Photo recap... {take 3}

So a little more time elapsed...

the weather here has gone from a bit cloudy and warm to today's warm, breezy, sun-filled day. All of the blooming trees were bursting with colour and the occasional gust would make the petals flutter through the air like snow. After an early dinner, a few of my flatmates and I walked to campus in the nice weather to see Brandon's play. It was a well directed and artistically performed piece - it was fun to go see a performance in which there was someone I knew... (it will be fun next year to go see all of the concerts, recitals and other various performances at Luther). We stepped out to walk home and it was raining a bit - we called a cab. Today, I also finally figured out my academic to-do list for the next month or so. To say the least - it is depressing. So, with all of that in mind I am choosing to reminisce about break... here are a few glimpses of the phenomenal last few days of break in Greece with Mary...

This was the sky. It was blue. And completely cloudless. We arrived safely in Greece late one night after flying into our island as the sun was setting... which was nice to see from several thousand feet up in the air... and we fell asleep as soon as we had checked into our little place. We spent the next day getting a feel for the island and exploring the beaches near by. We went grocery shopping so we could eat our meals on one of our two balconies overlooking the Aegean Sea in the distance. The owner of our 'villa' was young, incredibly friendly, and very knowledgeable about the area. We enjoyed talking with her and appreciated her advice.

The second full day we were in Santorini, we took a guided tour of the island and the surrounding area. Our means of transportation was a large wooden sailboat and we went from the port, to the half sunken volcano in the center of the island, climbed the volcano, then to the hot springs (where I jumped off the boat and swam to the hot springs with just one other adventuresome girl), and then to the town on the far side of the island called Oia for the sunset.

This is a view of Oia from our lovely boat...
Once there, Mary and I had a few hours to waste before the sunset, so after wandering through some dangerously cute shops, we decided to do what better way to spend time than eat excellent food with an unbeatable view... We found just the right restaurant and had a long, relaxed, Greek meal. We started with two simple, but incredible appetizers, split a wonderful salad with all kinds of good things on it (feta, olives, pine nuts, REAL tomatoes, etc.), and then we each had a fish dish. Mary devoured her prawns and I enjoyed my sea bass immensely. The view looked something like this:

...the manager was jovial and kind, yet professional, and at the end of our two hour meal, he came out to offer us a complimentary local wine to 'warm you up for the setting of the sun'. Satisfied and happy, we made our way back to the top of the hill, through the friendly stray cats and dogs, to watch the sunset. Watching the sun sink below the sea on the horizon while mountainous islands appeared out of the ocean in the distance was really something - but there were quite a few people around. None the less, the sunset was a great end to a wonderful day.

The next day, Mary and I were well rested, so we decided we needed a more independent way to explore the island. We rented a four-wheeler (because they are safer than scooters and we wouldn't want our parents to worry and all sorts of good reasons). Anyway, we discovered a red lava beach, a light house and countless beautiful views from the cliffs and coast of Santorini. And it was fun to ride and drive the four wheeler... it has been over 7 months since I have driven anything.

In case you can't tell, that it is me. The cliffs at the base of the lighthouse proved to be a great place to relax and a perfect place to watch the sun set. We returned later that night and took countless photos of the sun, the cliffs, the islands, and everything in between.

After much exploration, sunbathing, good food and beautiful sunsets, our five days in Greece were almost up. Mary and I were lucky enough to have a late flight back to Athens on the last day, so we took full advantage of our final day on the island. We ventured to the main city on the other side of the island to do a bit of shopping and get a gyro... somehow we had not eaten one yet, and it was on Mary's to-do list... so we took care of that. We returned to Perissa Beach, ate the last of our fresh produce and groceries for an early dinner, read on our black lava beach for a few hours, packed up and left. And that was that. Although we were only in Santorini for four nights, it was enough for me to fall in love with Greece. The people were the friendliest that I have met in Europe, the weather was beautiful (even in early April), the food was simple, but good and it was overall a wonderful experience. I would love to go back and explore more of the islands, spend time in Athens (I suppose it should be done...) and see some of the rural mainland as well. The list of places to go and things to see in the future just keeps getting longer.

This weekend I am going to start a few research papers and take care of some preliminary revising... I hope. Megan is coming from Nantes to visit Notts (and Kev and I), so we will be busy showing her around. Another late night has snuck up on me, so I'm off to bed. Good night, good luck Norse at Drake and Loras, and happy spring!