Cruising our Way through Santorini

After a night of trying to figure out what we were going to do with our two full days in Santorini, we decided the best thing to do would be to rent ATV's and cruise around Santorini, come back to Fira, and then do the Volcano/Hot Springs tour the following day. We went to the ATV rental place next to our hostel, and got two ATV's. I drove one of the ATV's and Brian drove the other one. Santorini is not that big of an island, so our plan was just to follow road signs and simply get lost. Driving the ATVs were absolutely amazing. We had a great time just driving around and seeing all of the sights. Our first stop was a little beach with black sand. It seemed like it was a private beach area for the hotel next to it. We decided to leave it and head on-- trying to find a much more beautiful and populated beach. We ended up at Kamari Beach-- a resort town. It was the epitome of a beach town. Glitzy little shops and food stands. We ended up wandering around, got some gyros from a little stand, and then headed to the beach to lay underneath the umbrellas and go into the water. The beach was nice and warm and beautiful with black sand (well, tiny rocks).

We decided to head back and try and check out the rest of the island. Brian's ATV was acting funny, so we decided to head back to Fira, get it checked out, before we proceeded onto our way. After we were finished, we headed to Perissa Beach. We stayed around there for a little bit, but wanted to head to Oia to watch the sunset-- it's supposed to be one of the most beautiful sunsets in the world. The only way to get to Oia was actually to head back through Fira, since Perissa was at the southernmost part of the island. We followed the signs to Oia, but ended up taking the long way around, through the Northeastern edge of the island. The ride was absolutely beautiful and breathtaking. It was much more green (although not as much) as the other ones. We arrived at Oia right in time for sunset, and sat and watch it with the masses near the bus station.

The most beautiful part of the ride, however, was on our way back to Fira. The sunset through the night's sky was absolutely perfect, and I only wished that I could have captured it on film. I love that time of night-- when it changes from light to dark. The colors that glow from the sunset are so vivid and beautiful. It feels absolutely majestic and grand. It reminded me of sitting on the curbside seeing the colors change in the nights sky in Long Beach during the summers.

We headed back to Fira, turned in our ATVs and wandered around town to try and find some food. We ended up at a place in Fabrika Square that had a live band outside. There was an elderly couple dancing in the center. It was SO CUTE! We ended up getting food and Christina and I headed out to the bars. We ended up at a Scottish Bar and an Irish Bar, playing mainly American music (go figure). All in all, Christina and I had a great time. We ended up back home at 3:30... enough to catch a few zzz's before our volcano tour.