Santorini WAS so Exciting

OK. I had a beautiful weekend this weekend. On Friday, I got on the boat at 11:50 and headed to Santorini. It was beautiful. We stopped at the island of Naxos on the way, and I got to take a few photos from the boat.

Then we headed to the island of Ios, which is supposedly the party island around here. From there we headed straight to Santorini. It was one of the most beautiful places that I have ever seen. It used to be a huge whole island, but when the volcano blew it apart in 1,700 BC, it turned into one ring and a few smaller islands. The sides of the island are sheer cliffs that go up probably about 1,000 feet, and there are only a few places that there are beaches! The beaches are all black and red sand and rocks because of all of the volcanic activity. We got there in the afternoon and we watched the sun set over the island's caldera, it was beautiful. I also quickly found a really good place to get a suvlaki. We then talked and sat around drinking good wine and eating good olives. We found a great hotel to stay in that was only 12 Euro per person per night. It overlooked the water on the other side (not the caldera), and it was just fabulous. I was very happy to be there.

On the three hour ferry ride on the way over, I ran into some people that had been backpacking Europe for some time. One was a girl from Canada. She went to school in the south of France for a semester, and when it was done in December, she trekked around Europe from then on. It actually sounded really cool. She ended up being my roommate, and it was totally awesome because she gave me really good travel advice and reinstilled in me my feeling of being a unique human. She told me that she thought that there was something different about me when she met me. It was really nice to hear from someone else.

I got some really great travel tips from her, and she invited me to come and visit her in her home in BC (Victoria) when I got back. As I have other friends up there, I am going to do it! I also met a man from Australia that lives in London because he wants to travel. It was very nice to meet him, he was a good person. There was also a man from Michigan there. He has been traveling for months, and he is going to finish up on June 8th. We are heading to Prague at around the same time, so we may meet up again there, and I think that would be awesome!

On Saturday, we went to the museum there. We looked at artwork that had been there since before the explosion in the 7th century BC. It was pretty amazing stuff. I loved it. I am totally amazed at the Minoan culture. I am going to copy one of their paintings. You can find out a little bit about it at this website. http://www.santorini.gr-santorini.com/museums/prehistoric_museum.htm We then went to a black sand beach, and we fell asleep in the sun for several hours.

After that, we went walking around and I took some photos. We walked down deep into the caldera, and it was interesting. I got some really good photos taken at night. This morning, we were going to go to a very important site which was where they were actually doing the excavations of the prime town from 1700 BC, but apparently it is closed for the next 18 months, so we didn't get to go there! Instead, everyone in the group went their own separate way. Many people went shopping, but I went to find the donkeys that people ride into the caldera (the center of the old volcano). I wanted to ride one, but I was looking to actually take some photos. However, some guy talked me into paying 3 Euro for a ride. It was awesome. Actually, it was kind of interesting. I rode a donkey down the 600 steps into the caldera. It was fun. However, when I got down there, I knew that I was going to have to walk back up because I didn't want to pay to go back up. It was really dumb for me to do, but at least I KNEW that I was being gypped. I ended up having a lot of fun and walking up. I took lots of photos of the donkeys along the way. It was a real dream come true.

As soon as I had done that, I was tired, but I walked up to another museum and looked at some of the most breathtaking art ever. I love the ancient vases with war scenes painted on them, and I am going to make a copy of them in one of my paintings! This is where I went. http://www.santorini.gr-santorini.com/museums/archaeological_museum.htm

After that, I was tired and it was time to come home, so I spent time not taking photos, but walking around and shopping. I loved it. I bought nothing, but I got to be a tourist for a while, and it was really fun. Then we came home. I am so glad to be back in Paros. Not that I didn't love Santorini, but I know Paros so much better, and it less full of people, and it is just one of my permanent homes. Time for me to get back to work. Chris