The good life

It should be illegal to have this much fun. I've thought that more than once since I've been in Greece, but almost hourly during our time in Santorini. The first 3 days we stayed in Perissa, a black sand beach area on the eastern part of Santorini. This place was BEAUUUUTIFUL, and all of the pictures I posted earlier were from this place. Our room was spacious, we had some spectacular views, and the owners of the villas were so hospitable I almost kissed them.

For the second half, we stayed in Karterdos, which is near the capital, Fira. Everything was really rushed from the start.Without notice the Greeks decided to close down the ferries for this entire week due to the Easter holiday. Erik and I found this out not by anything on a website, sign, flyer, or e-mail, but when we went to book the tickets. An entire week... gone! Uhh??? I guess we'll leave REALLY EARLY?!... But what do you do, get mad? Of course not, despite how incredibly frustrating it is, it's a cultural difference.. that's it. So for our shortened second half, we stayed at this place called 'Stavros Villas', which really should have been called 'Sketch town Motel'. Internet as advertised? Nope. Pool as advertised? Nope. Stove only boiled water, and the T.V. had only one channel. The guy was nice, but only because I could see our reflections in his glasses as dollar signs. And once our dollar signs stopped extending themselves to him? Apparently the services quickly diminish as well.. including the 6 miles to the ferry!! We unhappily took a bus...... I wonder if Stavros is aware of the power of Trip Advisor?..... Despite this and a whole slue of other things (I'd rather spend my time telling you about the good stuff!!!) we had an absolute knock out view.

To add to the craziness of the day, Erik's passport had been left in Perissa at our past Villa... so when we heard that we could rent an ATV for 7.50 euro a person, we had NO CHOICE. I was really excited. Everyone had told us 'get the ATV!, get the ATV!'. We ended up sharing one, and it was one of my favorite days of the entire trip. Because the island is relatively small, we were able to whip around no problem. I use the word whip because Erik was driving, and that's exactly what it felt like. Many locals use this mode of transport, so you're allowed to not only use the main road but go on off road trails as well. We zipped to all ends of the island and caught the sunset. I was in charge of pictures and he was in charge of driving the contraption. Win/win, I'd say. All day, up and down. Round and round.

There was really only one time when I thought 'well this is it!', and we were on a terrace. Terracing, a farming technique started thousands of years ago, are small cultivated patches of a large (otherwise not fertile) mountain or hill, laced with walls, almost look as though it forms a spiral up the hill. Erik and I decided to go on a terrace that was a little bit too close for my comfort. And while neither of us were interested in driving like we were 15, the options for adventure were as dangerous as you'd like them. Trust me, we backed out slowly.