Santorini, Greece

Santorini, Greece was the last stop on my 4 city spring break. I spent three nights here, so I was really able to experience a lot of what the island has to offer. Santorini is a Greek island to the southeast of mainland Greece, so I had to take a propeller plane to the island from Athens. Satorini was the most beautiful place I have ever seen! The weather was really nice, however the wind made it a little chilly at times, as it was the beginning of March. I would really like to visit again someday, in the summer during peak season, when more places will be open. In addition, we rented a car and I drove all around the small island, allowing us to explore it all. It was really cool, but difficult to drive on the winding roads of a foreign country. At least they drove on the same side of the road as us, unlike in the UK!

This is the place I stayed. It was a cave house built into the side of the cliff. We rented it out and had access to the entire home. Cave houses are the typical style of home on the island because they stay cool and can take advantage of the views.

This was the view from my patio! The island of Santorini was actually a volcano. The currently active volcano is the visible island in the middle of this picture. The Santorini volcano is a caldera (meaning cauldron-like volcano) that has been filled with water. This can be seen with the water separating the volcano from the rest of the island. As a result there are hot springs out at the volcano, which unfortunately were not open yet during my visit.

This was my delicious meal of chicken souvlaki. It is a very common Greek dish, served with fresh vegetables, pita, and tzatziki (yogurt dip made with cucumber, garlic, and dill). These are also the common ingredients in a Greek gyro, which I also tried.

This is an amazing view of the famous blue, dome-roofed churches of Santorini. These churches are all over the island and are so cool to look at! The pink structure next to it is the church bells.

This is the stunning view of the most picturesque and charming town of Santorini, Oia. We drove out to this end of the island one day and walked around the cliff neighborhood, taking in the views.

Myself in front of Amoudi Bay, on one end of the island.

This is the ancient city of Akrotiri. It was a major trading area on the island, but was buried and preserved during a volcanic eruption around 1500 BC. It has been suggested that this site is the inspiration for Plato's story of Atlantis.

Red Beach

This is the lighthouse at the tip of the island, near Akrotiri. I climbed out on the rocks in front of it, which offered amazing cliff views of the island.