We are off to spring break! This break is much needed. A week just to relax, take a break from the world, and visit some of the most beautiful places in the world.
Our trip started by meeting at about 9 in the morning by meeting at the train station. From there we traveled about 4 hours to the port. It ended up being about six hours because we sat in traffic for two. Once we finally got into the port, we took a ferry/ cruise to Greece. This boat would be our home for the next 12 hours. Originally we were all supposed to sleep in airplane seats, but I was not having that. Haha. Therefore, I upgraded to a cabin. In the small cabin, there were four beds and a bathroom. It was so nice to sleep on a bed. I had three other roommates, Emily, Nicole, and Casey. I would be come close with the girls over this trip. It was definitely odd having a guy in the room not used to that. We all got along just fine.
The dinner on the boat was amazing! I had calamari, salmon, and shrimp. The shrimp came with heads on them, which I was not expecting. Good thing picking crabs, a long time tradition in the family, is much worse haha. Anyways, we spent the night just getting to know everyone and doing a little dancing in the discoteca. However, that ended shortly when a group of older men came in to sit and watch. It was very creepy. I was off to bed! It was a great first night.
Day two of the trip we arrived at port in the early morning, and then we took a ferry to Corfu. From port to the ferry ride, a wheel on my luggage busted, so I'm getting my workout on this trip of pulling my weight. Anyways, we were off to Corfu on the ferry ride. It was a beautiful day we got to sit in the warm sun. As soon as we got to the port, we were then taken by bus to our hotel. It's called the Pink Palace. Yes this place is literally all pink. It was the perfect place, well kind of not really. The views were amazing. My pictures do not do it justice. The rooms were not so much. I've stayed in worse, during my church/summer camp days, but for the start of spring break it was ehh okay. Anyways, we unpacked, grabbed our suitcases and headed straight to the beach. We got about two hours or beach time. The weather was warm however it could have been a bit warmer. I didn't get all the way in the water, putting my toes in was enough for me. I take after my mother on that one. After beach time, it was time for a shower. Then I watched a beautiful sunset over the beach. It was amazing. The water, sand, and surrounded by friends. We all then headed up to dinner. Dinner was a bit chilly; it was half inside half outside, kind of weird. However, dinner was good. We had soup, pork, mashed potatoes, and a small salad. Very good and very filling. The people at dinner however were horrible. Not the college kids surprisingly, there was this group of others staying at the hotel. They were from London. These guys were the most obnoxious drunk guys I had ever met. For the next two days it was disgusting. They spilt my one beer at dinner, I was not happy. They couldn't walk at all. Ended up causing fights later, and were just so belligerent. The night ended with some dancing and a fun time.
Sunday morning was a bright and early morning; we had to get up to go stand in line for activities. We were cut short to go atving that day. Good thing we got in for the second day. So today was just going to be a relaxing day. We sat by the bar overlooking the water. Today was a girl-bonding day. We played cards, talked, and tried to ignore the drunks. I’m telling you, they were drunk by 10am. It was awful. They were destroying the place, and everyone was annoyed with them. Good thing they left before dinner. The rainy afternoon consisted of a nice nap too.
After the nap, we tried to watch the sunset, but it was very cloudy. Instead we hiked about a half a mile down the beach, and found this abandoned ship. It was pretty cool. The best part is there was a dog, which walked us the entire way there and back. He would go ahead of us, and look at us like come on girls. In Greece in general there are a lot of stray very nice dogs. They guide you, walk with you, and just kind of are a nice friend.
After our walk, it was time to put our pink togas on and get ready for dinner. Tonight was a toga party. It took us sometime to figure out how to do it. However, we got it! Then we were off to dinner. After dinner it was a night of dancing. They showed us typical Greek dancing. It was very cool. Also yes we got plates broken over our heads, a tradition in Greece. It was an overall fun night, and being in a pink toga made it all better. Since I'm the only blonde in the group, and was all in pink my new nickname is Barbie. Haha.
The next morning we got to sleep in until 9 am. Woohoo. We got up ready to go on the atvs and ate some breakfast. Both days breakfast was very good. We had eggs with feta, bread, yogurt, and meet and cheese. It filled me up. Then we were off to atving. I must say this was one of the coolest most amazing things I've ever done. It was awesome just getting to zoom around the island on a quad. The sights were gorgeous as well. You got to overlook all the beaches, go up windy paths, and just feel the wind in your hair. My pictures can't even explain it. It was truly just amazing; I felt like speedy McQueen. Plus I didn't have to worry about speeding! Haha!
After our day of quad riding we got back and had to pack up for a night bus ride. It was going to be a long night. Our total traveling time was 14 hours, 12 hours by bus and two by ferry. It could have been shortened but the bus drives stopped so often. We arrived in Athens at about 7:30 am. Our rooms were not ready, and we were starting the walking tour in an hour. We would spend all day walking around Athens. We saw the most modern Olympic stadium. I did a cartwheel and ran around the track. Ran up the stairs. It was pretty cool. We also go to see amazing views of the city. There wasn't much to do in Athens. One day maybe a little longer would have been perfect. We got to see the changing of the guard. It was a good day but we were all tired. Once we finally got into our rooms, it was naptime. Then we were getting ready for a night out in Athens. We did a little shopping, grabbed a quick snack, and explored before dinner. We also checked out the roof top bar of our hotel. It had an amazing view of the Acropolis.
