Ios to Santorini

Ios

I took off for Ios with Ben and Gavin (the two Aussies I met up with at Paradise Beach) about a week ago. Ios is a pretty small island but even given its size it is barely inhabited. Based on what I saw of the rest of the island while I ran one day it is nicely summarized as a barren, goat dotted landscape. We are pretty sure the town exists for the purpose of partying and this was illustrated by the fact that our hostel didn't even consider starting to serve breakfast until 10:30 am and this ran until the music started up again at 1pm. Ios lived up to our expectations for cheap and we stayed for an extra day or two.

A view of Ios

While in Ios I met two girls from Quebec City (Jess and Emma) and they were heading to Santorini the the same time as the Aussies and I. It turned out that us Canadians were able to book into the Pension Rousso together and so I will stay with them in Santorini.

Santorini

Luckily I chose to take the slow ferry to Santorini so that i could go out onto the deck and watch as we came into port. The view of Santorini from the water was stunning. The port is located at the base of what has to be a 500 ft cliff. The various towns are mostly located on the top of the cliffs, overlooking a volcano and the sunset.

Once on the island I was picked up by Mr. Rousso's cousin and driven up the sketchy cliff to the pension. Since we all booked into the same place, and are now a group of five, we were able to easily coordinate a rental car for 6 euro each. We kept the Kia for one day and used it to visit several beaches, one with black sand and the other with red sand, as well as a light-house on the far end of the island.

On our second to last day in Santorini we went out to Oia which is a very famous town to watch the sunset from. Although there were clouds on the horizon the sunset was still great. There was even a newly married couple taking photos right beside us.

Jess, Emma, and I on my first night in Santorini

Gavin, Ben, Jess, Emma, and I by the lighthouse

Athens

The Greek islands were amazing. I'm sitting in my hostel in Athens right now and I am about to go get packed up to head to the airport. I fly into Milan tonight to meet a few friends from Ivey.