Santorini, Greece

After about 5 hours of sailing, we arrived at my most favorite island of them all, Santorini.  This island was ah-may-zing!! I loved it! Beautiful white buildings (which we found out they paint every year and that is why they are so white! ha,tricksters!), cobblestone paths, magnificent views, and lots of shops to roam! We arrived at this island by tender boat and had 3 ways to reach the top of the cliff.  Your options were: cable car, donkey ride, or a strenuous walk up 588 steps (which, by the way, is the same path the donkeys take...so watch where you step!).  I, of course being the adventurer that I am, chose to ride the donkey. Hello, haven't you ever seen Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants when Lena goes to visit her grandparents and rides the donkey to their home?! I wanted to experience that myself! After we returned home, I watched the movie and saw exactly where that scene took place. It was so cool! And was also cool to see "Oia Village in Santorini, Greece" listed at the end of the movie!

Kerisa, her husband and I were the only brave ones to attempt the donkey ride. All the others took the easy way out and rode the cable car up the cliff. It was awesome!! My donkey couldn't decide if he wanted to take it slow and easy or beat the herd (he went back and forth..fast then slow). They walk in a zig zag, stop for a snack when they want to (unless it was like mine and had a muzzle on his mouth), and run into each other which meant me having a donkey's rear in my knee at one point or being able to hug the person on the other donkey. ha ha It was definitely a lifetime experience, something I will never, ever forget.  Once they took us to our stopping point, we still had about 50 steps we needed to climb to reach the center of the Village. 

 We stopped at a couple shops and bought some hand painted pictures of the Village and then roamed around trying to find the rest of the crew. The 3 of us roamed around for at least an hour trying to find the others who left us behind. We eventually ran into them and realised we were in complete opposite directions of each other, but we got to see some things they didn't and vice versa. 

Once we finally found each other, we decided it was time for dinner.  Once again, we chose to take part in the Island's cuisine.  We found a restaurant that had a beautiful view of the Mediterranean Sea and we were able to watch the sunset. It was beautiful. 

Now, because I am chicken and don't exactly like to try to venture out and try new things when it comes to food, I stuck with Pasta.  This wasn't exactly what I expected but it was only spaghetti noodles drowned in garlic. ha ha No kidding, I was tasting garlic for hours, even after brushing my teeth multiple times! James ordered a Gyro (since you know, we're in Greece and all) He thoroughly enjoyed it! One of the other couples got an appetizer which had mussels on it (GROSS!!!!) and James had one of those...bleh.

It was a very enjoyable dinner had by all. Oh, how could I forget to mention the most amazing bread and the delicious olive oil to dip it in!! mmmhmmmm..yummmy!!!

Once we finished our dinner, it was about time to head back to the ship, so we chose to take the cable car down the cliff (it was not recommended to take the donkey's down the cliff, it gets a little crazy!).  The cable car almost felt like a roller coaster, but not as fast. Still glad I chose the experience of riding the donkey up the cliff. Took the tender boat back to the ship, and pretty much called it a night. (Karaoke wasn't exactly exciting that night). 
I will never forget this opportunity and the views it offered. It was an awesome experience!