I am in Greece! It is like a dream come true.  Words can’t start to describe the wonderfulness here, but I will try. 

So, after a long day of travel, I arrived in Santorini, a small island in the Aegean Sea off the coast of mainland Greece.  As I was checking into my hostel, I noticed a familiar face at the computers behind the reception desk.  Tamar.  A girl that I hadn’t seen since the last day of AP French Lit a good four years ago, just checking her email.  I was wondering when it was going to happen, but yes, the world is still small.

We spent the next couple days catching up over delicious Greek salads, feta, apple pie and other local delicacies, as well as touring around the island.  Santorini takes the cake when it comes to beauty, it is a green island covered in mountains, with edges of sheer cliffs, white towns built overlooking the deep blue sea.  I am living in the movie Troy.  Anyway, we spent our morning climbing a volcano (very cool, and I am pretty psyched to have been on two in the last five months, what a life!).  After that, we took a little boat over to the “hot” springs, which were very appealing to look at with their green water and red algae, however, I have never been in water so cold in my whole life without a wetsuit.  Shocking.  Other treats for the day included lunch on an island with only 250 inhabitants, and seeing a beautiful sunset in Oia. 

Yesterday the weather was a little rainy for the morning which allowed for relaxing, but by the afternoon I was able to take a long walk down the black volcanic sand beach near my hostel.  It provided a great opportunity to get to know some new friends, and I even convinced one to go running with me! That was a real treat.  We headed out into the countryside running through fields of daisies, when we came upon a large mountainous hill.  I love running up hills, don’t get me wrong, but this hill had no path.  We spent the next hour climbing up through jagged rocks and thorny bushes, but the view at the end was unbelievable.  I could see our small village, the next one, the sea, and even other islands in the distance.  I love running in Greece.  I also discovered the nightlife here, which is so fun when the bars are on the beach.  If it weren’t for wanting to accomplish good things in my life, I could easily stay here all summer, every summer working as a bar girl on the beach.  So tempting. 

Today the sun came out, and I spent my day on the beach napping, snacking, running, and relaxing.  My inner beach bum was so satisfied.  I still love life.  I have one more day here and I plan to go see a town frozen in time by lava, as well as run up a hill with a path before I hit up Athens and Paris.  I am looking forward to the rest of my trip, but also to seeing the most important people in my life and being able to drink delicious tap water with abandon again.  Signing off.