What’s a semester in Greece without visiting an island or two?
Ohi Day is celebrated on October 28th each year in Greece to commemorate Greece’s refusal to yield to the powers of the Axis in 1940. On this day, several businesses and schools are closed for the celebration, including Perrotis College. What a perfect time for a quality vacation in the Greek Islands.
The ten of us planned this trip about three weeks ago, as soon as we found out there would be a couple of days of school off. It was a group consensus to travel to Santorini and Crete, two of the more well-known islands of the 6,000 included in the country’s territory. One thing led to another, and half of the group booked a five-day trip while the other half a seven-day trip. First stop: Santorini.
On Thursday, our group of ten departed for the Thessaloniki airport for an 8:00 am flight to Athens, then Athens to Santorini. Arriving in Santorini around 11:00 am, we were picked up by two taxis, prearranged by our Airbnb host. We stayed at a beach house in Santorini for two days, and it was the cutest little Airbnb we had ever seen! There was room for all ten of us, plus plenty of comfy benches on the porch. The beach was literally right outside our door, so we were able to be soothed to sleep with the sound of the waves.
Our first day, we went to lunch at a little shack down the road, and the food was awesome. Of course, we had to pose with MooMoo. Some of us headed to the grocery store in Fira, a town on the island, and loaded up on food to make supper and breakfast for the next couple of days. A quick dip was made in the sea, though we were covered in seaweed when we emerged. Thankfully, the house had an outdoor shower, so I utilized that to its full advantage. That night, Andrea made the group chicken fajitas, and let me tell you, they were bomb. Seriously, so good. We had some fun telling stories and trying to understand an old black-and-white Greek movie, think John Wayne meets Greece.
Being the nature-loving people we are, the lot of us woke up early the next morning to watch the sunrise over the beach directly from our porch. Costas and Andrea made us breakfast, which we ate while the sun continued to climb the horizon. How much cooler can my life get? We all got ready and called some taxis to begin our day. I felt like I was on Jersey Shore, shouting, “The taxis are here!”
Our study abroad coordinator, Helen, became good friends with one of the staff members of Santo Wines and set up a tour and tasting, complimentary of the staff. We arrived on-site, and I think it’s safe to say all of our jaws dropped. The scenery was stunning. Santo Wines is built in a beautiful white cliff-side building overlooking the gorgeous blue sea and the Santorini Volcano. We were greeted by Tasos, Helen’s friend and our host for the day. He took us on a fabulous tour of the winery, showing us the volcanic ash vineyard, distillery and fermentation systems, and the wine cellar filled with the highest quality of oak barrels. We all learned so much about viticulture within a span of roughly 45 minutes. Then, he took us to the balcony where a table was set up and roped off specifically for our group. Again, our jaws dropped. At each person’s spot, there were four wine glasses and one flute, along with a spitting bowl. Our group was able to taste six different wines (we used the flute twice), each one different from the one before. Don’t worry; the tasting occurred over a two or three-hour span followed by food. The wines were fabulous, and Tasos was such a great guide. I felt like a pro at the end! We all agreed this was easily the classiest thing any of us had ever done.
With happy stomachs, we caught a bus to Fira from the winery, then to Oia. You may know Santorini for the beautiful white buildings with the blue rooftops. Those photos you are viewing are showcasing the town of Oia, the island’s most popular tourist attraction. Thankfully, we are in the islands during the off-season, so the number of tourists is moderately low. We consider ourselves somewhere in the middle of tourists and locals since we have been in Greece for a month and have plenty of connections around the country. Oia absolutely shined, though I think we were all expecting a few more blue rooftops. The town was so cute, and we definitely spent the majority of the time doing a photoshoot. We stayed for the sunrise, blanketing the town in soft pink hues and rolling laughter. It’s become a tradition of Erika and mine’s to film me saying funny things, as my brain comes up with a lot of whacky things. A few examples from Santorini include, “Santorini? Does Santa live here?” or, “Is that Christopher Columbus’ boat? Smaller than I thought it’d be.” After the sunrise, we headed back to the house and chowed down on some frozen pizza. The ten of us hit the hay early as we had a 4:10 am ferry to catch the next day.
