Santorini, you win

After a grumpy*, rainy takeoff in Milan, two hours later we arrived in Athens, Greece with the bluest skies you could imagine. To get to our hostel for the night, it was said that taking the metro would be the easiest, as it went straight from the airport to our stop. However, finding the right train to take at the airport proved to be a little more complicated. With lack of signage (let alone signs not in the greek alphabet), we decided to ask several times to make sure we were in the right place to catch the metro. In the process, we met two Polish students going the same way and chatted with them as we took the forty-five minute journey to center Athens. As we came up at the Monastiraki stop, we instantly saw people. The square was filled the brim with vendors selling their trade, from leather sandals to tzaziki spices, and as we turned around to get a view behind us, all we could see was the acropolis perched on a hill. We found our way to Ermou street, one of the most popular streets in Athens and where our hostel was located. After walking a little bit, we finally reached the address given for our lodging… except that it was an antiques store. At that moment, we tried not to panic but I have to admit, it was a little bizarre. As I glanced to my left, I noticed out of the corner of my eye “Pella”, which was the name of our hostel. Sure enough, about 50 meters to our left, we found our hostel. 

Once settled in, we went down to the port to pick up our tickets for the ferry to Santorini and had a wonderful dinner with a view of the Acropolis. We decided to get some traditional Greek food: pork gyros with fries and baklava for dessert. This would be the first of many gyros we would have during the week, though this one was more expensive and deconstructed. Either way, delicious! After the meal, the server came by and set two shots of ouzo on our table with a clever smile as he turned his shoulder before we could say anything. Even though neither of us are fans of the Greek liquid courage, we both said “Opa!” and enjoyed our free gift. 

After a night of barely any sleep, we boarded our ferry to Santorini at 7am. It was an eight hour ferry, and although I had been getting used to long journeys to get us from point A to point B, I was incredibly anxious to get to the beautiful crescent shaped island. However, the ferry was so comfortable, eight hours passed with no problems. The views of the blue Aegean sea going by, the little islands specked with crisp white houses… it was hard to not be enthralled with the surroundings. Also, the wifi and freddocino** might have helped. 

And so at 3:00pm, we arrived in the port of Santorini. As we had asked for a transfer to our hostel (which was more like a hotel), we were happy to find a man standing with a sign reading “Dina’s Place” quite easily. However, it soon became increasingly clear that he was doing a number of drop-offs to different hotels, and we would all not fit in his van. Suddenly, he turned to us and said, “You will go with my cousin! He will you off at the hotel he is going to – wait there and I will come get you!” Blindly, we got in the van with his cousin, went up the incredibly windy path from the port, and entered into Fira, one of the main towns on Santorini and where we were staying. Dropping us off on the side of the road next to a convenience store fruit stand, we couldn’t help but wonder what we would do if he didn’t come back for us. Just then, his van pulled up and we were whisked away to our hostel.

Arriving at the hostel, it was clear that this was not a hostel. It was a hotel. George, the receptionist and owner, was extremely nice and told us everything we needed to know about Santorini, including how to avoid tourist traps. I cannot stress how kind of a person he was – when we tried to pay and did not have exact change, he said, “It’s no problem, pay later! In fact, if you don’t want to pay during your stay, that’s fine! Just mail it to us after!” There is something to be said about the easy –going attitude of the Greeks. Our room was wonderful and we stepped outside to a quaint and beautiful pool area. I could not recommend this place enough!

That evening, we took our time exploring Fira, wandering aimlessly down its narrow streets, looking through shops and enjoying the sunset (though because of clouds it was not so nice). We found a place to get gyros (which we frequented many times during our five day stay) and single bite baklavas of all flavors! I had to get a classic but I also got chocolate with walnut, very delicious!

Fira and me

Left: original. Right: chocolate walnut.

