Thursday- March 22
I heard everyone in my room getting ready for the day, but I couldn't bring myself to open my eyes and start my day as well. I rolled back over and fell back asleep. When I woke up it really wasn't that much later. I figured it was about 8 because I knew the girls wanted to get up and go find information about riding a donkey. I, however, had no interest in riding an ass, so I made plans with Kelsey, Erika and Yelena to go to the black sand beach. We planned for them to come to the hostel at 9:30 after they rented their quads.
When I pried my eyes open I looked at my Kindle to check the time. "Crap, it's 9:20."
I got out of bed and got everything ready. The girls ended up not coming until 9:50, so I didn't need to rush after all. When they arrived they came in and ate their breakfast they had bought on their way.
Kate was originally going to come with us to the beach and we were going to take on of our quads, along with Erika's and Kelsey's with Yelena on hers, but Kate changed her mind in the morning that we wanted to ride the donkey after all. So I was going to go on Erika's quad, but Erika said the renter said she could only have one person on it because he just fixed a part in the back.
So after trying to figure out what to do, I took squirt with Erika and Lydia took Erika's quad to the donkeys. Erika, Yelena, Kelsey and I drove back to their hostel because Kelsey wanted to get her bathing suit and Yelena needed food. On the way we stopped at the gas station to fill up squirt because I wasn't sure how much gas I had used yesterday. It ended up only costing €8 to fill it all the way up, which was fantastic.
After the side trip to their hostel we made our way to the black sand beach. I was driving and leading the way since I had been there before — however, when I had been there I was either on a bus not paying attention of sitting on a quad not paying attention. Regardless, I was leading and knew the general direction, but not the specifics.
I got us down the main roads, but once we hit the smaller roads and turns, I vaguely remembered my way around. We got lost a bit, but I knew we were in the right direction because I could see how close the ocean was to me. I stopped and asked an elderly couple where the black beach was and they pointed since they didn't speak English.
After a couple turns here and there I finally recognized where I was and soon enough we pulled up to the beach.
It was about 11:30 when we got there and we made plans to meet the rest of the group at 2 after they took their donkey rides. So I had about 2 hours with the beach, and that made me more than excited.
When I go on vacation to a beach, I don't like to plan. I just like to go to the beach 9-6 and then do things after, but unfortunately that's not the kind of vacation I had this week, which was fine, but it was different. The whole week I really missed my mama because she's my beach buddy. Her and my version of vacation are the same, and I can always look forward to relaxing. But at least I had my two hours to lay out today.
While I was laying out, Erika, Kelsey and I were talking about how we cannot get over how fast time is flying by. It feels like we just got here, but at the same time it feels like January 9 was so incredibly long ago. Kelsey said she feels like her life has peaked because she doesn't know what she has to look forward to now.
I feel the same in some sense. I still have a lot to look forward to with my life, but I've been saving up for this trip and looking forward to it for four years. Once May 4 comes, I don't know what I'm going to do. I also don't know what I'm going to do May 5 when I wake up in my own bed. About three times I've had the same dream where I wake up in my bed at home and I think to myself, "Wow, I'm already home? That trip flew by!" When I actually wake up I think to myself, "Oh thank goodness, it was just a dream." What am I going to do when I actually wake up in my bed in a little over a month? I can't say "phew, it was just a dream!
Erika and Yelena decided to go riding on their quads while Kelsey and I laid out on the beach for another hour.
I didn't realize it was time to leave until I opened my eyes and saw Kelsey gathering her things. She let me know that Yelena and Erika were back. I was completely out and in a deep sleep, so I was so confused when I woke up and we were leaving.
We drove for about 15 minutes to meet the others at a parking lot. On our way a vespa went in the opposing lane and passed Erika and I. Erika leaned over and said "You know you're going slow when a vespa passes you." Poor squirt. He was like the little engine that could when we went up even the slightest of hills.
When we turned into the parking lot we parked at last night, I saw a ton of busses lined up and a man started telling us that we couldn't park in here, but he was saying it in Greek. I said "OK," but he kept yelling at us. When I had to say okay a third time I may or may not have yelled it because I was very annoyed with the Greek man yelling at me after I said okay and had to keep repeating myself before we peeled out.
We drove into the town of Fira right up the street and parked where we saw a few quads and vespas parked at. We had 15 minutes until we were supposed to meet the others so Erika and Kelsey got gyros and then we sat outside of the shop where I had bought my hat the previous night, while Yelena looked around in it.
