Santorini: Day 3

Today we got up at 10 AM and immediately got ready for the beach. Eight of us girls headed into town to catch the bus down to the water, but saw it coming our way. We started yelling that it was the one we needed, and the nice gentlemen aboard stopped so we could get on. Only in Santorini …

Kamari Beach is a black sand beach covered in rocks that really hurt to walk on. It’s really pretty, with tiki huts lined up along the water. We decided to forego the beach chairs and save our 7 euro. The first time I set foot in the water, I got totally rocked by some huge waves. The one experience we’ve had with waves in Greece involved some small ripples. I was just making my way into the ice-cold water, no more than calf deep, when a huge wave took my feet out from under me and dragged me across the rocky bottom. I let out a scream and as soon as I came up from that, another one rolled right over my head. It was a rough entry to say the least and I spent my time in the water emptying my swimsuit full of rocks and sand.

The other funny thing about this beach was the Chinese ladies giving massages. They came around trying to convince us that for only 15 euro, we could get all oiled up and rubbed down. My friend Kristyn finally caved. The lady un-tied her swimsuit at the neck and then, to Kristyn’s surprise, pulled the back piece over her head. We were all hysterical watching Kristyn try to cover herself as the Chinese lady ripped her top off. The lady started to rub, and then pulled down her bottoms exposing even more of her body to everyone. By that point, Kristyn was too relaxed to care, but we were once again hysterical.

We grabbed coffee and lunch at one of the tavernas and then caught the 1:45 bus back to town. I ran to the grocery, showered, and did my last load of hand-washed laundry (yay!). Then we all got ready for our evening in Oia! A private bus came at 4:00 PM to take us to the village – about a 10 minute drive. When we arrived, it was very quaint and quiet; not as many tourists which was so nice. We found one of the famous views near the church on all the postcards – blue, dome roof with a white cross on top. We took tons and tons of pictures. I bet I took 100 just of Oia.

We spent the next three hours exploring the village and shopping. We found some spectacular views of the white buildings on the side of the cliff, all with blue windows, roofs, and doors. I can’t even come up with words to describe the beauty, but there are images that will forever remain in my mind. Oia also had the best shopping we’ve come across; I definitely spent more on shopping there than anywhere else. Someone in a shop told us the area where The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants was shot. I’m not even gonna lie … I can’t wait to watch it when I get home.

The big draw to Oia, besides it’s obvious beauty, is the sunset. Katula said it would get so crowded in the streets of the side the sun set on, that we should just eat at one of the restaurants there. After looking at menus and realizing they were all going to be expensive, we eventually decided on one called nothing other than “Sunsets.” We sat down at 7 PM, so dragged out our dinner to make it last through the 8:30 sunset. The food, scenery, and general ambiance were amazing, so none of us really minded splurging for the night. I had “chicken with multi-colored peppers” (not only because I wanted to say the full name when ordering), which was so good and reminded me of my family ‘s cooking.

We were all a little disappointed by the sunset. It was pretty, but difficult to see with people standing up everywhere, and actually got better as it got darker. The sky turned into an orange-pink color and once all the people left, we were able to get some great pictures of the landscape. We walked around a little more after dark, and found the site of the most marriage proposals. Personally, I found a lot of better spots in Oia where I’d rather be proposed to. Earlier in the day we saw a bride getting her picture taken. Man, to get married in Oia …

A private bus took us back to Thira at 9:30, and after a little rest, we drank some wine to prepare to go out. We had the best “pre-game” ever! About seven of us chilled on my bed and watched funny Disney songs on YouTube and I DJ-ed from my iTunes library.
At 1:00 AM we all made our way to Enigma, a club in town. I wasn’t happy about the 10 euro cover fee, but it did include a drink. We spent some time on the dance floor and I couldn’t get over the fact that all the short guys were dancing with me! What the heck?! I’m 5’8”, any guy better be a solid 6 foot!

When we tired of the club scene, we went to get crepes. This time I had Nutella with strawberries. I am really going to miss crepes. I think they should have them in the states; they’re so great because you can eat them for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or dessert. On the walk home, some creepy guy was following us in his car so we ran all the way back to the hotel. It felt good to run again. Sarah and I opened up what we’ve come to call our “love nest” (the curtain hanging over our bed), but it was a little disappointing. We thought it would drape around the bed and be like a tent. It was really just hanging directly on top of us – but that’s how we fell asleep.