After a mild delay to our flight at the Rome airport due to a fire that recently happened, we were on our way to Greece! We ended up meeting a couple girls on our flight that were headed to the same hostel as us. I foolishly presumed that this was due to the fact that it was a small island and the hostel we had booked was for a decent price and provided not just free breakfast but free dinners too (a full 3 course meal!!) BUT apparently we had booked ourselves into a hostel that could best be described as the Las Vegas of Corfu. (And here I am with the only concerns for booking hostels being directed towards my cheap travellers budget and how much free food I can get). We were given some raunchy tales on the shuttle ride over to the hostel once we landed and were slightly concerned about what we were going to have to endure once we arrived. Luckily June is still considered the off season in Greece so we managed to avoid any annoyances during our two night stay from the drunken "this is my first taste of freedom" types! We did enjoy the fact that the hostel was right on the beach and had atv's that you could rent. We spent one day driving to another part of the island with a beautiful view and bright blue coloured oceans. And as for being right on the beach.. I may have grossly overestimated by body's resistance to the uv-Rays and gotten a little burnt.. But at least it faded into a tan!

In order to save time travelling between the islands we took an overnight bus from Corfu and then a 7am ferry to Santorini. It was a crazy day/night of travel (which involved my feet swelling up to about 3x their natural size from the heat) but it was totally worth it for where we arrived! Santorini was absolutely beautiful. We were staying a 5 minute walk to a beautiful black sand beach with ocean water that was actually bearable to swim in unlike in Corfu and the whole atmosphere was fantastic. On our first full day we took an all day tour that was offered by our hostel (for super cheap I might add). This involved us taking a boat that looked like a pirate ship over to an island where we hiked up to the crater of an active volcano, sailed to another island where we swam in a natural hot spring, next stop was lunch at a classic little Greek taverna where we sat on a deck over the ocean to eat our meal, and finally the last stop was in Oia to watch a beautiful sunset from the stereotypical white houses with blue roofs on the side of the cliffs. Now if that hasn't made you jealous enough.. We rode donkeys up from the port to the top of the cliffs in Oia! It was honestly a little freaky, especially when the donkey decided to walk on the edge (which was a long way down!) but totally worth it for the Greek experience!

The next couple of days on the island we spent driving around on our rented atv and exploring virtually every inch of the island that we could. It was so amazing to go anywhere we wanted and to have so much freedom to see whatever we wanted... Except that time we ran out of gas! Oops!! Apparently gas stations are scarce on the island and as we were trying to make our way to the furthest North point, we passed one and thought, "nah, I'm sure our tank is fine." Well 8kms down the windy cliff side road, we puttered to a halt! With no gas stations in front of us, the only option was to go back. Wasn't a great situation at the time but it all makes a good story right!? After catching a bus both ways we refilled our tank and were back on the road! One last great thing about Santorini (well all of Greece really) was the food! Not just the taste but the prices! We lived off gyros for about a week straight while we were in the country! It's hard to turn your nose to a delicious meal that fills you up for between €1.50-2.50, and doesn't come out of a deep fryer! I'm surprised we never got sick of them but they were just so delicious!

In order to save time again we took an overnight ferry to Athens for our last stop in the country. I was honestly slightly nervous because of everything that has been going on there but I think that the television depicts it much worse than in reality. We stayed away from the hot spots where the protests were and remained nearly unaffected. Besides seeing very long lines at the ATMs and protests flags and banners on most major streets, we didn't see much indication of the events going on. We remained in the tourist areas and explored all the ancient ruins dating back around 2,500 years! It was so cool to see everything especially the Olympic stadium where events have been held for multiple millennia. When Brandon left a day before me, I did feel a slight change in the atmosphere (being a single female traveller in the streets,) so I did one sightseeing stop after dropping him off at the airport then stayed in to get organized and do some laundry. This was the only time I have ever felt nervous like that through my travels so I am glad I did not see that city alone!

And now finally it's time to head to the country that makes up a quarter of my ancestry and the couple that takes up half of my house... Justin and Tracy are coming to Germany!

Time to brush up on my history knowledge!

Love,
Sara