Greece..hmm..interesting place. Thank God we didn't stay in Athens!

"> (Matt drinking his McBeer at McDonalds)

So Matt and I have been waiting forever to get to Greece. We decided to spend a little more money travel independently in Greece verse Italy (we gotta go back there and hit up Venice, etc.). We were thinking this was a good choice since there were so many things we wanted to see in Italy. It just made sense to travel with a Semester at Sea on an organized trip. So the day finally came and we arrived in Greece. We must say that the Piraeus Port was nothing of what we thought Greece would be. As Matt said..It had a smell and taste of Washington D.C (graffiti, a lot of people, traffic, etc.). We spent one day at Athena and the Acropolis. It was okay, but we are "Ruins out." No more old stuff that is barely standing. The ruins trips are always in the middle of the day, at the hottest times, not enough water, and a lot of people. Don't get us wrong...It was very cool (that's why we added a pic), but we were ready to go in about 1 hours after arriving. So our first day went by fast, and we were off to our second!!! We took a plane (after walking 20 minutes to the bus stop and a 1 hour bus ride) to Santorini Island. This is the same island that Mama Mia and Sisterhood of the traveling were filmed. So we had 2 1/2 days and 2 nights to live it up in Santorini. We wanted a little culture, down time, and amazing sunsets so....we did the following


1. Stayed at a really nice hostel- Pension George (we highly recommend in Karterados)
2. Walked around Fira (capital) and did a little shopping
3. Watched the sunset while having dessert in Fira
4. Got a gyro and sat and people watched
5. Stood outside on our balcony and watched the stars for a bit
6. Road a bus to the highest point (Prophet Elias Monastery) on the island (I wore my fancy handmade shoes from Spain)
7. Climbed up to the highest village (Pirgos) on the island and got great pics
8. Sailed on a boat to the active volcano (Island Nea Kameni), and walked to the top of it (the guide dug up soil and you could feel the heat of the lava below us)
9. Sailed to the Hot Spring (Matt got in and said the ground felt like a hair, muddy tongue..gross)
10. Sailed to Thirassia, where we rode donkeys up the mountain to a little cafe (my donkey was crazy. The donkeys aren't guided. They just go straight to the top without stopping or waiting their turn. Check out the donkey's going downhill in the video
11. We saw the sunset in Oia (most popular part of the island with the white houses and blue tops)
12. We had the best dessert at a little crepe place
13. We took a tour bus back to our side of the island
14. We met some new friends from England and chatted over a glass of wine
15. Finally, went back to our room to get ready for a 5:30am wake up call for our 7:25am plane back to Athens.

Okay.. I can finally breathe.....We are so sleepy, but IT WAS TOTALLY WORTH IT!!!!

We can't believe our trip is half way over. We are headed to Turkey in 1 day!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MA!!! (OLIVE JUICE) SMOOCHES from Matt and I