Around 2 we walked back down to the parking lot so that the girls would see. Not having cell phones isn't too much of an issue until moments like these. At home i'd at least be able to call them and tell them we weren't allowed to park there and to meet us up in the town. It's like the good old days before cell phones existed.
While we waited on the opposite side of the street, busses started filing out of the parking lot. These big coach buses started taking over this entire street and then I realized why we weren't allowed to park there. We would have been run over.
Every time I heard a motor come up the street my head darted in the direction hoping it was the girls. I knew if we missed each other even by a minute, there would be no way of finding each other. The big problem too was I forgot my camera and money at my hostel and Lydia had the key. So if I couldn't meet up with them, then I would have no money for the day and I wouldn't have my camera for the sunset in Oia at night — the place I've been dreaming of traveling to.
Finally about 10 minutes after 2, three quads came around the corner, and thankfully it was them. I told Lydia I needed to run home because I forgot a few essential things. She gave me Erika's quad since it only allowed one person on it and since I was the only person going home. My helmet was back with my quad at the top of the city, so Lydia gave me hers — which was too big for my head.
Jess and Kate had to fill up their quads with gas and so did Bethany and Amy, so I followed them on the way and then went back to the hostel. I ran inside, changed out of my bathing suit, got my camera and money and tried to make it back fast enough not to hold everyone up. Of course it was one of those moments when I kept setting something down and forgetting where I placed it only five second later. I eventually made it back to the house and met up with the four girls at the gas station. We then rode back up to Fira and met up with the other four girls.
Lydia said we had to buy our ferry tickets for our adventures tomorrow, so I gave her my €20 for the ticket for her to get it and then I went over with Yelena and Bethany to get food. I ordered a chicken gyro and it was even better than the one I had in Athens. This one had french fries on it with delicious spices and the cucumber sauce was out of this world...all for €2!
I ended up having to try to finish my gyro really quickly because Lydia had already bought all six of our tickets and everyone was ready to take the drive to Oia. I hopped on the blue quad and everyone else shared their quads. We all peered out of the parking lot and headed toward Oia. I really felt like we looked like a gang because you could hear us from far away rolling up into town and then all you would see are five quads crusin' on through.
We drove through a ton of winding roads and traveled up mountains. It was like the winding roads we traveled on yesterday, but this was on the opposite side of the island and there was a lot of nature it seemed over on this side.
Lydia saw a great opportunity for a lookout picture point, so we all pulled over to the lookout view.
Someone had a genius idea and said since we looked like a gang we should take pictures with us on our quads or in front of them with everyone in it. It was hilarious trying to move all the quads into place and get everyone situated. Jess got her camera and situated it on a rock to fit us all in the frame.
It had a 10 second timer and every time she would hit the button she would race over to her quad to get in the photo. We did this about 5 or 7 times, and it was hilarious when cars or vespas would drive pass and honk their horns.
After we took our pictures we hopped back on or quads and peeled out on to the main road. It took about another 10 minutes to make it to the town of Oia, where they filmed The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.
This was the part of Greece I have always dreamed of seeing. I always thought the white buildings and blue tops with the bright blue ocean in the background was beautiful. For the longest time I had a picture from the internet of it on the background of my computer, so when we passed an opening where I could see the white houses on the hill, I mentally freaked out and couldn't believe I was actually seeing it.
We parked our quads and walked back to the opening. I stood at the top looking down and just stared in amazement. It felt like I was standing in one of the pictures I always looked at for so many years, and it was unreal that I was actually there. It was my number one spot on my bucket list, and I finally got to see it.
While we were standing there taking our pictures, a cat appeared and Yelena got really excited. Everyone was petting it and giving it all the attention in the world. I thought it was funny because it's always the smallest things in life. We're standing at the gorgeous place and a cat, something we have at home, is milking up the attention.
Someone had a genius idea and said since we looked like a gang we should take pictures with us on our quads or in front of them with everyone in it. It was hilarious trying to move all the quads into place and get everyone situated. Jess got her camera and situated it on a rock to fit us all in the frame.
It had a 10 second timer and every time she would hit the button she would race over to her quad to get in the photo. We did this about 5 or 7 times, and it was hilarious when cars or vespas would drive pass and honk their horns.
After we took our pictures we hopped back on or quads and peeled out on to the main road. It took about another 10 minutes to make it to the town of Oia, where they filmed The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.