When I think of taking a ferry in Greece, my mind instantly pictures the ferry scenes from Mamma Mia. This ferry was most definitely not like that ferry. We were literally riding a SHIP. The ferry was huge, and I felt like I was on board the Titanic the entire time. We were on the ferry for eight hours, two more than scheduled. The beautiful sunrise made up for it. Docking in Crete, we headed straight for the car rental place a few steps from the dock and rented two cars for the next few days. It was cheap, and a breeze, and would definitely make our lives a lot easier. Bonus, we didn’t even need an international license! However, things quickly became interesting with another Airbnb mishap.
I had booked a hotel off the Airbnb website for the group, but upon arrival, they had told us they didn’t have rooms for us for the first two nights, then had mischarged us and were asking for more money. We said, “Heck, no.” Quickly, I found another Airbnb, two hours away from our original stay. The group agreed to book it, and thankfully, the host confirmed under such urgent circumstances. After a quick lunch, the ten of us loaded back into the rental cars and drove the two hours from Heraklion to Chania and found our new Airbnb. The villa is nice, holding five bedrooms, three baths, and room for all ten of us again. Exhausted from being the booker, I stayed in while others went for groceries. Andrea took over the kitchen again and made the best Chicken Alfredo I may have ever tasted. I’m thinking of hiring her to be my chef. :)
Our first full day in Crete was spent doing the most island thing imaginable: lounging at the beach. You may have heard of or seen pictures of pink sand beaches online. We had, too, but didn’t know how easily accessible one was from our villa. There are less than a handful of pink sand beaches in the world. There are two in Crete, and we trekked to Balos Beach and Lagoon. Visitors have to literally trek 1.6 km to get to the beach from the parking lot, but the view and water are worth it. Only a very small section of the beach was actually pink since a lot of the sand is taken by thousands of tourists each year. It was still really cool.
We also made a new furry friend that morning, thanks to Costas and his active lifestyle. He went on a walk and announced his return back with a shout of, "Hey, look what I found guys!" Apprehensive, we all went outside to investigate. He found a stray puppy on his walk! Instantly, we all fell in love and named her Ellie. She enjoyed spending the morning with us and receiving plenty of snuggles and food. Our plan was to give her a bath when we got back, but she was nowhere to be found :(
Tired and hungry, we left the beach after a good three or four hours. On the drive back, we had issues getting up a steep hill with the stick shift, and a kind Greek man had to help us. We had a lot of onlookers, so it was a little embarrassing, but also hilarious. The ten of us stopped to grab a quick bite to eat, then headed back to the villa for a movie night. Of course, we picked a thriller because it’s spooky season. Happy Halloween!
Today, nearly all of us got up early to head to Samaria Gorge, the longest gorge in Europe. We caught a bus in Chania at 7:30 am and began our hike around 9:00 am. The hike is mostly downhill, so it wasn’t very difficult, but it was also tough on the knees. The views were absolutely breathtaking, and I felt so small standing in the middle of a gorge 980 feet tall. We packed sandwiches for the trek and often stopped to enjoy gulps of water fresh from the spring. Along the hike, we also spotted several kri kri goats, an endangered breed protected by the gorge. The hike was 16 km in length, or roughly 10 miles. It took us about five and half hours or so, and was filled with plenty of laughs. After the hike, we stopped at a restaurant just past the trail. The restaurant came recommended to us by one of our friends at school, and we were extremely pleased with the food. I also was able to indulge in some freshly squeezed orange juice!
The only way to return was to board a ferry, this one much smaller, and take it to Sfakia. In Sfakia, we boarded the bus and enjoyed a nice nap on the ride back to Chania. Exhausted, we headed back to the villa, took our showers, and immediately collapsed into bed. The next couple of days should be much more relaxed, but stay tuned as I’m sure something exciting will happen!