Day Eight, Santorini

Note: I started this blog a few weeks after I got back from Greece in July and am just now picking back up (it's mid January). Details and such will probably suffer for the remainder of this but I'm determined to get it all done!

Today I woke up with a sore throat and fortunately kept it at bay for a few days by eating copious amounts of honey. The breakfast at this hotel paled in comparison to what we had in Mykonos, but there was a great cafe up the street with amazing pastries. As I said earlier, I ate a truckload of their ham and cheese croissants and partially blame them for my 5 pound weight gain over 2 weeks (I'm convinced the only thing that kept me from gaining 10 pounds was the constant dancing).

Today was the optional tour of the island that included a stop at two beaches, a winery and a museum. I'm so glad Kelly and I decided not to do this because this ended up being one of my favorite days of the trip. We rented jeeps with the honeymooners and the Kazzies and explored the island on our own. Layne and Teneal bought a compilation set of cheesy 80s/disco CDs while they were in Italy which were perfect for blasting through the streets of Santorini. I hopped in the back of Scotty and Stampy's jeep and we immediately put on The Neverending Story, which we played another 10 times during our ride. Santorini is nothing but cliffs and winding narrow roads and I was nervous about putting my life in the hands of Stampy, who I'd watched simultaneously chug two beers the previous night. One wouldn't assume a great drinker would also be a great driver, but he kept us alive and we never stalled out (I can't say the same for the other jeep).

We weren't really sure where we were heading but somehow meandered up to the highest point in Santorini. On the way up it seemed completely plausible we'd witness another car, or even our own, run off the road and tumble down the cliff. Once we got to the top we got out for some awesome views and pictures and then headed down to the famous Black Beach, a gorgeous beach with smooth black pebbles. We hung out on the beach for a few hours and then decided we'd try to find another one of Santorini's famous beaches, the red beach. We eventually made it to the red beach but didn't actually get to see it because it involved climbing up a cliff and then walking down to the beach. Since we had our beloved cripple with us, instead we sat at a small cafe by the water and had sandwiches and drinks and shot the shit for a while. There was a nice woman with a baby in a stroller sitting at the table next to us and I fear we scarred her baby for life... small children shouldn't have been allowed anywhere near us. A man was walking around selling bootleg CDs and DVDs for super cheap, so of course we bought some crap (update: Kelly and I watched the Sex and the City DVD and other than the Greek subtitles and sometimes sketchy sound, it was worth every euro). By now it was getting close to dinnertime so we headed back to the hotel, this time I hopped in the jeep with Layne and Kelly and we jammed to a bootleg Michael Jackson History CD. This was such a chill day and by this time the 6 of us were a solid little group.

Tonight the whole Contiki went to dinner together to a restaurant recommended by Dave. He raved about the grilled octopus, which I was a little skeptical about considering just a few days before in Mykonos I'd seen octopus hanging out to dry in the sun. The great thing about the whole group going places together even when it wasn't on the itinerary was Dave would organized our transportation. We had to walk a short way up a hill by our hotel to catch a coach bus which then took us into the town. Once again the views as the sun was going down were incredible, only now our restaurant was an even better vantage point for the amazing sunset. During dinner we sat with Dominique, Alex, Nat and Linda. Kelly and I ordered an appetizer that was a block of feta wrapped in phyllo dough and drizzled with honey and sesame seeds which came highly recommended from our personal Greece expert, Alex. Maybe it was the combination of the scenery, company and an all around awesome day, but I swear this was one of the best things I've ever tasted. As our main course Kelly and I split the grilled octopus and a seafood marinara pasta, both were excellent.

After dinner everyone headed to a bar called Murphy's that had a 2 for 1 deal until 10. Judging by the pictures displayed behind the bar of naked patrons dancing on the bar, we were in for a good time. This bar had a very American feel and played great music, lots of rock and pop. Our drink of choice was called a Sex on the Bar, which I think was the same thing as a Sex on the Beach except with a name more fitting for Greece. We ordered as many as we could hold at once, afterall it was 2 for 1. Teneal ended up giving a performance on the bar later, yes she kept her clothes on but it was still quite a sight!

We continued dancing and singing until it was time to catch a cab home, but we decided we weren't done for the night yet. We attempted to hang out by the hotel pool and continue drinking but were greeted by the scary Russian man who worked the hotel desk at night. Dave had warned us about him and he was right, this guy was terrifying! I scurried into the Kazzies room with Teneal and Layne and that's when the night took a crazy twist... we realized the jeeps we rented that day were in our possession until tomorrow. The 5 of us piled into one of the jeeps and we were on our way back to Black Beach to watch the sun come up! This was one of the craziest things I've EVER done and I'm not sure how we survived or didn't get arrested. Not only were we all blind drunk but we had no clue where we were going and it was pitch dark. One of the funniest things was watching Scotty fast asleep in the passenger seat and Layne swerving the jeep trying to wake him up, but he didn't even wake up and instead almost went flying out the side of the jeep and over a cliff a few times. By the time we got to the beach the sun was starting to come up so we laid on lounge chairs on the beach and in our drunken, sleepy haze gawked at the magnificent sunrise. In that moment it felt like there was nothing else in the world but that beach, those people and the sun slowly creeping out of the ocean. How many people can say they've watched sun set and rise in Santorini on the same day? One of the most beautiful, serene things I've ever seen and yet none of us thought to bring a camera along. Amazingly we made it back to the hotel and I pounded on our door around 7:30 a.m. for Kelly to let me in. The next morning I'd wake up with my throat on fire, but it was definitely worth it.