(PS- The title of this post comes from something said when we got to our Santorini hostel by Katie, aka “Rob.” As in “Rob and Big” like the old MTV show. I’ve never really seen it, but I’m told it’s basically just a reality show about the lives of these two guys. Big is a tall, large, black man, while Rob is a short white guy. I’m not exactly sure how it got started, but for the last few weeks Katie and Megan have been Rob and Big, a comment on their crazy height difference and hilarious sense of humor.)
(PPS- That actually sounds way less entertaining written and explained and is probably something you had to be there for…)
I know I keep saying whatever port I’m in is my favorite, but this time I think I actually mean it. Don’t get me wrong- Rome was amazing, Dubrovnik was gorgeous, and I’m seriously interested in one day owning a vacation place in the Cinque Terre (a girl can dream, right?) but Santorini is seriously perfection. From the people to the views to the food and even the faint (or sometimes not so fait) smell of donkey manure- I honestly can’t imagine anywhere topping these past few days. This is going to be even longer than normal (yep, apparently that’s possible) so I’m going to have to split it up and write two different posts. Lucky you!
So Sunday we left the ship around 4 and headed out to find out where our ferry was and where we needed to get our tickets. I had mine from picking it up earlier in the day, but after a short cab ride and a few explanations from strangers (yes we KNOW they’re at the Hellenic Seaways kiosk but where is it??) everyone else had theirs too. We were a little early to board so we found a spot in the shade and tried to keep cool until they were ready. I’ve been on some big ferries before, like when my family drove and camped all over Nova Scotia a number of years ago, but the rest of my friends were pretty surprised when they saw how huge the boat was and that people were actually driving their cars on. We found our seats and were somehow all near each other, then got settled for our 3.5-hour trip to Mykonos.
Mykonos is basically only known as being a big party island (sorry, Mom and Dad, but its true) so we knew the majority of SAS was trying to go there at some point this week. Just the same, we were less than super excited when the sorority t-shirt/bro tanks with neon writing started pouring on. Luckily most people were going later after staying in Athens a night, so it wasn’t too bad. (Side note, we do like other people on the ship. Just not all of them all the time…)
Anyways. We got in to Mykonos around 9:30, and were greeted by a guy standing in his bathing suit holding a sign for “Paraga Beach Hostel and Mykonos Camping.” We followed him to this 12 or 13 passenger van where we loaded in our stuff and got situated, waiting for him to close the door. Which he did, only after 14 more people climbed in. For those of you keeping track at home, yes, that means that there were now 21 people plus all of our luggage in this rickety old van with only one door and almost no air conditioning. The ride was about a half an hour and almost as scary as the ride in Montenegro, but we eventually pulled up at a big gate and a sign for Mykionos Camping. We figured there would be another stop for the hostel we had booked, but our shirtless driver shooed us all out and into the main office.
After we paid we followed another worker through the dark and to find out just what we got ourelves into. She showed us the communal bathroom (that was so gross none of us used it the entire time we were there) and took us down this sketchy path to our lovely bungalow. Sounds cute, right? It wasn’t. The best way I can describe it is it was like the cabins at Surf City, only with no windows, a light, and a door that actually closed and locked. It didn’t reach all the way to the ceiling, but at least I felt pretty confident there would be no raccoons coming in.
We went to the campground’s mini mart and got some snacks and drinks, then hung out, listened to music and got ready to go explore the town. We met some pretty funny Argentinean girls who hung out with us for a little, then we made our way to the main office to catch the public bus into town. Alex kept us entertained by singing God bless America at the top of her lungs (for some reason that probably didn’t even make sense a the time so I’m not going to try to remember) and we pulled up to the main square a little after 11. We wandered around for a while, stopped for crepes/pastries/gelato, and did some window shopping till about 1 AM. Candice wasn’t feeling great and the last bus back to our place was at 2 AM so we decided to go back and regroup before deciding what to do.