This was the part of Greece I have always dreamed of seeing. I always thought the white buildings and blue tops with the bright blue ocean in the background was beautiful. For the longest time I had a picture from the internet of it on the background of my computer, so when we passed an opening where I could see the white houses on the hill, I mentally freaked out and couldn't believe I was actually seeing it.
We parked our quads and walked back to the opening. I stood at the top looking down and just stared in amazement. It felt like I was standing in one of the pictures I always looked at for so many years, and it was unreal that I was actually there. It was my number one spot on my bucket list, and I finally got to see it.
While we were standing there taking our pictures, a cat appeared and Yelena got really excited. Everyone was petting it and giving it all the attention in the world. I thought it was funny because it's always the smallest things in life. We're standing at the gorgeous place and a cat, something we have at home, is milking up the attention.
After about 15 or so minutes we walked back to our quads and decided to drive farther into the town. After parking again we began roaming the streets. I could see many blue tops to houses and different shaded blue doors around the town.
We ventured down to a lookout point where we were recommended to watch the sunset.
While we were sitting there a dog came barreling down the stairs and then a few minutes later another one appeared. Kate fell in love with the one and called it Maximus.
Soon three girls appeared and we asked if the dogs were theirs, but they said they had followed them down to the lookout point.
We ended up talking to them for a little bit. Small world again because one of the girls was from Pittsburgh too and was studying in Florence. I love when I meet people from home.
We had about an hour and half until the sun would set, so we roamed around a little more and went closer to the windmill, where we sat and enjoyed the view for a while.
While we were walking around, all of a sudden a ton of people came around the corner. I turned to Kelsey and Yelena and said, "Is this Bus2Alps?" And they both said yes.
There were so many of them, and they were so obnoxious. One of the first things I heard was them saying, "Where's the vodka?" I looked at my friends and said "I'm glad we booked our trip on our own. I would have been annoyed the entire trip."
I understand drinking can be fun, but you don't need to do it every waking minute. You're at a gorgeous place and you want to drink? Like, what is wrong with you?
After my annoyance, we pushed through the crowd and made our way back to the sunset view because we knew everyone from Bus2Alps would be there, and we wanted a prime spot. On the way Lydia popped into a restaurant and asked if we could make a reservation for nine people because we weren't sure if it would get busy after the sunset.
When we made it back to the lookout point, it was congested with a ton of people. We found a place to sit at least and got situated to watch the sunset.
While I was sitting an older man was walking up the stairs and looked at me and said, "Goodness girl, you have major goosebumps! Aren't you cold? I would offer you my jacket, but I need it too!" I laughed and thought to myself shorts were a bad idea. Even though it was warm out during the day, once that sun set, I knew I'd be chilly. I definitely wasn't looking forward to the ride back on the quad.
Bethany and Yelena were sitting down farther than me, so I decided to join them and get a better view for the sunset. Poor Yelena though.
She's deathly afraid of heights, so she wouldn't sit on the edge with us. She did for a picture and a few minutes later she just randomly jumped up and said she couldn't sit there anymore because it freaked her out too much.
The sunset was gorgeous against the blue waters and the way it set on the white houses was stunning.
I looked down the hill and saw a mother with her two little sons sitting on their balcony on chairs watching the sunset. It was so cute, and I said to Bethany, one day that will be Kory and I watching it.
After it began to get darker out, we walked back to the restaurant where we made reservations. We walked in and were going to sit inside, but then the old, Greek man who Lydia spoke with led us to the outside terrace, which had a gorgeous view.
Luckily, it had plastic tarps to keep it warmer out there. He was so sweet though because he already had a table set up for us with candles. After we sat down Maximus must have followed us and sat under the table. The owner didn't seem to mind at all, and he sat with us for the entire meal.
The Greek man ran us through the menu and I made my decision on eggs with fetta. He said it was a Greek special, so I figured I would try it. A lot of us were going to get it, but when we tried ordering it, he said it was for breakfast only. We were really confused because he pointed it out to us. I ended up getting tomato pesto spaghetti. I didn't have much time to order so I just picked the first thing I saw.
He was out of a lot of food, so a lot of us had difficulties ordering what we wanted. The man must have been the owner of the place with his wife, but his wife spoke no English. He was helping translate the entire time and he was the waiter and the cook. We felt so bad because he was running around everywhere and we could tell he was stressed. More people kept coming in, and you could see him mentally freaking out.
During dinner I also tried Vinsanto, which is a Greek wine Santorini is known for. It was good, but extremely sweet. I could only drink it a little at a time.
