santorini, pt. III

the last two days spent in santorini were my favorite; a complete dream.
picture lazy pool-side mornings after a delicious breakfast and sipping iced lemonades. sailing around the island on the bow of a catamaran with a cold greek beer in hand. a permanent smile plastered on my face. jumping off the stern and checking out the “warm” spring. a veritable greek thanksgiving-style feast of shrimp saganaki, salads, and grilled calamari. yes… i was on a mission to eat as much seafood as possible– there is no such thing as too much!

the final full day, we were our own explorers on a quest to discover the south side of the island! cruising around the rocky, hilly streets of santorini was exhilarating and a bit disorienting (although we only had to stop and ask for directions once). i held on tight and begged alex to SLOW DOWN, not that he was even going that fast, i’m just kind of a wuss. 

below, pretending that i drove us anywhere.

eventually we got to the site of akrotiri, the remains of an ancient town built by the minoan people, only recently excavated, that is now open to tourists to visit. some structures that have been uncovered were almost three stories tall! no human remains were found in akrotiri because it was rumored that the minoans fled to crete or somewhere else and left it all behind; perhaps under threat of the active volcano in the vicinity of the island. this was the only museum-like experience we undertook on the whole trip!

after a lunch at a taverna in akrotiri town, we cruised over to the incredible red beach. santorini has beaches of every color: black, white, and red… but as time was of the essence, we decided to spend our time at the red beach. from the parking area, you take a mini-hike to the small beach… long but not wide, as lawn chairs are only “two deep”, right up against the side of the enormous red cliff. 

swimming in the deep blue sea with alex while peering back at the red mountain is one of my favorite memories that i will certainly remember forever; one of my “happiest life moments”, absolutely.

when we returned back that evening, everything looked normal, and we showered and changed. not even an hour later, a mysterious beautiful cloud had completely enveloped the island, starting with oia and moving on to imerovigli. it sure made for a memorable sunset (or lack thereof). you know one of those times in your life that it seems like some kind of sign? to be in a cloud.

santorini is a lot of things. it can be laid-back and so quiet you can hear birds chirping, or it can be chaotic and buzzing with life. every experience one could hope for can be found here and i am ever so glad i decided on it for our honeymoon location. i couldn’t ask for more.

next stop, athens.

{this post is the fifth of six in the honeymoon series of posts– catch up, yo.}