How picturesque could a place be?

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After a very long flight I have finally found myself in Greece. Starting in Athens and only staying there for 1 day was a great choice. Besides the Acropolise there is not much else and they don't take very good care of their city. It has loads of grafitti and is dirty. I can't believe that when I got to the Acropolis my camera decided not to work and I was unable to take any photos. Ah well I will just have to go back! LOL It is another amazing place though. Just like seeing the pyramids in Egypt and of course it came with loads and loads of tourists grrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
Following my visit to the Acropolis I headed straight to a camera shop to see if they could fix it. Sure enough I took it out of the bag and it worked..... go figure! So then I tried to catch a cab to the port as I had a 3pm ferry to Santorini. Boy Oh Boy....... trying to get a cab was like trying to get a guy to commit to marraige. First they say no problem and then tell you it will cost 25 euros or then you get in the cab and then when you explain where you want to go they say it's too far. So your in and out and back pack on and off and it is 40 degrees and then they tell you to go and find a cab elsewhere or they are private cars. Basically selective pains who are to lazy for their own good. I finally found a lovely dude who took me to the port for 7 euros and when I finally got there they told me the ferry was delayed 1 hour! OMG! So I sat around and 1 hour later there was no sign of any ferry. Two hours pass and it finally turns up and then it takes 1 hour to load all the people and cars onto it. When I got on there were no free seats cause they always overbook so I had to sit on the floor. Now my expectation when booking this ferry was that I would arrive in Santorini four hours later. I booked it because it was a fast one. We left Athens port by about 6.30pm and did not arrive in Santorini until 1.30am!!!!! Yes I sat on the floor for 7 hours. They had dodgy food and everyone was getting really annoyed. When I finally got off the boat I was very grateful to see a transfer awaiting me to the villa and that is where the kind service began and ended at Villa Agas.They basically showed me to my room and I never saw anyone again. I had no maps and no idea how the public transport system worked but it is amazing how quickly you can work these things out . I ended up finding a bus that took me to Oia and I am soooooooooo glad that I went. In fact, everyone needs to go to Oia. It is exactly as you imagine Greece to be. Blue and white buildings on the side of a hill, crystal clear mediterreanean sea, tiny cobbled roads that lead you to places and shops offering different greek memorabilia and a very beautiful sunset, still not as good as my Chobe river sunset but lovely in a very romantic way. YES! I admit I fell victim for a few hours to the 'I wish I had a boyfriend to share this with, i'm so lonely boo hoo boo hoo'. The place gets really packed at sunset time and because I am the smart traveller that I am I had already booked a table for one at Kaestros which is the only restaurant that has views of the sunset. I was feeling very spoilt sipping on my mojito and eating lamb souvlaki while the sun went down and yes I was the only one on the entire terrace that sat alone. But all was good and after another glass of wine I had drowned my sorrows and pepped up ready for my new adventure in the morning.
I decided to leave the Villa on day 2 and boy was it hard to find the owner. If I had my time again I wouldn't be in such a rush to make tracks from there because my unluckiness continued when I left 3 dresses hanging in the room cupboard and I didnt realise till I got to Mykonos. Anyway.....I almost contemplated walking without paying but once I found him I headed down to the south of Santorini and stayed at Anas hostel at Perissa Beach. All the beaches at Santorini have black volcanic rock and against the blue sea it all looks very spectacular. Perissa is a very quiet couple part of Santorini but thank goodness, Anas hostel brings things into balance because it has action everywhere! For 12 euros you stay in a girls dorm with 9 others. Not bad but I was a bit over it after the first night one of the girls brought a boy back to the room! That is a story to tell when I get back home. So on the second night I upgraded by spending 3 more euros and got a 4 bed room with ensuite bathroom. PERFECT! Met a really lovely Melbourne Girl Ro and had some quiet dinners and drinks. I must admit I am very over telling people my story, especially when I get to the part when I say I am 31! So sometimes I mix things up a little and give them a twist like ......... I'm an exotic dancer, or a nurse or I work on a kangaroo farm. It adds humour to my very mundane conversation repotoire. LOL
After 4 days in Santorini I was ready to move on so I jumped on a ferry with canadian guy also staying at Anas and headed to Ios. He was lovely and we had a great time but getting to the party island Ios changed the canadians ways and he was looking for a really good time so I accidently lost him somewhere between the beach bar and the beach he he he he. But seriously, Ios is party central. At 6pm everyone makes their way from the beach to the bar and people dance around the pool, in the gardens and some people go really crazy. Ios will be a memorable place for me because it is the place I saw the least of! That's because I spent most of my evening in the toilets throwing up! Oh it was a joy! and I can honestly say that from this moment on I will do my best to never drink Tequila again! Sorry mum!
