~ Santorini and Ios ~

Ah Santorini… The Greek island that seems to conquer a comer of everyone’s imagination, long before one has even set their eyes on it. It is easy to tell why. The amazing pictures that you have seen? They hardly even do it justice. With multicoloured cliffs soaring over 300m from a sea-drowned caldera, resting in the middle of the indigo Aegean, Santorini looks like a giant slab of layered cake. 
The first thing we did on arrival (and maybe the best thing) was meet our amazing bus driver Stavros. He was hilarious. Everything you could imagine and more from a Greek old man. He would say the most ridiculous, best things I’ve ever heard. In fact every time I got back on the bus I sat up the front to be able to hear him! Things like “nice man and good driver, but not very strong or sexy man”, “big bus but small man, maybe 1 meter, 1 meter 5” and “she is married, but he no Greek so no good”. Everything that came out of his mouth was gold.  
Once we were settled into our accommodation we went on an orientation walk and took in some of the views. Then we had a sunset dinner overlooking the lagoon and volcano! The food was delicious – we shared a dish with lamb, potatoes, cheese and salad and Moussaka. We had a shot as a nightcap at a chemistry bar – they used liquid nitrogen to make the outside cold but the inside was still liquid and it was served on a spoon. Delicious!! 

For our second day we went with our group on a day bus-trip to see all the highlights this awesome island has to offer! Unfortunately it started off a bit frustratingly with a ridiculous breakfast at the black beach. We waited over an hour for an average meal when all everyone wanted to do was swim! But after this, it was great! We went swimming and exploring both the black and then the red beach! 

Then we went back to the hostel to get dressed up for dinner. First stop was Santo winery where we tasted 3 of their most famous wines and then explored some of their grounds which had beautiful views overlooking the water. 

Then we headed on to Oia, the most beautiful village with the most famous view point on the island – probably the romance capital of Greece and home to some of the most spectacular sunsets in the world. After some of us got lost along the way (I promise not our fault, there was a bucket load of people going in every direction imaginable) we made our way down to the lookout, where we pretty much took over given the sheer number of us, and we settled in for our sunset picnic. We enjoyed our dips, wine and gyros as the sun started to set and people started to try and capture “the most romantic photo” which was our challenge for the night. To try and achieve this various members of our tour started “proposing” to each other which received cheers and applause from the onlookers! Lucky for us, the sun disappeared behind some haze and most people cleared out. Lucky because the sky changed and we witnessed a stunning sunset with clear views! Shocking given most of our sunset experiences so far!! 

After the sunset we pottered back through the beautiful winding streets of Oia to our waiting bus. Along the way we heard someone shouting our names and running towards us! It was a friend from university! We didn’t even know she was there but she spotted is from across the street!! What a small world. 

Our third day in Santorini was a bit messy for our poor tour group that was meant to be leaving today as their boat was canceled. Lucky for us we were staying an extra two nights in Santorini and catching the next group that came through so we didn’t have to worry. Everyone else however was stressed, didn’t find out till lunch whether or not the boat was actually cancelled, had to find new accommodation…it was crazy. Our tour guide was amazing though – Kelly sorted everything! While all the madness was going on, the girls and I took the opportunity to stroll around this beautiful town. We took random alleyways and explored the streets and shops, made a few little purchase from a lovely family-owned jewelry store and took a million photos. Then we had a girls dinner with a great bunch from our tour and Kelly. We went back to the restaurant where we had enjoyed dinner the first night and had the best saganaki yet! We chatted the night away, it was lovely. 

We woke up early on our last day in Santorini to say goodbye to Kelly and our group! We were sad to not be continuing on with them but glad we had an extra few days to relax! We went on a boat trip to the Volcanic island – Nea Kameni. We had a short guided tour when we first stepped onto the parkland and then enjoyed about 45 minutes to stroll around the lunar-like landscape and the picturesque dark volcanic cliffs cutting a contrast against the blue waves of the Aegean Sea. Our tour then continued to the volcano’s hot springs for a relaxing and reviving “bath” or swim. The naturally warm waters were created from volcanic activity and are said to have medicinal powers against skin and bone disease. It was nice but mostly felt like swimming in mud. You didn’t really realize how warm it was however until you had to swim back, through the colder water, to get to that boat!

We finished our lovely Santorini experience with what else? Another sunset! We went with the other two girls who had stayed for an extra few nights in Santorini, purchased some falafel wraps and wine and went down to watch the sunset. Spectacular colours and great conversations was the perfect way to end our time on this stunning island. 

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Time for our final destination of our Greek island hopper – Ios! We pulled up to this great little island which has long been linked to sun, sea and nonstop booze-fueled partying. But it was much more than that and the traditionally hilltop town with its winding streets was our first sign of this! 

Our recommended accommodation, Far Out Beach Club, was an insane resort. There were multiple pools, beach right out front with all kinds of water sports and a club! We were again booked into these little “hut” like structures, this time smaller than the ones in Mykonos but we had to fit three people in them! Thankfully our pals had been ridiculously upgraded and generously let me stay in their spare bed as well as let us use their place for getting ready/relaxing! It was luscious and made such a difference, otherwise we would have been sleeping with our bags at the end of our beds.

 We spent our afternoon relaxing on the golden sand and by the pool. That night we joined our new tour group for some pizza before we headed into Ios town. We started off at fun pub where we played Giant Jenga and beer pong, then we moved into the ting winding streets where an amazing art of clubs are bars were hiding. We went to a basketball club, a bar where you get hit in the head with whatever the bartenders can find (fire hydrant, chair, skateboard), a bar where a lady puts paint on her hand a slaps you in the face, a Star Wars themed bar, circus bar.. Apparently there is 150 to choose from. And to top it all off each of them has their own t-shirt/shot challenge. Max and I came home with 5 each. Killed it! 

After an amazing and interesting night we decided to spend our second day in Ios by going on a kayak adventure! We suited up and paddled for about 20 minutes to a secluded rocky cove where we enjoyed a few hours of snorkeling, swimming and even some scuba diving (which was a little bit terrifying to start with but the instructor did everything – you jut hard to breathe!). Our guides made us a delicious barbecue lunch and salad! The only dramatic thing was when one poor girl was bashed against the rocks when there was unexpected waves created by another boat! She was fine in the end but I bet it hurt! We were well and truly ready to leave the rock (as we started baking in the sun) when it was time to paddle off to our next destination. About another ten minutes on and we had made it to a secluded little beach. It was stunning! Sand and sun, not many people (although the ones that were there were nudists) and clear water! It was worth the paddle back to shore! 
We did not have the energy to check out the clubs for a second night in a row, so we decided to head up to a Mexican restaurant that someone had recommended. It was so great! There were terrific ocean views, live music, delicious food with huge servings and sangria! It was an excellent evening to celebrate a lovely holiday with friends new and old! Again we were wondering how it was possible that ten days ago we did not know these great people!!