Santorini

First full day in Santorini: so much to do!! We started out by renting ATVs from a local shop (and it was only 25€ for 24 hours... Everything included) and after a quick fuel stop we set our to explore the island.

Let me tell you a few things about Greek drivers.. First, no matter what type of vehicle they are driving - be it a bus or a moped - everyone thinks they can fit into the smallest areas and that they have the right of way. Second, the roads are very narrow and windy, and Greek drivers could not care less. Third... They like to go fast. Really, really fast. In order to survive as a driver in Greece, you need to become a Greek driver.

So we hauled ass through the city streets towards Fira, the cente of the island. We made a stop to grab a breakfast (donuts) and then cruised through the city. We decided to wing it without maps because A) that's basically how we have handled this entire trip and B) it's virtually impoasible to get lost on an island this small. The only thing we had on the agends was to get to Oia (the northern part of the island) in order to watch the sunset. We found several cute streets, secluded beaches, and houses that are literally caves in mountains.

After a while, we were getting hungry (again) so we headed towards the southern mountain to see what we could find. We happened upon a cute restaurant made out of an old converted windmill that was absolutely adorable and had a great atmosphere. We ordered a tsaziki appetizer which was giant and each had a greek salad. Honestly I am in love with greek salad.

After eating, we hopped back on Gin and Tonic (our ATVs) and raced through the streets towards the top of the mountain. We made it to the top to find a couple of secluded military bases and a monestary.. But we couldn't explore the monastery because we were not dressed conservatively. C'est la vie!

As we came down the winding hills, a buss was heading straight as us so naturally I pulled off into the side of the road to let him pass. Did I accidentily spin out and pull a 180 into a ditch doing so? Possibly. Did I recover spectacularly and have the bus driver givingnme a thumbs up as he passed? Also possible. They are All Terrain Vehicles, after all... I was simply testing their capabilities!

After the mountain, we decided to check out the famous steps that donkeys can bring you up and down. We got lost a cew times trying to find it (mainly because no one in Europe can give directions... Honestly) but eventually found prime parking in the middle of Fira and hiked up the mountain through some crazy busy streets. When we finally found the donkeys, we hopped on one each and were led down the steps by its trainer.

Taylor named her donkey Paco and mine had a bit of an identity crisis before I settled on Minou.. And the ride down was great but a bit steep! When we got to the bottom we looked up at the steps we would have to walk and decided to take the donkeys back up the hill. I got to stay on mine, but Tay was transferred to a bigger donkey who she eventually named Speedy.

Speedy and Paco must have thought they were in the donkey Indy 500 because holy.. Did they fly up the hill. They literally forced their way past many other donkeys and seemed to be racing each other as we flew up the steps back to Fira town.. It took us half the time to get back up than it did to get down! Still, I had a great time and I am so happy we had then chance to ride the donkeys like my Poppy suggested :)

When we finally made it back to our ATVs (somehoe the walk back seemed to be uphill again.. How do we always find a way to walk uphill BOTH DIRECTIONS) we jumped back on and decided to travel by the beaches before heading up to Oia. We went through many tiny back roads on the way to see all of the beaches, literally exploring all of the island. I am not exaggerating when I say this.. We actually covered the whole island.

When we got to Oia, we found a street that led to Ammoudi Bay - a famous section of Santorini. Wellnit was obbiously very popular because it had one TINY road down the hill towards the bay and it was full of cars, mopeds, ATVs and busses who DID NOT GET OUT OF THE WAY FOR ANYONE. SERIOUSLY SO ANNOYING. When we finally got through and parked, we climbed down the the sea sode and managed to find this hidden swimming cove near tide pools and a rock you could jump off of. We didn't swim as we had left our bathing suits in the ATV but we watched people struggle to get in and out of the water long enough to feel like we had the experience ourselves.

We hiked back to the ATVs amd after some careful maneuvering (they don't have a reverse so we had to push them out by hand. Around 2 busses. And 2 busloads of asian tourists) we were on our way again. We finally headed up to Oia centre where we parked our atvs again and went into the town to explore.

One of the first thibgs we had to do was find the spot where everyone takes pictures in Santorini. You know the spot.. With the blue dome shaped roof in the background? After exploring and navigating through tourists, we found the spot and took our Santorini pictures.

We started to get hungry and so we stopped at this cute restaurant overlooking the city which was definitely expensive but worth every penny for the view. We stayed for a couple of hoirs to kill time before the sunset, the headed over to the viewing section to secure our spot.

As the time past by, people atarted to flood the area to get a good view... There were so many people on this tiny spot it was absolutely ridiculous! The sunset was spectacular (regardless of the stupidity of those around us. "Does the sun set somewhere else in winter" honestly. Honestly? Ahhhhhhhh) and as soon as it went down we joined the hoard heading back to the one road that takesbyou out of oia.

After what seemed like an eternity, we broke free from the crowd and rushed to our ATVs so we could attempt to get home! We flew through the streets on the bayside (literally flew. There were two guys on another atv that we passed and they looked so butthurt. It was great) and headed back into our village ofnPerissa whrre we attempted to find aloe to sooth our burnt skin.. But it was too expensive.

After calling it a night, we parked and went to bed in orser to be ready for our next adventure.

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