For part two of my vacation I visited Greece. I had never taken so many pictures on a trip in my life! I loved Greece! From Barcelona we flew into Athens, Greece. We purposefully planned a long layover in Athens so we could take a quick trip to the Parthenon. When we landed we checked our bags at the luggage center, caught a taxi, and twenty minutes later we were at the bottom of the Acropolis Hill. Hill seems like an understatement after we made our way up the "hill" with the sun beaming on us with every step we took. Once we made it to the top I couldn't stop looking at this monument that has been around since 447 B.C. (of course with some renovations). It just amazes me that something like this could be created in a time where things were only created by hand. As a bonus we also got to see all of Athens from the top of the Acropolis. Before we knew it, our layover was just about over and we had to head back to the airport.
After our thirty minute flight we landed at our next destination - Santorini, Greece. Santorini is currently holds the number one spot on my list of best places I've visited. I recommend anyone and everyone to take a trip there. I will definitely try to make it out there again. The food was great, the people were nice, and the island is beautiful! Santorini also has the best sunset in the world, according to the locals. I must say it is pretty awesome. Everything about this place is picturesque.
Our first day on the island we took a half day boat tour. We did a semi-private tour which means we were on a yacht with a few more tourist. This was the absolute best. The tour included food, information about the island, and we got to hang out in the Mediterranean Sea. The water is so beautiful but was a bit chilly especially with it being July. Once we were back on land we rented ATV's as our transportation. We were able to rent the ATV's for twenty-four hours for $45. Can't beat that! Getting around the island was so easy. The island has two main areas. The lower area is Fira and the upper area is Oia. We hung out in Fira for the remainder of our first day. Most people head to Oia to catch the sunset but we caught it in Fira and enjoyed it without having to deal with the crowds of people. At the end of our first night we were taken care of at a local restaurant our ATV guy recommended. Everyone we encountered really wanted to make sure we were having a good time and enjoying everything Santorini had to offer.
On our second day we took our ATV's and headed to Oia. We walked to the highest point of the island and took a thousand pictures. What you see in the pictures and on postcards looks even better in person. We enjoyed a nice lunch looking over the Mediterranean Sea and later took a little side adventure to find a hidden gem (a beach with a cliff that my friend Asha and other crazy tourist jumped off of).
Okay, I've typed way too much! It's just that this place is awesome, but I'll let you see for yourself. This part of my trip we added one more traveler - Lindsay (another best friend from home). If you never wanted to go to Santorini before, I think some of these pictures will change your mind.