After dinner the man gave us freshly baked brownies, which were delicious. It was such a tease because the pieces were small and it made us want more!
After dinner we headed back to our quads. Maximus followed us all out, but Bethany, Kate, Jess and I somehow got separated from the rest of the group. None of us were too sure on how to get to where our quads were, but after about 15 minutes of being lost, we found our way back. Kelsey and Yelena were sitting on their quad and said Lydia, Amy and Erika went to go look for us. While we were waiting for them to come back I saw Maximus was still hanging out with us. He was so cute. When Bethany walked up a hill to see if the girls were coming back a dog at someone's house ran out and barked at her. Maximus immediately ran up to, what we think was, to protect her.
He trotted back toward us with Bethany, and every time that dog would bark, he would run at it barking. Every time a vespa would drive past us too, he would chase it. It was entertaining to watch.
The other girls finally came back and we all started our quads. Maximus started barking at the loud noise. I felt really bad for having to leave him, but I knew there was no way we could take him back with us. We all started driving and I didn't see Maximus in sight. I figured he left and went around in search for new friends.
About a few minutes into the drive I saw him running in front of Lydia's quad. She was two quads in front of me and I had two quads behind me. It was so cute to see him running with us. I figured he would run with us for a minute or two and then get tired. We were nearing the outskirts of the town when I thought he would stop, but he kept sprinting.
We were now on the dark, winding road outside of the town and he was still running. I couldn't believe it. He was a smart dog too because every time he got tired he would dart in front of Lydia and slow her down so he could jog slower. She kept honking at him, but he kept running.
It was probably one of the saddest things I have ever seen. He kept running as fast as he could to stay up with us. For a while I thought he was going to follow us the entire way home. Every time a car would come around corners Lydia would honk and flash her lights so they knew there was a dog. I prayed every time a car breezed by because I didn't want him to get hit.
I was seriously on the verge of tears because the poor think seriously wanted to go with us the whole way home. About 10 or 15 minutes later he finally got tired and I could see him slowing down. Lydia passed him, then Bethany and then I was nearing him. I yelled, "Come on puppy! Come on Maximus! You can do it!"
I ended up having to pass him and not look because it was too sad. Kelsey and Yelena passed him and then when I looked back Kate and Jess were no where to be seen.
When we got back home Kate and Jess said they slowed down with him to keep him going. They said he was panting so hard, but he kept going alongside them. They said he finally was too tired to move on and they stopped. They said it was the absolute saddest thing they had ever seen. He looked up at them with his sad puppy eyes and they could see he couldn't go on anymore.
If I was able to live there I would have kept him. We figured he had an owner somewhere on the island though because he had a collar on him. Dogs here seem to do whatever they wish, so we were hoping he could find his way home.
The walkways were narrow, but because it was offseason, it wasn't congested.
We ventured down to a lookout point where we were recommended to watch the sunset.
It overlooked a hill of white houses and the famous windmill in pictures.
While we were sitting there a dog came barreling down the stairs and then a few minutes later another one appeared. Kate fell in love with the one and called it Maximus.
Soon three girls appeared and we asked if the dogs were theirs, but they said they had followed them down to the lookout point.
We ended up talking to them for a little bit. Small world again because one of the girls was from Pittsburgh too and was studying in Florence. I love when I meet people from home.
We had about an hour and half until the sun would set, so we roamed around a little more and went closer to the windmill, where we sat and enjoyed the view for a while.
There were so many of them, and they were so obnoxious. One of the first things I heard was them saying, "Where's the vodka?" I looked at my friends and said "I'm glad we booked our trip on our own. I would have been annoyed the entire trip."
I understand drinking can be fun, but you don't need to do it every waking minute. You're at a gorgeous place and you want to drink? Like, what is wrong with you?
After my annoyance, we pushed through the crowd and made our way back to the sunset view because we knew everyone from Bus2Alps would be there, and we wanted a prime spot. On the way Lydia popped into a restaurant and asked if we could make a reservation for nine people because we weren't sure if it would get busy after the sunset.
When we made it back to the lookout point, it was congested with a ton of people. We found a place to sit at least and got situated to watch the sunset.
While I was sitting an older man was walking up the stairs and looked at me and said, "Goodness girl, you have major goosebumps! Aren't you cold? I would offer you my jacket, but I need it too!" I laughed and thought to myself shorts were a bad idea. Even though it was warm out during the day, once that sun set, I knew I'd be chilly. I definitely wasn't looking forward to the ride back on the quad.
