A month deep in real life, I'd like to announce the return of the blog (for one night, and one night only...think of it like the Spice Girls reunion at the Olympics, but with more selfies and less smoke machines.)
Fresh from graduations, and a never-ending stream of graduation parties, Caroline and I jetted off to Greece. After a layover in Amsterdam so short it left no time for duty-free-chocolate-buying, we touched down in Athens. Landing directly on the tarmac, we felt very important -like cuter versions of the Pope and Obama. If the trolley hadn't been waiting to take us inside, I'm pretty sure Caroline would've kissed the tarmac.
Determined to avoid jetlag, we popped in Hotel Cecil to drop off our bags, put on dresses faster than quick-change artists, and were off to the Poet Sandal-Maker. In a tiny shop off a busy road, he and his assistants hand-make a pair of sandals for every customer. This was especially exciting for Caroline, whose high arches and tiny toes make sandal-shopping quite a challenge.
By 7a.m. the next morning, we were on a (7 hour) ferry to Santorini! We rode on top of the boat, which gave us great views of the islands along the way, and some funky base tans (read: burns).
Our home for the week was Pension George, run by a British expat named Helen and her family, which she described to us as "just like that film, My Big Fat Greek Wedding". She was lovely, and Caroline and I had a two-floor apartment with towels folded like swans for the price of a Hostel!
Carol, queen of selfies.
We knocked, and the Greek watermelons knocked back! Without our arsenal of Tupperware, we each took half, hollowed them out with spoons, and tried to hit neighboring buildings with the seeds. *note: the machine-gun/rapid-fire approach to spitting seeds is best avoided
From the tiny balcony off my room, you could crawl out onto the roof. Everyone in Santorini claims to know the best spot to watch the sunset, but of the vantage points we tried, this was our favorite.
After loads of meals at restaurants, a bowl of tomatoes, feta, herbs, and olive oil (all from Santorini!) enjoyed on our balcony was one of my favorite dinners.
Hugging the cliff on the western coast of the island, the walk from Fira to Oia takes about 3 hours. It leads you past churches and resorts (into resorts, as it turns out, if you lose track of the arrows...), up big rocky peaks, and finally onto the marble streets of Oia. That night we took a bus home, and later in the week bused back over and walked back. The second time around we brought activewear (that, and a well-timed stop for chocolate and soda cut the walk down to 2.5 hours).
Roka, a recommendation from one of the owner of Atlantis Books, and featured in their handy dandy map (the source of truth and wisdom), was our favorite meal of the trip. It's hidden down a maze of unnamed alleyways, but when you get there the staff welcomes you in like family, and it looks out over the cliffs onto the sea. Caroline had walnut-gorgonzola gnocchi, and I had mussels and a lentil greek salad.
The morning of day three we headed out to sea for a snorkeling adventure! We were picked up by a Greek man who plans to become a cowboy when the busy season ends, and brought to a little hut on the black sand beach. There we met our fellow adventurers (who, it turned out, were all more adventurous than us, and would be scuba diving): a seventy-something year old British man who owns a scuba school in the U.K. and will be spending the month of July scuba diving in Egypt, two girls from New Zealand currently working in London but traveling through Turkey and Greece for the month, a Norwegian, and two Frenchies (one fellow Sciences Po alum!). The crew was made up of an older greek man, another Frenchman, and our personal snorkeling guide, Gareth, a South African who has adopted a nomadic lifestyle and lived in 52 countries since leaving home at 17.
We tipped backwards off the boat (so as not to break our noses), and found ourselves swimming in the middle of schools of brightly-colored fish. Gareth was pumped when we found an octopus, his first sighting since moving to Santorini. Minutes later it had gone from bright yellow to sand-colored gray.
A tiring morning called for treats, and wifi.
The next day, armed with our insider's guide to Santorini, from the owners of Atlantis Books, we returned to Oia!
We passed up the donkey rides, and were glad we did. Walking up the path, we were nearly run over by an overexcited group of tourists, frantic to get a photo, whose shrieking put their donkeys in a panic. As the donkeys ran up the hill, bouncing off each other and the walls like pinballs, one donkey pooped all over the biggest lady's foot, which of course only made the shrieking worse. We rounded the corner after them to find a pair of Asian tourists breathless and crying with laughter.
Grilled calamari, yum yum!
We ate lunch at Ammoudi Bay, a tiny fishing port with a few tavernas scattered around the landing. The fish had just been brought in that morning, and when I asked for the sea bass, I was led into the kitchen to choose my fish. Caroline and I agreed, the fish was fantastic, but the grilled calamari tasted like a pencil eraser.
Another Atlantis Books gem, we almost gave up on finding this beach. It's completely hidden in a tiny cove, down a narrow sandy trail, but when we got there (pure luck), we had it almost to ourselves, and there was a rock just like in the Little Mermaid a ways out. Needless to say, reenactment ensued.
Also, beach selfies.
Atlantis Books!! This tiny bookstore was the MVP of our trip. Run by three friends from the U.S., the U.K., and Corsica, it stocks books in all sorts of languages. Our first time around I picked up a book (The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, which was fantastic), a postcard, and just by chance, the magical map with all their best inside scoops. Each recommendation proved better than the last, and on our last day we stopped back in for another, and tote bag. Also, their dog is named Billie Holliday, which is pretty wonderful too.
On the ferry back, the Greek news was playing riot scenes and EU flag burnings on loop. We were a little alarmed, and worried the turmoil might cramp our adventuring style, but the people of Athens were friendly and charming, and one day was not enough.
In the New York Times 36 Hours in Athens video, they showed a natural hot springs filled with the dead-skin-eating fish sometimes found in tubs at pedicure places in mall rotundas. We braved a bus full of middle schoolers to go investigate.
Incidentally, a Greek popstar was making her music video here while we were swimming/being exfoliated in the background. Based on Searching for Sugar Man, we think there's a good chance we'll become famous in Greece without even knowing it.
Cafe Taf, winner of Best Barrista in Greece, and currently in possession of the golden coffee pot, did not disappoint. Caroline had her newly-discovered coffee drink of choice, a cappuccino freddo, and I had a cappuccino. And then I had another. And then they brought us a round of espresso shots, and wouldn't let us pay.
Chocolate Love Cake for two (or one if your date/sister is g-free)
There you have it! Some of the highlights of a trip with no low-lights. And don't forget, it you're ever going to Santorini, pop over and take notes off our map! (there's no way we're giving you the real thing)
**blog post title cred. to Carol, who came up with it after the big hill on the hike to Oia
