Day 54 - Assinine Misadventures in the South Aegean

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We kicked off the month of April beginning our stay on the Island of Santorini, about an 8-hour ferry ride from Athens.

There has been healthy amounts of speculation that the volcano eruption from Santorini from way back when might have had a hand in the sinking of the mythical civilization of Atlantis.

Holy crap, are you serious? A volcano on this tiny little speck of something-something that would take maybe a couple hours to drive across? Of course, according to our local guide, this eruption was something pretty fierce: apparently people could hear the eruption 3 separate times (i.e. the sound of the eruption traveled the globe thrice).

Gee, and all I've ever heard about Santorini was how pretty it was...:P

My mom and I had a half-day sailing tour booked that morning, which took us around the most touristy of hotspots: the Volcano on Nea Kameni (currently inactive, of course :P), the hot springs, lunch on the island of Thirassia, and finally a cursory view of the Caldera before making our way back to the Old Port.

The highlight of the trip, of course, was the little cat I met on Thirassia. Soooooo cute -- such a darling :D. For a stray, he was super friendly, and he even let me pet him!!! I wanted to take him back with me, but I was afraid of the usual rabies and tetanus. So I refrained. Sadly.

Once we ended the tour at Old Port, we realized that we still had one last obstacle to overcome: 600 steps back up to Fira, where our hotel (and the rest of civilization) was.

What would Alexis Bledel do? Ride a mule up the mountain, of course. That's a no-brainer. If she can do it in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (yes...I suppose this is an appropriate time to confess that not only did I watch the movie (AND the sequel, lol), I was/am a fan of the series...-____-;;😉, so can I!

Holy crap. It's a lot harder than it looks...I wouldn't dare ride that thing side-saddle up the mountain, thank you very much, Alexis. I'll have to say that I was pleasantly surprised that my mom was game enough to join me on the journey to the top, and even managed to snap photos along the way! lol.

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Photos

how did alexis bledel make this look so easy??
evidently I'm having trouble asserting my dominance on my mule, lol

holy crap indeed
we made the rookie mistake in opting to walk down the 600 steps to Old Port from Fira (my mother kindly expressed how pleasant the olfactory experience was)

Old Port
after successfully evading the ubiquitous mule droppings, we were awarded with this view of the port

the boat!
that we took for our sailing tour! quite quaint, I tell you :D

the volcano
from the port!

eat mor ize creem
there's something unsavory in how this octopus is forced to advertise its own demise...

lunch!
grilled calamari and seafood pasta

the caldera
below the town of Oia...I think

bffs
my mom shows her mule who's boss :D

steps
not lying! it really was 600 steps to the top!

dinner!
horiatiki (Greek salad), spanakopita, tiropita, and mussels

Comments

[salome]

ahhhh this is great!! I looove the picture on the mule. Alexis Bledel is a tricky one I tell you, all sorts of secrets up her sleeve.

[devyn]

haha! now that I think about it, she probably had a stunt double do that take...or she velcro-ed herself to the mule, maybe :D. I can't believe she's from Houston!

[Hannah]

why cant i see the pictures?!!?

[devyn]

whoops, sorry about that. it's fixed now!