calling from some city...

Today can only be described by one phrase: absolutely perfect. Scott woke me up at 8:45, and the sun was already shining. It was definitely an omen for what the rest of the day was going to be like. We quickly got dressed and headed out to get our scooters! Sara and Scott were very excited to rent scooters while we were in Santorini and ride them all around the island. I was more hesitant; I thought of course it sounds like a lot of fun, but I was worried about driving them safely, especially on all the curvy and windy and hilly roads. Once we got to the rental place, we found out we were not able to rent scooters because you need a special license. Instead, we could only rent ATVs. That made me feel better because I definitely felt like I could handle driving the ATV more safely; it was obviously a lot bigger and looked easier to drive. Once I started driving I immediately knew it would be something I could handle fine- even if I didn’t drive as fast as them Anyways we headed off with Scott leading the way- as he is our directions/map reading expert- and we just explored on the scooters. It was exhilarating with our hair whipping in the wind (well, me and Sara’s) and the sun on our faces. The only problem was my sunglasses broke so I was having difficulty seeing because of the brightness but it ended up being fine. As expected, the ATVs were easy to drive and we just hugged the side of the road and the cars and scooter passed us if necessary. The ATVs can get going pretty fast though, and it was a lot of fun. We were hungry so we found a beach and decided to eat. We got lunch and it ended up being a place that had umbrellas and beach chairs that guests could use for free. We started baking in the sun- it was really hot out! We alternated for the afternoon of sunning and swimming- the water was so warm and refreshing. There was no current either so it was really nice to swim in, and we made friends with 3 friends from the US that were also traveling- Sarah, AJ, and Patrick. They were really nice and had a lot of fun stories to share about their travels. The bar/restaurant also had beach side drink service which was very convenient and at one point they gave us a free shot. Mid afternoon we set off for more driving. The views along the way are just spectacular. This is easily the most stunning and beautiful place I’ve ever seen. The cliffs and the water combine to make really dramatic views. It’s hard to put into words and I tried to capture it on film as best as I could but I can’t really do it justice. We did a little off roading on the ATVs and found a little beach that had a small cliff that Scott jumped off of. The road down to the beach was very steep so I was concerned about getting back up, but Scott assured me it would be no problem. Of course, as I was driving the chain came off and I started sliding backwards…luckily the emergency break held and Scott was a super mechanic and fixed it. We drove around until about 7:30 when we stopped on a cliff and waited for the sunset. We each wondered around on our own and watched the beautiful sun go down. It was really awesome to see- the sun was burning a deep red/orange color and the sky was a mixture of soft pastel colors- blue, pink, and purple. After the sunset we had a 45 min drive to Kamari, where we found an outdoor restaurant with a view of their large screen TV that was playing the World Cup finale. We ate a delicious pasta dinner and then I had a huge chocolate and banana crepe for dessert. It was great to sit there, eat, and watch Spain win!! We were really happy Spain was able to win. It was late so we headed back to the villa and went to bed shortly after 1 am. It was a long, but phenomenal day.