Our first full day in Santorini, we woke up to cloudy skies. Seeing the weather, we decided to take a bus to Akrotiri, where there are excavations of ancient civilization. This city had been rebuilt several times due to earthquakes and was destroyed from the eruption of the volcano of Santorini. On the bus, we made a friend: Amanda, a Canadian who is teaching biology in Bulgaria. The three of us spent the next few days together – it was amazing meeting someone who also had the experience living and teaching abroad and also to talk about traveling! After exploring the excavations, we walked to the nearby Red Beach, which was quite a sight to see. The contrast between the red rock and the blue water was dramatic and beautiful. We stuck our feet in the water and enjoyed the calming sound of the waves.

Me, Alie and Amanda at the excavations

That is one red beach

Wanting a change of scenery, we took the next bus to the most picturesque town in Santorini: Oia. It took us a few tries to pronounce this town correctly (“ee-ah”) but the fact that it is regarded as the best place to stay in Santorini couldn’t be more true. With the perfect view of the sunset from its placement on the tip of the crescent, the perfect white stoned buildings, the contrasting blue domes of the churches, Oia is where I would stay when I come back to in Santorini. We spent some time wandering the alleys and found a beautiful overlook onto the town where we sat for a while. While the crowds started forming where we were sitting, we realized that we had the best place to watch the sunset, without even trying! This and an impromptu local play about Agamemnon made our evening nothing short of spectacular.

Oia

I have never seen a sunset that looked like a sun rise...

Hurrying to catch the last bus to Fira, we left fairly early, so we could stop for a tequila sunrise and a bathroom break. After the very scary night bus back to Fira (guys, it was just cliff and ocean past the non-existent guard rail), we went to Mama’s house for dinner, where I had a greek salad, some tzaziki and a Mythos to drink. Although I do not like beer, I had to try the number one Hellenic beer in production. My review? Not for me – I’ll stick to wine anyday.

The following day, we woke to beautiful sunny skies – the weather that I had imagined for Santorini. We decided to take a boat excursion to see the still-active volcano of Santorini and the hot springs on another nearby burnt island. And so, we took yet another cable car down to the Old Port of Santorini, leaving Alie and I to scream and Amanda to laugh at us, and we hopped on board a ship to the black mass that is across from the crescent of Santorini. We hiked up to the peak of this volcano, which might have been the cause of the mythical Atlantis. Smelling the strong sulfur and feeling the heat of the volcano with my bare hands, I couldn’t help but sing to myself “This girl is on fire….”

View of Santorini from the volcano

After, we boarded the boat yet again and headed off to the hot springs. We came prepared with our bathing suits under our clothes, but expected to pull into land and get off the boat, relaxing into these warm bodies of water. Once we pulled up, we were told that the boat can’t reach that small piece of land – that if you wanted to wade in the hot springs, you had to jump out of the boat and swim there. Nothing in the world had sounded more terrifying to me and I considered not doing it. However, I took a deep breath and leaped into the cold, blue water of the Aegean and swam until I reached the orange warmth of the hot springs. I couldn’t help but have the hugest smile on my face the entire time, to see such beauty around me and feel a part of it – it was my favorite thing that I have done during my time abroad this year. As the horn blew for us to come back to the ship, I couldn’t help but be sad that it was such a short time, but it is one that I will remember forever.

The only picture I managed to get of the hot springs. You can see to the left of the white building some orange in the water, that's them!

Once we reached Fira, we relaxed by the pool a bit and then took the next bus to Perissa, which is home to a black sand beach. Santorini has two black sand beaches: one in Perissa and one in Kamari. By the time we reached Perissa, it was quite dead and the sun had already began setting. Still we enjoyed a nice meal on comfy sunbeds and enjoyed the scenery. That night, we enjoyed one last night wandering around Fira together, shopping and eating ice cream. Then, we decided to go for a drink at Two Brothers Bar. Though it seemed like such a small place, the atmosphere inside was twenty times bigger than the locale. We couldn’t help but sing along with the throwback music, laugh at people around us and cringe at people getting a Head Shot.*** After spending two days together, we said our goodbyes to Amanda – it was so nice to have met her during our stay  and to have spent so much time with her!