We were having a group dinner. It was awesome I learned Greek dancing, at amazing Greek food, and shared it with amazing friends. The Greek meal was a full on meal. We had Greek salad, French fries, yes I asked for ketchup, lamb kebabs, and a dessert. Plus water and wine. It was a blast. We then explored the nightlife before heading back to the hotel for our early morning check out.
It was a bright and early morning. We were up and at it at 5am. We were on the ferry to Santorini by 7am. One of the tour guides, Kristen, and I upgraded to nice seats. We slept most of the trip. Looked at pictures and just enjoyed the boat ride. Santorini is the island I was most excited about.
When we arrived in Santorini we went straight to our hostel. We checked in, and then headed out to explore a little before dinner. There was a cute square a little ways up the road. This was the main part of town called Fira. Fira had shopping, places to eat, and the nightlife of course. The girls and I stopped for a quick afternoon cocktail and did a little shopping.
Our group dinner was at this restaurant, which looked over all of Santorini. We had authentic Greek food. I would name it all but I'm not sure of all the correct names. It was so much food, but it was all so good. I could have eaten and then ate and ate. Anyways after we just went into town for a little. We played darts and pool for the evening at a very chill place called Murphy's.
The next morning we were all up bring and early for breakfast and a beach tour. Breakfast was very good we had bread, ham, and cheese with orange juice. After stuffing ourselves, we were off to red beach. This beach was very cool. It wasn't exactly a beach but more a place where you could hike. We hiked up this huge rock face. I'm lucky I didn't get blown over because the wind was very strong. The views were incredible and the waves were huge. After red beach, we headed to black beach. We couldn't really stay on the beach due to the overcast. Plus it was a ghost town because tourist season hasn't started yet. So we took a few pictures and grabbed some lunch. After our lunch, we headed to a winery which over looked Santorini. It was very windy again, but a cool place. We headed back to our hostel before heading to Oyia for the sunset. There was not much of a sunset because of the rain but we still went to Oyia. Oyia is the place you see with all the blue roofs on any given postcard from Greece. It was a cute little town with beautiful views. Even though the weather didn't cooperate the views were still amazing. We walked around the cute town going in and out of shops before heading back.
When we arrived back at the hostel a group of us decided to go to dinner. We ate a Greek place right by our hostel. We had traditional fried feta with honey, Greek salad, and baklavas. The dinner was very good. After dinner we all just relaxed at the hostel played cards and had a fun night. A few of us ended up going back to Murphy's for a game of pool before calling it a night.
Friday was our last day in Santorini, and of course it was beautiful. Good thing our first ferry got cancelled so we had the entire day to have a blast. We did just that. First we walked down 600 steps to ride donkeys back up. This was such a blast. I had a cute little grey donkey. Boy these donkeys can move. The views going up the mountain were beautiful as well. After we ate some lunch and did some shopping. When our bellies were all full we went and rented atvs. We spent the whole day zooming around on the island. My friend Kayla and I had a 150cc quad and it had some power. I got to be speedy McQueen all over again. It was great. We came across this run down beach and drove the atvs out there. We relaxed there for a little just enjoying everyone's company and the view. We then drove back into down and continued on our way towards Oyia. We didn't make it there because we stopped at the views along the side of the road. The views over looked the beautiful coast. It was such a fun day exploring the island.
After returning the atvs Kayla, Kaitlin, and I went to dinner. We had a very relaxing dinner at a place in town before heading back to the hostel. We also grabbed some ice cream too. Then we headed back down the mountain for our ferry to Athens.
Our ferry was an over night ferry, and yes I upgraded to the comfy seats again. We arrived in Athens at about 8am. Checked into our hostel, and then walked around for a little before catching our bus for our next ferry. We drove three hours to the port. We did stop at this cool rest stop with a cool view. Then we made it to the port. We boarded our ferry back to Italy. I was very tired at this point. We ate dinner then headed up to relax before getting ice cream. Let's just say I was so tiered I passed out before getting my ice cream. Oh well. I'll just have to get gelato in Florence.
The next morning the weather was perfect. We tanned on the deck, and enjoyed each other's company. Plus we got to sleep in! We all played catch phrase and had a blast. When we arrived back to Italy we took a four-hour bus back to Florence. I loved Greece but it was nice to be back in Florence. This trip was truly amazing. The weather may not have been the greatest every day, but the people were amazing. I've made new friendships, built upon others, and truly enjoyed a week off to just relax. Plus I checked many things off my bucket list!
Sunset in Corfu
Donkey ride in Santorini.
Kristen and I
Beautiful Santorini.
ATV in Corfu.
Olympic Stadium in Athens.
Kent takes on a Toga party.
The view from Corfu.
The beach of Corfu.
ATV in Santorini
Kent girls on the roof top bar
View of the Acropolis
Ship roomates and new freinds!
The shipwreck along the beach.
The only beach day!
I had to wear my hat!
ATV drivers at the Pink Palace.
Speedy McQueen
The view from the cruise.
The path up the mountain.
The beautiful sunset in Corfu.