I woke in the morning not feeling very well but it was nothing that a greasy bacon and egg brekkie could not fix and then I headed back to the port to catch a Ferry to Mykonos. Thank goodness this ferry was only 1 hour late and I was there by 6pm where I met Helen who is a friend of a friend from Oz but now my new friend. Everyone tells you not to book accomodation because there are loads of people waiting at the port to offer you a cheap room. But what no-one tells you is that during peak season there are limited rooms that start from a high rate of 100 euros a night. Poor Helen did the dirty work and found a women with a room for 55 euros each so we grabbed it for 2 nights. Once again the women dropped us at the room, took our money and we never saw her again grrrrrrr. We both wasted no time throwing on our swimmers and hitting the beach. I really enjoyed a great Greek meal at Nikos Tavern that night. Vine leaves, holoumi cheese, grilled squid and greek salad went down like a treat.
We made sure we went to a different beach everyday but we both really enjoyed super paradise beach the best. The only way to get to Super Paradise is by boat or car. So we ended up hiring a quad bike to get us there. Helen was designated driver and she was sooooooo funny driving like a grandma. It took forever to get anywhere but the funnioest night was when we ran out of petrol between the beach and town so we left the quad and two locals dropped us at the servo then we had to get a bus back and fill the quad. It was not funny at the time! On the main beaches every afternoon ends with a beach party. At tropicana there are loads of youngsters and things can get very crazy but at super paradise it's an older group and tamer party which after one month of going from party to party suites very well. In the evenings we would head back to main town for a siesta and then hit the clubs and bars at about 1am. On the first night we went to Scandanavian bar and it was basically an italian fest. I can not believe how many italians are in Greece. Occasionally I have to remind myself that I am not in Italy. The funniest thing is that when they talk to you they say....... omg! there are so many Australians here LOL. But on a sader note the italians have brought with them their not so lovely party attitude and by the end of my stay I can honestly say that for the first time in my life italian men were rude, disgusting, disrespectful and annoying. I have never felt so annoyed by someones behaviour and it wasn't just one. They brought out the moves on anything and worked really quickly. The conversation pattern went as follows and I did this about 200 times over the couse of the week:
IB (italian boy)- Where are you from?
Me- Austalia
IB- Nooooooooooo u are not Australian, which part?
Me- Sydney
IB- Ahhhhh sydney the best. Where are you staying?
Me- in town
IB- I don't speak very good english
Me- oh
IB- You are very beautiful......... How old are u?
This is when u learn the trick... if u think they are cute.... lie
Me- 31
IB- OMG! u are soooooo old, u do not look this old
and then they turn around and keep dancing. It was a great way to get rid of the annoying ones but getting past a 2 minute conversation never really happened with any italian I met. One even turned around to his mate and stuck his finger in his throat suggesting I was not so nice. unbelievable! After 2 nights in our left for dead accomodation we took a wander and found a room for cheaper in a family run hotel called Hotel Delos and things just got better from there. Now our hotel was right on the water and the staff were fantastic. Helen stayed in Mykonos for 2 more nights and on her last night we went to Space bar and back to Scandanavian. That night I met a very cool greek guy who works at the Scandanavian. He was really lovely and kept bringing me free shots and telling the italians to get lost. After Helen left Spiros and I went to the beach and hung out a bit and every night I returned to the Scandanavian he protected me from all those italian sausages. He even got all the bouncer dudes in on it. It kinda wasnt so good in the end cause then I had no guys coming near me ha ha ha ha.
I was lucky to also have Bruno and Mel come the day after Helen left so the couple shared accomy with me. We had a great time eating yummy seafood and gelato. Although, remind me to always ask for the price of things before I go ahead and order. We found this Gelato shop that made Gelato on the island from Goats milk. They had these really unusual flavours like wasabi and lime. We all just went for it ordering 3 flavours each and then we sat down a shared a bit of everything. We were all lost for words when our bill came to 27 euros which is equivalent to about 60 aussie dollars and were very sure we got photos and ate every drop of all the ice cream we had. On two of the days we hired a 4WD that had no top and drove around the island. It was sooooooooo much fun and made me realise how much I miss driving. I was wizzing in and out of everywhere. We specifically hired the car so we could get to a really cool beach called Super Paradise. The whos who spend their days at super paradise laying on expensive day beds and drinking cocktails. IT WAS SOOOOOO MUCH FUN! but by day 8 I was abit over been hassled and it was really windy so there was not much need for swimming. The highlight of Greece was defiently Oia a place I would like to return to again some day.

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Photos

In shock!
Myself, Bruno and Mel eating $60aus ice-cream. Should always ask before you purchase.

Comments

[Max]

Italian men..
Hey I know an Italian guy who thinks 31 is hot n sexy haha!