The next day in Santorini consisted was pretty relaxed and chilled. Matt and I took the bus from Perissa beach into the town of Fira (or also known as Thira). We browsed around shops and looked for souvenir items. I, of course, wanted to pick up some postcards to send out to friends and family and get my mom and dad a little gift. Since I was nearing the end of my travels I figured I could finally get a couple of gift items that wouldn't pack on too much weight to my luggage. I decided on some olives stuffed with feta cheese for my dad and got my mom some body lotion made with olive oil. I also bought myself a can of kalamata olives that were soaked in olive oil....as you can see by now, olives are very much the theme in Greece. Afterwards, Matt and I had worked up an appetite and still had some time before we caught the bus back to our side of the island. We happened upon a Chinese restaurant and it was like a God send! We had already spent a lot of time in Greece eating traditional Greek food (athens, mykonos, santorini) so we decided to give our palate's a little break from the other stuff and eat a nice Chinese meal. I'll have to admit, it was real tasty!
We also walked around the town a bit and took some scenic pics, of course caught a glimpse of the famous donkey's. Didn't take a ride on any though because we were told they weren't really safe.
Afterwards we loaded back up on the bus and headed back to our area of town. Had a pretty chill evening and chatted up a couple of other Aussies staying at our studio. A girl from Melbourne, who's name I can't remember, and a guy from Melbourne as well named John. We all discussed getting quad bikes the next day and cruising around the island.
The next morning we all meet in the lobby and tell the hotel manager we wanted to rent the bikes, he makes a phone call and in no time a guy has arrived in a van to pick us up and take us to the rental place. There we were each hooked up with bikes, given a map, and signed our lives away in case we somehow damaged or quad bikes and/or ourselves! Complete with helmet, we ride off into the wind. The Aussies decided that I should lead since I'm the only one that is used to driving on the RIGHT side of the road, where as they all drive on the opposite side. First stop is the gas station to fill er' up. We spent about 10 Euros but it lasted us the whole day. After that we were on our way to Red Beach, where the sand was a red color and there were some red cliffs. It was fun zooming down the streets and we had several cars pass us up since the max speed we went was probably around 50 km and hour.
As you can see, there wasn't much to this beach, it was quite rocky and we didn't wear our swimsuits so we passed on making the little trek down to where the sand was. It was quite breath taking though, all the cliffs and change in color. Next up though was a little further down the way to a lighthouse...because who doesn't love a light house!
Above are my fellow Aussie comrades.
And there is the leader of the pack and yours truly, owning the streets of Santorini!
The light house was pretty cool, but we didn't stay there long, as we had worked up an appetite. Somehow we decided on a Mexican food place that Matt and I has passed on our bus trip into town the previous day. Since the island isn't too terribly huge, we somehow managed to find the place, and the other 2 bikers agreed to eat there as well. It turns out it wasn't the worst Mexican food I've ever eaten (I'll give that prize to my Frenchy's) but it wasn't the best either. The portions were pretty good sized and the patio we ate on had really stunning views.
A taco, chalupa, re-fried beans, and mexican rice. I'm not gonna lie, I cleared my plate. Get off me, I'm from Texas...this is the kind of stuff that we are born to eat!
Finally we make it into town and do a little more walking around. The other 2 folks wanted to buy some souvenirs and take a nice stroll through the city, winding through the narrow streets. We also ran into another couple staying at our hotel (surprise surprise they too were from Australia) and we chatted them up for awhile too.
After we got through walking around, the wind started picking up and we felt a few rain drops hitting our heads, we knew we needed to head back to our 4 wheelers and either find some cover or head back to our hotel. We remembered that there were a few wineries on the island and we figured it wouldn't hurt to swing by one and see if they were still giving tours. Sure enough we make it in time to still take the tour and it was a delightful one!
Try to go ahead and sound that name out, I dare ya!
The wine tour was great, it was set deep under ground and we had little head sets that explained everything to us, in English of course. It was an interactive tour with moving figures and was very entertaining.
After the cutesy self guided wine tour and learning the history of wine making in Greece, we finally set down for the most important part...the wine tasting! We got to taste 4 different wines that were unique to Santorini. The lady that gave us our samples must have not been a fan of me because I swear she was giving the guys more than me!
Once again we hit the pavement and decide to head back to our hotel. We did get lost on a side road once but then found our path back soon after. The fog was rolling in and the wind was really starting to pick up, I was gonna be happy to get back to our little abode.
There I am cruising down the street, steering with one hand and take pics of myself in the other! Yes I realize that isn't safe!
At last we finally make it back to our little Annie Studios. That night we decide to drink and play cards at the hotel and some of the guys went to the store and bought some booze. We then proceed to play a game of cards in one of the swimming pools that was empty.
Not soon after, we were kicked out of the pool. We joked and asked if it was because no lifeguard was on duty. But of course we didn't let that ruin our good time. We just moved over to the courtyard area and continued on our merry way. At some point a big crowd of us got hungry and we decided to go on a late night trip to grab some Greek wraps and french fries. It was there that I first tasted the most delicious thing outside of mozzarella cheese sticks. It was called haloumi and it was a square piece of cheese that was lightly breaded and then pan fried. So much more delicious than our cheese sticks here in the states, and it's so yummy that you don't have to dip it in ranch or marinara sauce to stomach it! I enjoyed this little delight a few more times during my stay!
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