Santorini: most beautiful island? Maybe not

So I knew when I chose to go to santorini that it would be much more touristy than Paros and that it was a very different island. I was very accurate at this assumption. I will start by saying approaching santorini is incredible. The cliffs that lead up to the towns are massive and impressive. This was such a contrast to having the beach a stones throw away in Paros. However, as the transfer bus inched it's way up the cliffs edge the view was stunning. I couldn't actually believe tour buses could navigate up and down this road. Anyways, I picked a part of the island to stay on that was less city, called Perissa Beach. It's the famous black sand beach of Santorini and is about a half hour bus ride from the port or the major city of Fira. 

I will say that this post will be shorter than the last because I honestly did not do as much as I should have here. Since my hotel was further away from things I didn't really feel too adventurous and the roads here were way more sketchy than Paros so I was less inclined to rent a mode of transportation. This was the first place at least where I stayed in a dorm and was able to meet some wonderful people! The nicest German girl, Nathalie, and I hit it off right away and she was getting ready to go buy a ticket for a day tour right when I got there and she offered to have me tag along. We got a great deal on the tour, only 19 Euro, (usually 25-27) for a full day-10am to 10pm.

The tour was actually really awesome. We got to get on this fancy boat that made you feel like you were on an old pirate ship. It was realllllyyy touristy but we just said screw it, it was cool regardless. The first stop was the volcano where we hiked to the top for some beautiful views. Everyone kept saying it wasn't a big hike- only like 20 minutes-no big deal. LIES! Haha if you know me you know I'm not the best walker/hiker. I like hiking but not when they are crazy steep and it's a million degrees and no trees. At the top, our funny and cute guide gave a mini geology lecture which I understood better than most I think. I tried to explain to people I grew up in WA... Where we have our own volcanos in our backyard to deal with and they have been teaching us about them since primary school. Next we got back on the boat and went to the hot springs. The best part about this stop was A. Being able to jump in the water and B. That there was no dock, so if you wanted to swim to the hot springs, which was why we were there, you had to jump off the side of the boat. It was awesome. The hot springs didn't feel that hot until you had to swim back to the boat and you had to go back to the normal water. It was all clay colored but no sulfer smell I'm used to for hot springs. Anyways this was a short stop but enjoyable. Back on the boat we stopped for lunch at this small traditional village where I decided to hang out by the port instead of hiking up the cliff to the top where there wasn't much. I needed a break after that volcano. Nathalie and I had also made friends with this super nice Australian couple who ate lunch with us and then did brave the hike. 

After lunch we headed to the final leg of the trip which was the beautiful town of Oia (pronounced "ee-uh"). Now this place was breathtaking and it was no surprise people go there for honeymoons. We saw three brides walking around while we were there. At this stop we left half of the boat who didn't buy sunset tickets and i was super excited because i took a DONKEY up most of this cliff. I felt like it was a necessary experience and it was pretty cool. The donkeys were bigger than I expected, more horse size. They didn't take you all the way up but most of the way. Once to the top we were sweating and panting so we stopped and just got a soda at one of the cafés in the shade. A coca cola has never tasted so good. After we had returned to normal, we walked around town. It really is the classic Greek town people imagine. Narrow walkways, white washed buildings, tons of little shops. The only downside to this beautiful place was price. Everything was so so expensive! We had three hours here so we walked around a lot trying to figure out somewhere we might be able to afford for dinner and to watch the sunset. We got really lucky right was we were running out of time we found a perfect restaurant off the main path with reasonable prices and we took the only table with a sunset view through the buildings. For an appetizer, wine, two entrees, water and a free dessert we spent 32 euro, which really wasn't bad. And the sunset was worth that for sure. That's what Oia is known for, all those beautiful photos of Greece with sunsets and white houses? Yeah probably taken from this place. Our restaurant ended up being even more fantastic when we realized it was literally right by the bus station so we didn't have to look hard to find our way to the bus that took us back to our part of island. 

That was honesty the most exciting part of my time in Santorini. The other days I spent either at the beach or the pool, chatting with new people who came to the hostel and trying to plan where I was going to go next. When I was finally decided I wanted to go to Crete. I went back to the lady who had gotten us the good deal on the volcano trip and she told me I wouldn't be able to leave until Thursday! That the boats were full. And then also that she didn't take credit cards. This ended up being a blessing because I went down the street to the other travel agency and that travel agent, a nice, young woman, got me on a boat the next day AND took credit cards. So the other lady was full of it. 

So my final thought on Santorini is that it's overrated.. I mean it was beautiful sure but not anything exceptional.apart from Oia and seeing why people for sure would honeymoon there, it was not better than Paros and it actually ended up being so windy I had to even wear jeans my last night there! It was over priced and just so touristy. Needless to say I was ready to move on and four days was more than enough time there. Next up: CRETE!