When we got back Candice, Katie and Nicole decided to call it a night, but Alex, Megan and I weren’t really feeling it. We all figured that if there were ever a place to try to go out it should be in Mykonos, and set off down the beach to the main dance club we’d heard all about. The walk was a little rough but it was pretty down near the water, and in just about 5 minutes from our place we started to hear the music. As we got close these to Filipino guys rode up on an ATV and told us there was a 30 euro cover just to get in and that it wasn’t even that fun. They said there was a cute local bar just up the road and we could all go there. When in Mykonos, right? The one got off and let the 3 of us squeeze on the back while he ran along side and in just a minute we were up by this cute beach restaurant and bar. The five of us hung out and talked for awhile before being joined by these 3 Australian guys who were on holiday traveling all over Europe. Among the topics of conversation? Sports, great places to visit, the basic introductory “where are you from?” “what do you do?” business. Oh, and we also found out the one guy was a lord?? I’m not even kidding, He even showed us his credit card and it says like Lord Christopher Montgomery (or something like that). So random.
We hung out there until about 5 or so, then the 3 of us said our goodbyes and made our way back along the beach to our bunglow. As we were walking it was starting to get light, and we even heard a rooster crowing. We crawled into bed a little after 5:30 and all agreed that we were glad that we had stayed up- if nothing else at least we had stories!
We all got up around 10 the next morning, packed up our things and headed to check out. We stopped and got a makeshift breakfast from things we could find in the mini mart and got on the 12:00 bus to the port from where we would be leaving. We headed up the hill to try and pick up everybody’s tickets, but something was wrong with the way Nicole booked hers and we kept being sent to different places to try to fix it. The only upside to the situation (which eventually ended with Nicole having to buy another ticket after she told them that she didn’t CARE the ferry was sold out because she WAS getting on it) was that we got to walk all over the town and along the beach. We ended up at this cute little restaurant and got a yummy lunch of Greek salads, mousaka, and other typical Greek foods.
We walked back to the port and waited for our ferry. And waited. And waited. We also talked to this guy from Minnesota that quit his job and bought an oopen plane ticket and is spending the year just traveling around the world by himself. His bag was like half the size of any of ours (remember this is for 3 days versus one year) and we passed the time until our ferry finally arrived sharing stories and tips and all that stuff. It was pretty cool to hear about, and definitely something that would hold some appeal…
The ferry ride was pretty uneventful, but since we got a late start we didn’t get to Santorini until about 7:30. We were greeted at the port by this super friendly greek guy who grabbed all our stuff and led us to our van. Not only was this van much nicer than the one the night before, but we were also the only people in it. Major plus. He drove us up the cliffs and across the island to the capital and town where we were staying, Fira. Everything was so cute and much more like we had been picturing, but we still were waiting to see those stereotypical postcard type shots of the blue roofs and cute white houses.
Our driver took us to check in and then led us a few streets over to their second building, the one where we would be staying. It was honestly night and day from the night before! The adorable older man who introduced himself as the owner showed us to our two triple rooms right next to each other, each with a kitchen area, breakfast nook, back patio and a brand new bathroom. They also each had a front patio, conveniently overlooking our pool. WHAT?? We had no idea how we were getting this for two nights at a lower price than some of the other hostels where we stayed, but we counted our blessings, thanked our new best friend and all hurried to be the first in the shower!
Once we were all ready we headed up the street into the main area of town where we found this great little restaurant for dinner. The food was amazing and super fresh (my fish was legit an entire fish- eyes and all) and gave us a good view of town. When we were done we kept heading up the hill to the main shopping streets overlooking the caldera, the crater and part of the sea formed by the volcano sitting right next to the island. We did some shopping, along with some more gelato eating, and by about 11:45 we were all feeling pretty tired. We agreed to go down just one more block before turning around and heading home for the night, when all of a sudden the shops opened up and we FINALLY saw what we had been looking for. A sea of white and pastel houses and buildings were just laying there, scattered across the cliffs, illuminated by little lights and looking exactly like what you think of from Mama Mia or Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. It was AMAZING and we all decided we’d be coming back the next night to have dinner while watching the sunset.
