So here's an update: We spent our last night on Crete in the city of Heraklion, which is the capital, because we had an early morning ferry to Santorini that left from Heraklion. Since we had an open evening in Heraklion, we were able to visit Knossos, which is a ruin of the Minoan civilization. This was very cool to see. The ruins are from the 20th century BC, so REALLY OLD. The way that our guide put it in context was that it was before Moses, and around the time of Abraham. Yea, old. We also really enjoyed walking around the downtown area of Heraklion. It's much bigger than one would think, seeing as it's the capital city of only an island, but it's a busy and bustling city that had some pretty cute little shops and restaurants.
Knossos ruins
Our waiter in Heraklion
Getting on the ferry to Santorini
From there we island-hopped to Santorini, and we both agree, that is one of the most beautiful places on earth. We absolutely loved Santorini. We both totally understand why so many people honeymoon there. It's beautiful, romantic, and fun! We will definitely be recommending Santorini to our soon-to-be married friends! Also, the food in Santorini was amazing. We were very lucky and got amazing recommendations from our hotel.
The first day we had there, we did a sailboat excursion that took us to the volcano, a hot spring, a small island called Thirassia (that was created when the volcano blew parts of the island to bits), and also to the port of Oia, or to the Greeks, Ia. This was really really fun! We hiked up the volcano to the active crater and the views from the top were awesome! The hot spring was interesting, although brown. The brown water is from the large amounts of sulfur in the water, which is from the volcano, so neither one of us actually swam in it, but Jon enjoyed jumping off the boat while the others swam in the spring.
On the volcano
At the top of the volcano
The hot spring is the brown water in the background
Jon diving off the boat
After the boat excursion, we arrived back at the old port on Santorini (which is located at the very bottom of the mountain), and we decided that we just had to take a donkey up to the top. They actually call then donkey taxis. We figured this was a not-to-miss opportunity while on Santorini. Well, we were wrong. We both immediately felt so sorry for the donkeys we couldn't actually enjoy the ride. Neither one of us had any idea how hard it would be for the donkeys, or at least appeared to be, to make it up this steep hill. So, the donkey ride was a bust and we've agreed to start lobbying for donkey rights. We vowed to take the cable car at all times, if we ever go back to Santorini.
He looks happy but he isn't
We had dinner after the boat cruise at a place called Kastro in Oia that is famous for its amazing view of the sunset. It definitely lived up to its reputation and we had a wonderful time watching the sun set. Oh and Lindsay fed dinner to the stray dogs she saw that night. She named the black one in the pic Lava.
Amazing sunset from Oia
Dinner at Kastro
Lindsay feeding Lava
Another day while on Santorni, we rented a 4-wheeler and explored the island. This is a popular method of transportation for tourists on the island, and it was SO AWESOME. Everyone drives 4-wheelers around like they are cars, which is really fun but at the same time, hysterical. We started the day by exploring all the different beaches on the island. We visited two black sand beaches and also a red sand beach. After the beaches, we stopped at a cafe which had an incredible view, and then we ventured on to the largest winery on Santorini. The wine was not so good, but the views definitely made up for it! It easily may have been one of the most beautiful places, with the most beautiful views, either of us have ever seen. Anyone who goes to Santorini must visit Santo Winery.
Our transportation for the day
So close!
Black sand beach
Red sand beach
View of the volcano from the winery
Wine tasting at Santo Winery
Here is a pic of us from today at the Acropolis. We also made it to the Acropolis museum which is new and it was very nicely done.
Jon at the Acropolis Museum - that's a window, not a backdrop
We are very sad to leave Greece, but are excited about the upcoming leg of the trip. We've finalized most of our plans for Thailand and Vietnam and are really looking forward to it. We've managed to find an awesome hotel in Thailand (specifically Koh Phi Phi Island), which of course is ridiculously cheap, seeing as we are paying for it in Thai baht. We've also booked our Halong Bay cruise in Vietnam. The next several weeks are most definitely going to be incredible.
Lots of love,
Jon and Lindsay
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