 

The next day, Alie and I headed out to the other black sand beach, Kamari. I instantly preferred this beach, much more relaxed and much more space to lay. We spent the afternoon lounging and soaking up the sun. I could not get over the relaxing sound of the waves and the crisp blue against the huge rock façade at the beach. After a quick stop in Fira, we went off to Oia one last time to watch the sunset. This was easily the best sunset we saw, and we met a wonderful couple from Arizona while we were there too. It was kind of sad thinking that it was our last time in Oia during our stay, but I know that I will be coming back – it is just too beautiful to not return again!

Once we got back to Fira, we decided to be bold and do something that we had constantly talked about trying: going to a fish bar. There are several of these on Santorini and I know they are also quite popular in Asia. It’s a place where you stick your feet in water and little fish come up and eat all the dead skin off your feet! It might sound kind of gross (because it is) but I didn’t mind it at all! Alie on the other hand was pretty freaked out. With our feet all soft and rejuvenated, we went for a nice seafood dinner at Nikolas, a place recommended by our hotel. We had some shrimp spaghetti, tzaziki and Santo vino (wine made right on the island). Stuffed to the brim, we slept well on our last night in Santorini.

On our final day on the island, we decided to just relax. We went back to Kamari and acted as beach bums, soaking up every last bit of sun possible. We watched our last sunset in Fira, had our last pork gyros (which I am now having withdrawals of) and tried loukoumades, a fried honey donut, with chocolate and ice cream. We also met some nice friends from Canada while waiting until midnight for our bus to our ferry – it never ceases to amaze me the great people you meet while traveling. As we boarded and settled into our cabin to sleep on our way to Athens, I couldn’t help but think that it was the end of something great. Santorini, hands down, you win – I can only hope that I will return very soon.

*Grumpy on my part because I had to pay an extra 35 euro to check my bag…. stupid Easyjet!

**Freddocino is like a frappé… but BETTER! I had totally forgotten about these things, and I was obsessed with trying to find one on the island after consuming an amazing one on the ferry. Alas, I could not find any, and I was left with just the memory of the first one.

***Head Shot: When you take a shot wearing a helmet and the second you’re done, someone bangs your head with a baseball bat.

Mamma Mia, Italia!

Getting up at 7am in Nice, France, we boarded a short regional train to take us across the border to Italy. During the train ride, we met a couple from Tazmania that were going to Cinque Terre as well and without saying so, we all decided to hang together for the rest of the day. Going to Ventimiglia, then Genoa, we were finally on the last train which was taking us to Riomaggiore (the last of the five Cinque Terre villages). We might have been on the train for about ten minutes when an elderly man in a suit came up to Alie and I. Noticing I had my feet on the seat and thinking that he wanted to sit down, I took my feet down and showed with my hands that he could sit there. He shook his head and instead said “tickets”. We hastily showed him our tickets, at which point he began quickly talking in italian, obviously telling us there was something wrong with our tickets. We kept repeating “sorry, we don’t know what you are saying”, until finally in fairly broken English he said that our tickets were not validated. Not knowing we had to validate these tickets, we said we would get off the train at the next stop and put them through the machine. However, he did not wait for the next stop and immediately said “50 euros” – the fine for two unvalidated tickets. 

All at once, the five Italian commuters sitting around us started yelling at him. Neither of us know Italian, but I can pick up a few words here and there because of the similarity to French. What did I pick up? Tourists, English, not fair. These five locals, who did not know us from Adam, were trying to prevent us from paying the fine! The conductor looked ambushed but kept fighting back, while Alie and I wrestled up the euros to give to him. The woman sat beside us turned to us and said, “You didn’t know you had to validate, right? Make sure you get a receipt so he doesn’t pocket the money!” A moment later, he took back our tickets and hand validated them, meaning that the fifty euros we had prepared went back in our wallets.  Because we were traveling with the Tazmanians, we got the same deal for them. I will never forget that moment, when five boisterous Italians stuck their necks out for us. As each of them left the train to their various destinations, we couldn’t help but repeat “grazie” several times with huge smiles of appreciation.