A short trip back to the hostel where the 24-hour reception desk and security guard gave us the room keys we’d turned in when we left and wished us sweet dreams. We said our goodnights and in no time were asleep- dreaming of a full day of the beach and exploring!
(PPS- That actually sounds way less entertaining written and explained and is probably something you had to be there for…)
I know I keep saying whatever port I’m in is my favorite, but this time I think I actually mean it. Don’t get me wrong- Rome was amazing, Dubrovnik was gorgeous, and I’m seriously interested in one day owning a vacation place in the Cinque Terre (a girl can dream, right?) but Santorini is seriously perfection. From the people to the views to the food and even the faint (or sometimes not so fait) smell of donkey manure- I honestly can’t imagine anywhere topping these past few days. This is going to be even longer than normal (yep, apparently that’s possible) so I’m going to have to split it up and write two different posts. Lucky you!
So Sunday we left the ship around 4 and headed out to find out where our ferry was and where we needed to get our tickets. I had mine from picking it up earlier in the day, but after a short cab ride and a few explanations from strangers (yes we KNOW they’re at the Hellenic Seaways kiosk but where is it??) everyone else had theirs too. We were a little early to board so we found a spot in the shade and tried to keep cool until they were ready. I’ve been on some big ferries before, like when my family drove and camped all over Nova Scotia a number of years ago, but the rest of my friends were pretty surprised when they saw how huge the boat was and that people were actually driving their cars on. We found our seats and were somehow all near each other, then got settled for our 3.5-hour trip to Mykonos.
Mykonos is basically only known as being a big party island (sorry, Mom and Dad, but its true) so we knew the majority of SAS was trying to go there at some point this week. Just the same, we were less than super excited when the sorority t-shirt/bro tanks with neon writing started pouring on. Luckily most people were going later after staying in Athens a night, so it wasn’t too bad. (Side note, we do like other people on the ship. Just not all of them all the time…)
Anyways. We got in to Mykonos around 9:30, and were greeted by a guy standing in his bathing suit holding a sign for “Paraga Beach Hostel and Mykonos Camping.” We followed him to this 12 or 13 passenger van where we loaded in our stuff and got situated, waiting for him to close the door. Which he did, only after 14 more people climbed in. For those of you keeping track at home, yes, that means that there were now 21 people plus all of our luggage in this rickety old van with only one door and almost no air conditioning. The ride was about a half an hour and almost as scary as the ride in Montenegro, but we eventually pulled up at a big gate and a sign for Mykionos Camping. We figured there would be another stop for the hostel we had booked, but our shirtless driver shooed us all out and into the main office.
After we paid we followed another worker through the dark and to find out just what we got ourelves into. She showed us the communal bathroom (that was so gross none of us used it the entire time we were there) and took us down this sketchy path to our lovely bungalow. Sounds cute, right? It wasn’t. The best way I can describe it is it was like the cabins at Surf City, only with no windows, a light, and a door that actually closed and locked. It didn’t reach all the way to the ceiling, but at least I felt pretty confident there would be no raccoons coming in.
We went to the campground’s mini mart and got some snacks and drinks, then hung out, listened to music and got ready to go explore the town. We met some pretty funny Argentinean girls who hung out with us for a little, then we made our way to the main office to catch the public bus into town. Alex kept us entertained by singing God bless America at the top of her lungs (for some reason that probably didn’t even make sense a the time so I’m not going to try to remember) and we pulled up to the main square a little after 11. We wandered around for a while, stopped for crepes/pastries/gelato, and did some window shopping till about 1 AM. Candice wasn’t feeling great and the last bus back to our place was at 2 AM so we decided to go back and regroup before deciding what to do.
