So we spent yesterday at the beach and then went to Oia, where there are amazing views and sunsets. Then we ate a candlelight dinner on a rooftop and shared our feelings...I mean...we ate dinner. It was tasty. This is a beautiful island and I'll be sad to leave it, but we're excited for the next adventure.
Happy Belated Birthday Amanda! Hope you're having so much fun in Mexico! We're strapped for time so I'll just post later.
PS: Santorini is ALL STAIRS.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Monday, October 19, 2009
I'm poor, so I travel.
I got up this morning and walked out to the beach while lazy Elise slept in. I watched the sun come up over the hill and listened to the waves. I was the only one out on the beach. I am so lucky to have the experiences that I have. I tell myself over and over again so I won't forget. As I was walking back to the room I saw the manager of the resort. He was confused to see me awake, "it's early huh?" Haha, everyone else that stays there sleeps in with hangovers. Even during the off season, this is a place to party.
We had our breakfast out on the beach and then went into Mykonos to spend the morning then get on our ferry.
I would like to take this moment to explain that we have been completely confused about the days since we got here. When we flew we lost a ton of time and spent the rest of it on the road, so we completely lost Friday. Somehow we got mistaken and were a day behind. It wasn't until like 2:00 PM today that we realized it was Monday and not Sunday. It was so weird.
Elise has broken out with hives, or some sort of rash. It looks like tons of mosquito bites but we really can't explain it. Once we got to Mykonos this morning we went to the Pharmacy ("Open on Sunday, how convenient," we thought.) to get her some lotion and medicine. Mykonos is such a maze of streets it is nearly impossible to find anything. We basically ask someone to point us in the right direction, walk for a minute, then ask someone else. This morning a nice old man who spoke no english walked the whole way with us to the pharmacy. His name was Antonio and of all the people we've asked for directions so far, he is our absolute favorite.
This is us on our way to the port. We ran into a lot of people getting off a cruise ship. I don't know why, but I really try hard not to be a typical "tourist" when I go places. I want to be one who experiences the culture and side of a place that is beyond the facade that the town puts up. Seeing all of the tourists on the ships reminded me of that.
This is us on our ferry to Santorini. These are our cheese and mustard sandwhiches. Ya. I know how to live cheap. :)
So far, coming in the off season has been so good to us. We don't have to go searching for the cheap hostels. When the boat comes into port there are representatives from the hotels and hostels fighting for our business. We were more prepared this time than last time and we wound up in a decent hotel for only 10 Euro a night per person. Instead of 45 Euro for the room its 20 Euro. It all happened so fast I'm still a little dazed. Not only are we getting deals on lodging, but most of the stores are discounting their merchandise. Mykonos had a lot of stores selling everything for 50% off. Its also been really nice weather. I wear my sweater in the morning and at night, but the rest of the time its nice enough to go without a sweater, but we aren't sweaty. Cool.
We've just walked around Santorini for a little bit. We ate Slouvaki and Tzatiki or something like that at a local restaurant. This island is BEAUTIFUL. We will definitely be getting more pictures tomorrow when its sunny, but here is a preview.
Elise was wearing the watch for the first day, but then she got hives and the watch was irritating them. So now I'm wearing the watch. We are SO good at traveling. :)
We had our breakfast out on the beach and then went into Mykonos to spend the morning then get on our ferry.
I would like to take this moment to explain that we have been completely confused about the days since we got here. When we flew we lost a ton of time and spent the rest of it on the road, so we completely lost Friday. Somehow we got mistaken and were a day behind. It wasn't until like 2:00 PM today that we realized it was Monday and not Sunday. It was so weird.
Elise has broken out with hives, or some sort of rash. It looks like tons of mosquito bites but we really can't explain it. Once we got to Mykonos this morning we went to the Pharmacy ("Open on Sunday, how convenient," we thought.) to get her some lotion and medicine. Mykonos is such a maze of streets it is nearly impossible to find anything. We basically ask someone to point us in the right direction, walk for a minute, then ask someone else. This morning a nice old man who spoke no english walked the whole way with us to the pharmacy. His name was Antonio and of all the people we've asked for directions so far, he is our absolute favorite.
This is us on our way to the port. We ran into a lot of people getting off a cruise ship. I don't know why, but I really try hard not to be a typical "tourist" when I go places. I want to be one who experiences the culture and side of a place that is beyond the facade that the town puts up. Seeing all of the tourists on the ships reminded me of that.
This is us on our ferry to Santorini. These are our cheese and mustard sandwhiches. Ya. I know how to live cheap. :)
So far, coming in the off season has been so good to us. We don't have to go searching for the cheap hostels. When the boat comes into port there are representatives from the hotels and hostels fighting for our business. We were more prepared this time than last time and we wound up in a decent hotel for only 10 Euro a night per person. Instead of 45 Euro for the room its 20 Euro. It all happened so fast I'm still a little dazed. Not only are we getting deals on lodging, but most of the stores are discounting their merchandise. Mykonos had a lot of stores selling everything for 50% off. Its also been really nice weather. I wear my sweater in the morning and at night, but the rest of the time its nice enough to go without a sweater, but we aren't sweaty. Cool.