Besides this minor detail, the train ride was absolutely gorgeous – it’s maybe my favorite train journey that I have done in Europe thus far. It follows the coast, so you get to see small coast town after small coast town, with the sunshine shimmering on the Mediterranean the entire way. Once we arrived in Riomaggiore, we found the hostel office and he said to follow him up a few stairs. Few was definitely an understatement. We were staying at nearly the highest point in Riomaggiore, so when we went up one row of stairs, another would appear. Once we got settled and changed, we headed back out to do some hiking. Hiking through the Cinque Terre villages is a well-known tourist attraction, people come from far and wide to hike these magnificent trails that promise stunning views of the coastline and the villages. Since the next day it was supposed to rain, we set off in the late afternoon to make the most out of a beautiful sunny day. We were disappointed to hear that only one hiking trail was open – many were closed due to landslides that have been occurring in the area. Nevertheless, we took the first regional train to Vernazza and headed off onto the trail to Monterosso.

Hiking this trail was easily in my top five things I have done this experience abroad. With the sun shining on the clear blue water contrasting against the bountiful green earth, words and pictures truly do not do it justice. It is something that you have to do yourself to experience its beauty.

Vernazza

When were reaching Monterosso (the end of the trail), we vaguely heard upbeat, Italian music and a woman loudly speaking a mix of English and Spanish. We looked down to find a man who cut a hole in the fence of his vineyard and was selling his freshly made wines, limoncello and lemonade. And the woman? Her name was Joann and she hailed from DC, and she convinced us to buy a lemonade and chat with her awhile. To say that this was a pinnacle moment of our whole whirlwind trip through Europe would be an understatement – we were quoting Joann throughout the remainder of our travels.* Those are the moments you will always remember: the interesting people you meet while you are traveling all over the world. After exchanging e-mails, we continued on our way, reaching Monterosso just as the sun was setting. We ran out into the water, feeling like kids as we joyfully reflected on such an amazing day.

Our pre-Joann view of the vineyard

HAPPY

We took a train back to Riomaggiore and had what is a huge fad in this part of Italy: a fried cone of goodness! We went for fried calamari and fries and topped it off with a necessary gelato for dessert. We slept well and woke up to the sound of rain outside. Not feeling eager to walk through its wetness, we slept in and convinced ourselves to go outside and explore the other villages by train. When we arrived in Monterosso, it had blustering wind and was raining. Needless to say, we hopped the next train to Vernazza. It might have had something to do with the fact that the sun came out, but Vernazza was definitely my favorite out of the five villages - the most picturesque and the most things to do. And it helps that the hiking trail from Vernazza to Monterosso is regarded as the best.

We spent the rest of the afternoon exploring Corniglia and Manarola, both beautiful in their own ways, and then headed back to Riomaggiore. This was already our last day in town, and I was left wishing we had more time and better weather conditions to hike between all the villages. Nevertheless, I had a traditional Italian dinner of spaghetti and tiramisu and got to bed early for a full day of train travel the following day.

View from Manarola

It was May 1^st and we woke up early to catch the first train to Pisa. I knew that this day was a huge holiday in France but I was wondering how it was going to be in Italy. Once arriving in Pisa, we went to ask about the bus that takes you directly to the leaning tower. The woman shook her head and simply said “not running”, it was the holiday. So, we set off on foot and walked through Pisa to find its crowning glory. Walking down the street and seeing the leaning tower at the end was kind of a surreal experience – it was REALLY leaning! I didn’t expect it to be so dramatic! We of course stopped and took all the obligatory photos, had a nice pizza margarhita lunch and then hustled back to the station for our four hour train ride to Milan.

Being a super tourist yet again

Upon arrival in Milan, we took the metro and found our hostel, which was more like a BnB on the seventh floor of an apartment building. Once we paid, we explained we had one night and asked for the best way to get to the Duomo, the number one thing to see in Milano. They explained to us the metro routes but then said that the metros would be closing in 25 minutes because of the holiday. Taking this as our cue, we hustled off to the metro and came up in the bustling center of Milan. The Duomo di Milano was just as amazing as everyone describes, very intricate, with every single detail showing its beauty. Then, we took our last night in Italy to eat all of the things we hadn’t gotten a chance to yet: cannoli, gnocchi.. and of course one last gelato. I mean, when in Italy!

