenty to eat. We had plans for the day and as we were leaving for the day, so was Ellie. Sadly, she never came back though.
Later that morning we left to go to Balos Beach. For those who don't know, this is home to one of the infamous pink sand beaches. There are only seven pink sand beaches in the world, with two of those being in Crete. The drive to Balos was just as interesting as the drive to Chania. It only took a little over an hour but was almost entirely gravel mountain passes. It was pretty amusing driving to the beach as there was a nomadic goat herd and we casually came across goats chilling in the road and climbing the steep rocks alongside.
To get to the beach from the parking lot we had to go on a short hike, about 25 minutes. Once we got to the other side of the mountain and saw the beach, I was in tears. Literally. It was by far the most beautiful beach I've ever been to.
We spent the entire day bumming on the beach and swimming. The water was a little cold but with clear skies and the warm sun, it wasn't too bad. The water was super clear with virtually no seaweed or debris. The lagoon was pretty neat as you could walk across the entire thing with it being mid-calf deep at most.
Hungry and exhausted, we started to make our trek back to our Airbnb. We got a very late lunch/dinner at a nice restaurant in a small town outside of Kissamos. It was pretty embarrassing getting into the village as we had to go up a pretty steep hill and I killed our car. . . twice. I'm blaming that one on the crowds of people standing along the road and making me anxious but eventually, we made it.
Monday, three of us stayed back at the house while the other seven took a bus to hike one of the famous gorges nearby. I used this as an opportunity to catch up on some computer work and relax.
The next morning we had to leave to head back to Heraklion as four of the ten were going back to Thessaloniki early. While loading up my luggage, I locked the keys in the car. Luckily, I left the trunk open, so that was a plus. With all ten of us and our host, we worked at it for about an hour. The seal on the windows was too tight for us to get a hanger in to pop the locks, so we went in through the back. We tried constructing the wire into a super long hook to get the keys, but that also didn't work. So, we pushed on one of the back seats until Myla could fit herself in the tiny gap to let the other seat set down then crawl in and get the keys. It was quite the ordeal. I felt horrible as it was mainly my fault, but it made for a good laugh.
The drive back wasn't near as bad as we had some good treats from the bakery we stopped at and some good true crime podcasts to listen to. Once we got back to Heraklion, some of us toured one of the ancient castles while the others went through some of the touristy shops. After, we headed to our new Airbnb then headed out for dinner before we had to take the four leaving early to the airport.
For a good last day in the islands, we had a beach day at one of the beaches in Heraklion. It was nice with not many people and most of those there were older couples. I immediately put my AirPods in, put on a good podcast, and fell asleep. Perfect day. That night we had a good girls night watching Sisters of the Traveling Pants (We had to since we were just in Santorini) before we had to leave early in the morning for the airport to come back to Thessaloniki.
And here I am, back in my dorm. I had an incredible time in the islands and am so thankful for all the memories made with 9 of my favorite people. For now, its time to get some school work done before we go on a school trip to Meteora next weekend!
Stay tuned!
Andrea