Bethany and Yelena were sitting down farther than me, so I decided to join them and get a better view for the sunset. Poor Yelena though.
She's deathly afraid of heights, so she wouldn't sit on the edge with us. She did for a picture and a few minutes later she just randomly jumped up and said she couldn't sit there anymore because it freaked her out too much.
The sunset was gorgeous against the blue waters and the way it set on the white houses was stunning.
I looked down the hill and saw a mother with her two little sons sitting on their balcony on chairs watching the sunset. It was so cute, and I said to Bethany, one day that will be Kory and I watching it.
After it began to get darker out, we walked back to the restaurant where we made reservations. We walked in and were going to sit inside, but then the old, Greek man who Lydia spoke with led us to the outside terrace, which had a gorgeous view.
Luckily, it had plastic tarps to keep it warmer out there. He was so sweet though because he already had a table set up for us with candles. After we sat down Maximus must have followed us and sat under the table. The owner didn't seem to mind at all, and he sat with us for the entire meal.
The Greek man ran us through the menu and I made my decision on eggs with fetta. He said it was a Greek special, so I figured I would try it. A lot of us were going to get it, but when we tried ordering it, he said it was for breakfast only. We were really confused because he pointed it out to us. I ended up getting tomato pesto spaghetti. I didn't have much time to order so I just picked the first thing I saw.
He was out of a lot of food, so a lot of us had difficulties ordering what we wanted. The man must have been the owner of the place with his wife, but his wife spoke no English. He was helping translate the entire time and he was the waiter and the cook. We felt so bad because he was running around everywhere and we could tell he was stressed. More people kept coming in, and you could see him mentally freaking out.
During dinner I also tried Vinsanto, which is a Greek wine Santorini is known for. It was good, but extremely sweet. I could only drink it a little at a time.
After dinner the man gave us freshly baked brownies, which were delicious. It was such a tease because the pieces were small and it made us want more!
After dinner we headed back to our quads. Maximus followed us all out, but Bethany, Kate, Jess and I somehow got separated from the rest of the group. None of us were too sure on how to get to where our quads were, but after about 15 minutes of being lost, we found our way back. Kelsey and Yelena were sitting on their quad and said Lydia, Amy and Erika went to go look for us. While we were waiting for them to come back I saw Maximus was still hanging out with us. He was so cute. When Bethany walked up a hill to see if the girls were coming back a dog at someone's house ran out and barked at her. Maximus immediately ran up to, what we think was, to protect her.
He trotted back toward us with Bethany, and every time that dog would bark, he would run at it barking. Every time a vespa would drive past us too, he would chase it. It was entertaining to watch.
The other girls finally came back and we all started our quads. Maximus started barking at the loud noise. I felt really bad for having to leave him, but I knew there was no way we could take him back with us. We all started driving and I didn't see Maximus in sight. I figured he left and went around in search for new friends.
About a few minutes into the drive I saw him running in front of Lydia's quad. She was two quads in front of me and I had two quads behind me. It was so cute to see him running with us. I figured he would run with us for a minute or two and then get tired. We were nearing the outskirts of the town when I thought he would stop, but he kept sprinting.
We were now on the dark, winding road outside of the town and he was still running. I couldn't believe it. He was a smart dog too because every time he got tired he would dart in front of Lydia and slow her down so he could jog slower. She kept honking at him, but he kept running.
It was probably one of the saddest things I have ever seen. He kept running as fast as he could to stay up with us. For a while I thought he was going to follow us the entire way home. Every time a car would come around corners Lydia would honk and flash her lights so they knew there was a dog. I prayed every time a car breezed by because I didn't want him to get hit.
I was seriously on the verge of tears because the poor think seriously wanted to go with us the whole way home. About 10 or 15 minutes later he finally got tired and I could see him slowing down. Lydia passed him, then Bethany and then I was nearing him. I yelled, "Come on puppy! Come on Maximus! You can do it!"
I ended up having to pass him and not look because it was too sad. Kelsey and Yelena passed him and then when I looked back Kate and Jess were no where to be seen.
When we got back home Kate and Jess said they slowed down with him to keep him going. They said he was panting so hard, but he kept going alongside them. They said he finally was too tired to move on and they stopped. They said it was the absolute saddest thing they had ever seen. He looked up at them with his sad puppy eyes and they could see he couldn't go on anymore.
If I was able to live there I would have kept him. We figured he had an owner somewhere on the island though because he had a collar on him. Dogs here seem to do whatever they wish, so we were hoping he could find his way home.
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