Duomo of Milan

After standing in the taxi line for half an hour, we shared a taxi back to the hostel, which brought back the memories I had of horrible Italian driving. Leaving Italy the following morning was kind of sad. Italy is one of the countries that I feel oddly at home in – I don’t know the language, though I have seen almost every major place in the country. I feel comfortable there. And their food is downright delicious! I know that whenever I want to come back again, Italia will be there with open arms, welcoming me with two big scoops of gelato and a shot of limoncello. Ciao for now!

*Our favorite quote? “Girls, marry with potential. FINANCIAL POTENTIAL.” She had maybe a 

few glasses of wine……

Croatia: The Dalmation of my Eye

Croatia began in exhaustion. After taking an overnight bus from Barcelona to Avignon, we decided to go back to Apt for the day, to relax, repack and do some laundry. It was so nice to go back “home” after a bustling place like Barcelona – a place where we felt like we could take a breath. Then we were off to Marseille. Our plan was to sleep in the airport, as our flight left at 6am the next morning, and there was no easy way to get there otherwise. After arriving at the airport though, we realized exactly how tired we were… and how sketchy the airport might be to sleep in. So we called the Ibis budget hotel to ask about pricing for a room with a free shuttle to the airport. Their answer: 30 euro a night for each of us. Not too bad! We got to sleep in a nice bed for the night and had a provided shuttle at 5am the next morning. 

After getting checked in, I couldn’t help but finding myself a little nervous. It has been quite awhile since my last flight (January to be exact) and you should know by now that I struggle from a little bit of flight anxiety. Nevertheless, we boarded and once we had a smooth take off, I let myself drift off to sleep. At 8:00am, we landed smoothly in Zadar, and I realized flying is not always so bad! While catching the shuttle to the bus station, we met some Canadians who are studying in Aix. They were going to do a cruise through SailCroatia, which island hops the coastline. When you view Croatia’s coast from any vantage point (from the air, car, boat, etc), you can easily see why it is called the Dalmation Coast: little islands pop out one by one along the green-blue water of the Adriatic Sea, creating spots within the beautiful scenery. 

Once we reached the station, we easily bought tickets to Dubrovnik and boarded the bus for our 9 hour journey. It was a long trip, but thankfully there was stunning views of the coast the entire way. Since Zadar is fairly far north and Dubrovnik is far south, after this bus ride I was happy – I felt like I adequately saw the country’s coastline, top to bottom. Plus, the free wifi on buses in Croatia makes any long ride more bearable. 

When we finally reached the fortified city of Dubrovnik, we took a city bus to the entrance of Old Town, Pile Gate. From there we began to follow the directions to our hostel, when a young man came up to us saying “Ladies!” As per usual when this happens, Alie and I ignored him and continued to try to find our way, turning down a back alley. Much to our surprise the man had followed us, still yelling “Ladies, Ladies!” At the moment where I was just about to start to run or try to find help, he said “You must be Rebecca?” It was the hostel owner! He then explained that we were the last guests to arrive so he had been waiting for us at the bus stop. Feeling a little embarrassed that I had assumed he was asking us for money, I sheepishly followed him to our upgraded room – a private apartment all to ourselves*! Since we were there in low-season, we got a beautiful room with a terrace overlooking Fort Lovrijenac and we were 100 meters away from where they film Game of Thrones. Not a bad deal, right? After a long day of travel, we went to bed early, hoping for a full day of sight-seeing the next day. 

However, the weather did not agree with us. We woke up the next morning to the sound of rain hitting the window pane. Nevertheless, we were determined to not let it get us down. So off we went, into the old town, with umbrella and rain jacket in tow. We had to stop and get breakfast first – a delicious apple strudel from a nearby bakery. This was when we saw the crowds and crowds of student tour groups… immediately warning us of what was to come. We pushed our way through the gates into Old Town, and headed our way up to the walls. The biggest thing to do in Dubrovnik is to walk the walls that surround the old part of the city. These fortifications make for fantastic views of the city and sea. Our walk on the walls was a little stressful, with tour groups constantly pushing past us, the wind catching my umbrella a few times, and cold water spritzing on us the entire way. Even with all of these downfalls, to be able to walk on the walls was the experience of a lifetime. When we got to the highest point of the walls, I turned around to take a picture of the city and an instant downpour occurred, with strong winds soaking everyone to the bone. Alie and I decided this was our cue to leave and we made our way to the exit. As you can imagine, everyone else had the same idea that we did, leading to a three hundred person pileup on the walls. After a half an hour of waiting, we made it down from the walls and after another half an hour of waiting, we made it through the gates out of Old Town and back to our apartment. When we finally arrived in our room, saying we were soaked head to toe would be an understatement. We changed clothes, hung up the wet ones, and took a much needed nap, after a morning that had seemed to go so horribly wrong. 