We've just walked around Santorini for a little bit. We ate Slouvaki and Tzatiki or something like that at a local restaurant. This island is BEAUTIFUL. We will definitely be getting more pictures tomorrow when its sunny, but here is a preview.
Elise was wearing the watch for the first day, but then she got hives and the watch was irritating them. So now I'm wearing the watch. We are SO good at traveling. :)
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Mykonos, Greece
This trip was totally hyped up, and for good reason. I am definitely not dissappointed with how things are working out for me here. Elise and I made it to Athens without a hitch. Elder Nelson actually flew with us on our non stop flight to Paris. He was in first class though. Can you believe they do nonstop flights from SLC to Paris? Thats amazing to me.
Anyway, once we got to Athens we hopped on the metro and made our way to Piraeus where we had a hotel. Our hotel was decent enough. I woke up at 12:45 AM by natural causes and had a very difficult time getting back to sleep.
On Friday morning we woke up at 5:00 AM to go out and search for a ferry. We had looked at times but didn't have any tickets or anything. We bought the tickets, had breakfast on the street where an extremely nice old Greek man served us, and watched the sun rise as our ferry pulled away at 7:25.
The ferry ride was like 5 hours but we got some great views of the sunrise and several islands that we both passed and docked in to drop people off. When we got of the boat in Mykonos we were accosted by a woman trying to get us to stay in her hotel. She offered us a really cheap price for a nice room with a kitchen and stuff, but we don't need all that stuff and it was still more expensive than we wanted. We were both very turned off by how forceful she was so we went with the nice guy that was driving out to Paradise Resort. Thats the PARTY hostel and the bus was already full of young people like us. We ended up getting pretty good deal there, and the parties aren't as intense now that its the off season.
We spent Friday afternoon out at the beach. I gave Elise a quick overview and we went snorkeling. We were enjoying the fish and the coral when suddenly Elise pointed me to a...OCTOPUS! Are you kidding me? It was awesome and I even saw it open all its arms and move around a rock. Wow. SO worth how cold it was getting into that water.
We spent the evening out at the Resort trying our darndest to stay awake at least until 9. We made friends with the cook at the bar (the picture above is me at the bar) who finds it extremely interesting and funny that we are Mormon and don't get drunk. We made it to 8:30 before we fell asleep.
This morning we were at breakfast at 7:30 and on our bus into town at 9:15. We made it to the town before it was awake and were able to watch it come alive. The white buildings accented by color are absolutely amazing.
We've taken a ton of pictures but I've just included a random few since we're on a time limit here. We're making sure to enjoy the sites, eat good food, and not take it for grantide. We even met a painter who is from Northampton Massachusettes where we stayed for Foodplay rehearsals. Small world? Yes, yes it is.
We're off now to spend the rest of the day in this beautiful town. It rained last night and was cloudy this morning, but now it is hot and sunny. Of course that means we get to carry our jackets around for the rest of the day. :) Tomorrow we get on another ferry and head off to Santorini. I'll post more soon!
Anyway, once we got to Athens we hopped on the metro and made our way to Piraeus where we had a hotel. Our hotel was decent enough. I woke up at 12:45 AM by natural causes and had a very difficult time getting back to sleep.
On Friday morning we woke up at 5:00 AM to go out and search for a ferry. We had looked at times but didn't have any tickets or anything. We bought the tickets, had breakfast on the street where an extremely nice old Greek man served us, and watched the sun rise as our ferry pulled away at 7:25.
The ferry ride was like 5 hours but we got some great views of the sunrise and several islands that we both passed and docked in to drop people off. When we got of the boat in Mykonos we were accosted by a woman trying to get us to stay in her hotel. She offered us a really cheap price for a nice room with a kitchen and stuff, but we don't need all that stuff and it was still more expensive than we wanted. We were both very turned off by how forceful she was so we went with the nice guy that was driving out to Paradise Resort. Thats the PARTY hostel and the bus was already full of young people like us. We ended up getting pretty good deal there, and the parties aren't as intense now that its the off season.
We spent Friday afternoon out at the beach. I gave Elise a quick overview and we went snorkeling. We were enjoying the fish and the coral when suddenly Elise pointed me to a...OCTOPUS! Are you kidding me? It was awesome and I even saw it open all its arms and move around a rock. Wow. SO worth how cold it was getting into that water.
We spent the evening out at the Resort trying our darndest to stay awake at least until 9. We made friends with the cook at the bar (the picture above is me at the bar) who finds it extremely interesting and funny that we are Mormon and don't get drunk. We made it to 8:30 before we fell asleep.
This morning we were at breakfast at 7:30 and on our bus into town at 9:15. We made it to the town before it was awake and were able to watch it come alive. The white buildings accented by color are absolutely amazing.
We've taken a ton of pictures but I've just included a random few since we're on a time limit here. We're making sure to enjoy the sites, eat good food, and not take it for grantide. We even met a painter who is from Northampton Massachusettes where we stayed for Foodplay rehearsals. Small world? Yes, yes it is.
We're off now to spend the rest of the day in this beautiful town. It rained last night and was cloudy this morning, but now it is hot and sunny. Of course that means we get to carry our jackets around for the rest of the day. :) Tomorrow we get on another ferry and head off to Santorini. I'll post more soon!
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