When we got back Candice, Katie and Nicole decided to call it a night, but Alex, Megan and I weren’t really feeling it. We all figured that if there were ever a place to try to go out it should be in Mykonos, and set off down the beach to the main dance club we’d heard all about. The walk was a little rough but it was pretty down near the water, and in just about 5 minutes from our place we started to hear the music. As we got close these to Filipino guys rode up on an ATV and told us there was a 30 euro cover just to get in and that it wasn’t even that fun. They said there was a cute local bar just up the road and we could all go there. When in Mykonos, right? The one got off and let the 3 of us squeeze on the back while he ran along side and in just a minute we were up by this cute beach restaurant and bar. The five of us hung out and talked for awhile before being joined by these 3 Australian guys who were on holiday traveling all over Europe. Among the topics of conversation? Sports, great places to visit, the basic introductory “where are you from?” “what do you do?” business. Oh, and we also found out the one guy was a lord?? I’m not even kidding, He even showed us his credit card and it says like Lord Christopher Montgomery (or something like that). So random.
We hung out there until about 5 or so, then the 3 of us said our goodbyes and made our way back along the beach to our bunglow. As we were walking it was starting to get light, and we even heard a rooster crowing. We crawled into bed a little after 5:30 and all agreed that we were glad that we had stayed up- if nothing else at least we had stories!
We all got up around 10 the next morning, packed up our things and headed to check out. We stopped and got a makeshift breakfast from things we could find in the mini mart and got on the 12:00 bus to the port from where we would be leaving. We headed up the hill to try and pick up everybody’s tickets, but something was wrong with the way Nicole booked hers and we kept being sent to different places to try to fix it. The only upside to the situation (which eventually ended with Nicole having to buy another ticket after she told them that she didn’t CARE the ferry was sold out because she WAS getting on it) was that we got to walk all over the town and along the beach. We ended up at this cute little restaurant and got a yummy lunch of Greek salads, mousaka, and other typical Greek foods.
We walked back to the port and waited for our ferry. And waited. And waited. We also talked to this guy from Minnesota that quit his job and bought an oopen plane ticket and is spending the year just traveling around the world by himself. His bag was like half the size of any of ours (remember this is for 3 days versus one year) and we passed the time until our ferry finally arrived sharing stories and tips and all that stuff. It was pretty cool to hear about, and definitely something that would hold some appeal…
The ferry ride was pretty uneventful, but since we got a late start we didn’t get to Santorini until about 7:30. We were greeted at the port by this super friendly greek guy who grabbed all our stuff and led us to our van. Not only was this van much nicer than the one the night before, but we were also the only people in it. Major plus. He drove us up the cliffs and across the island to the capital and town where we were staying, Fira. Everything was so cute and much more like we had been picturing, but we still were waiting to see those stereotypical postcard type shots of the blue roofs and cute white houses.
Our driver took us to check in and then led us a few streets over to their second building, the one where we would be staying. It was honestly night and day from the night before! The adorable older man who introduced himself as the owner showed us to our two triple rooms right next to each other, each with a kitchen area, breakfast nook, back patio and a brand new bathroom. They also each had a front patio, conveniently overlooking our pool. WHAT?? We had no idea how we were getting this for two nights at a lower price than some of the other hostels where we stayed, but we counted our blessings, thanked our new best friend and all hurried to be the first in the shower!
Once we were all ready we headed up the street into the main area of town where we found this great little restaurant for dinner. The food was amazing and super fresh (my fish was legit an entire fish- eyes and all) and gave us a good view of town. When we were done we kept heading up the hill to the main shopping streets overlooking the caldera, the crater and part of the sea formed by the volcano sitting right next to the island. We did some shopping, along with some more gelato eating, and by about 11:45 we were all feeling pretty tired. We agreed to go down just one more block before turning around and heading home for the night, when all of a sudden the shops opened up and we FINALLY saw what we had been looking for. A sea of white and pastel houses and buildings were just laying there, scattered across the cliffs, illuminated by little lights and looking exactly like what you think of from Mama Mia or Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. It was AMAZING and we all decided we’d be coming back the next night to have dinner while watching the sunset.
A short trip back to the hostel where the 24-hour reception desk and security guard gave us the room keys we’d turned in when we left and wished us sweet dreams. We said our goodnights and in no time were asleep- dreaming of a full day of the beach and exploring!
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