The last clear picture of Old Town, before the heavens opened on us.

We woke up in the late afternoon and noticed the rain had stopped! With new warm clothes on, we headed outside to explore more of Old Town. We were greeted with not only sunshine but no tour groups to be seen! The city was just as quaint and beautiful as I always imagined it to be. We spent the next bit of time doing some shopping down the main street of Old Town, Stradun Street. With the craziness of earlier, we realized that we forgot to eat lunch! So an obligatory stop for ice cream was needed.

Stradun

Ice cream for lunch?? I think so!

We had planned to take a walking tour of the city that evening, but somehow we got distracted and I looked at my watch 6:30, realizing we missed it. We decided to just wander some of the back streets ourselves, and see some of the sights pointed out on the map. A must was to go see Onoforio’s fountain. It is said that if you touch the heads of the fountain, you will have good luck! Of course, we had to do this. After, we just wandered the back streets, with the sounds of the music festival adding a soundtrack to our tour. The narrow back alleys of this petite town are what make it so charming, it was nice to be able just to wander and absorb what you think about its beauty.

Being a super tourist

For dinner that night, we took advice from our hostel owner and went to Taj Mahal, a Bosnian restaurant. We were really wanting to try some local cuisine and this place sure didn’t disappoint! We got the cevapi, which were a type of sausage in a pita roll. We accompanied it with a nice merlot and for dessert, I tried the tulumba, fried pastry doused in orange syrup with a candied orange peel on the side. Croatia is known for their orange trees – just walk through any city and you can smell the wonderful orange blossoms.

Cevapi! YUM.

Tulumba

After dinner, we headed back to Stradun street and had a nice evening stroll. The music festival was in full swing again, after a little hiatus in the afternoon, so we stopped and listened to a group for a bit. As we walked back to the hostel, with the yellow hued street lamps shining on the still damp cream street tiles, while Hallelujah was being played in the background, I couldn’t have felt more at peace with a place.

         

The next morning, we woke up early and headed off to be one of the first ones on the Dubrovnik cable car. Again, both of us are quite scared of heights, so you might imagine the squeals of anxiety as we watched the small car attached to a very thin wire go higher and higher into the sky. Once our knees stopped shaking, we stepped on the observation deck. In that moment, we realized that conquering our fear was worth it – the top of the hill provided stunning views of the “jewel of the Adriatic”.

After descending, we grabbed our bags and headed off to the bus station, where we took a four hour bus to Split. I found myself wishing that we had more time in such a wonderful city, but promised myself that I will be back. As we drove away from Dubrovnik, the skies began to clear, offering beautiful warm sunny weather when we arrived in Split. I didn’t know much about Split before I arrived there, and I am ashamed to say that I still don’t know very much about it. We arrived late afternoon, dropped our bags at the hostel (where we were again upgraded to a private apartment – thank you low season!) and had a stroll by the harbour. From so much traveling, all we really wanted to do was sit by the water and soak up some sun, so that’s exactly what we did. The next morning we took a bus to Zadar, a  plane to Marseille and a bus to Nice – leaving Croatia in our distant memory. Although, we always knew that Croatia had made an impact us, as we kept finding the little Croatian kuna pieces everywhere (even though we thought we had successfully spent all of them). I find this country to be extremely underrated, and it has easily become one of my favorite places I’ve been. Until next time, Croatia!

*Not exactly all to ourselves – we shared the flat with Ivena, a kind middle aged woman who kept insisting on calling us “dahling”.