Memoir of Santorini

Crystal Sky Vogel
Apr 20, 2017
7 min read

Greece: the first thing you might think of is white buildings, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, feta cheese, yoghurt, and Athens, or at least I did. About a year ago, on Instagram, I saw an explosion on my feed of people going to this Greek Island named Santorini. In the pictures, there were blossoming pink flowers, white buildings with blue rooftops, and a vast dark sea with the lightest sky. From that moment on, Santorini was on my bucket list. It looked like a dream; and it was. When I posted this photo on Instagram, I would never have guessed that I would be standing on the beautiful island in a year’s time. Isn’t funny how the universe works?

Well, my chance was there. I have been studying abroad in Italy for 3 months, and currently writing this from London remembering all the adventures I’ve had so far, with Greece coming close to being my favorite. I went with my good friend Kaitlyn, whom I’ve been friends with since middle school. She happened to be studying in Venice the same exact time as me! We went to Positano together & knew we had to plan a trip to Santorini. And oohhhh what a journey we had. Kaitlyn came from Venice to stay the night in Siena for a few days before heading off. We had no extra beds so she had to sleep on the floor with blankets…sorry Kaitlyn, it was rough down there. We took an early bus to Florence, flew from there to Rome, then Rome to Athens, took a 45-minute bus to our Airbnb, crashed, woke up at the crack of dawn, took an Uber to the airport, and finally flew to Santorini.

The first thing we did was take an outrageously expensive taxi to our hotel: Hotel Lodos. And it was abandoned, or so it appeared to be. We saw no one around, no one was at the front desk, and we didn’t hear a peep. Then we finally heard voices, and a small Greek old woman walks out smiling from ear-to-ear to welcome us. She told us she only spoke Greek, but she would make us breakfast while we waited for our room. Greek yoghurt topped with pears and apples, freshly squeezed whatever that delicious juice was, an egg, bread with honey and butter, and cheese. Thank you our Greek grandmother, we loved it and needed it!

Next stop: ATV. Yes, two girls who didn’t really know what they were doing were absolutely determined on renting one and driving it around the island. And I was the one to drive it…let’s just say that didn’t go too well. The first whole minute I was screaming, and it didn’t help that we were in the city center of Fira…with a lot of cars and scooters. Our destination was the Fish Spa and I was praying I wouldn’t crash us.

After almost going down a one-way road, breaking in the middle of it, and having to turn the ATV all the way around, we parked it and were safe and sound. If you watch Keeping Up with the Kardashians, you saw the episode where they get a fish pedicure. Kaitlyn and I knew we had to do it. Let me tell you, if I can do it, anyone can do it. I’m the girl getting a pedicure and almost kicking my lady in the face hysterically laughing, I’m so ticklish. The first minute I screamed, laughed, and probably punched Kaitlyn 5 times. Afterwards, it just feels like little champagne bubbles; and let me tell you, those buggers did good. So, if you need your feet sucked on by fish, do it, you won’t regret it.

For the rest of the day, we rode the entire island in the ATV, but Kaitlyn had to drive because I refused! Surprisingly, she was really good…but that’s onlyyyy because she has ridden them before in Georgia. Yeah that’s what I’m going to tell myself anyways. We stopped at the Red Beach, and the view was amazing. There are huge deep-red cliffs and rocks with a beautiful view of the ocean. Within the giant rock, there are just random doors built into the side, it was peculiar, but gave the fiery rocks some bright character.

The next morning: this is a story I will allow you to laugh at, because for the rest of the day I couldn’t stop myself! Here it goes: Kaitlyn and I thought we were going to be late to our boat tour, and we were zooming in our ATV. She was driving, and I was following the GPS for directions. All the sudden, it says we are 3/5 minutes away but the road looked so narrow the ATV barely fit and we just see people walking. The moment I knew we messed up was when we went down the first stair....and then we went down more...and then Greek people started flagging us down and said it wasn't a road...it was just shops...and there was nowhere to turn around. Kaitlyn was freaking out because we were going to be late and we were literally STUCK. Then, thankfully this old Greek man helped us when everyone was laughing, and somehow managed to turn around the ATV after many failed attempts. He kept trying to speak in Greek to us like we understood him...and Kaitlyn was like "SIR I DO NOT UNDERSTAND YOU." When attempting to go up the steps, we just kept sliding down and I was trying to grab walls to stop us but it didn't work. And donkeys were in front of us and got their poooo everywhere. And Kaitlyn was like "are you ready? Hold on!" And she zoomed up those stairs so fast. It was literally the funniest moment of my life. So, thank you Greek grandpa for your support in such an embarrassing and hilarious moment.

In case you were wondering, yes we made it to our boat tour. We took the cable car down and it seemed like everyone was running late too. From the boat, our next stop was the volcano. As Kaitlyn quoted, “this is not what we signed up for.” Literally. We were unaware we had to HIKE up graveled, rocky paths up huge hills to the top of the volcano. We made it though, and the views were spectacular. We could see the other side of the island, the cliffs with the infamous white buildings, and the deep blue. The landscape was stunning, we were surrounded by craters and a flowering field. I took pictures for a huge Asian family, and then unknowingly I became Kim Kardashian. They all started flocking around me and asking me to take pictures with them. I had several group shots, individual shots, and selfies. I swear it was a whole photoshoot. I literally felt like a celebrity, I don’t know why…but hey I never mind a photo shoot with landscape that beautiful! The rest of the tour we stop in the hot springs, and an old, almost-abandoned island of Therassia. I had the best Greek salad in my life, and met the sweetest cat!

Our trip was over, and we thought, why not take the donkies? Isn’t it apart of the experience? This was one of the worst decisions I have made, and I deeply regret it. I didn't realize how cruel and horrible it was until I went on this journey. We didn't realize it was 340 steps up a rigorous mountain side. The men were hitting the donkies with sticks, yelling/cursing, and scaring them. I didn't realize how sick this was until I was on the donkey and this was going on. I burst into tears, and was crying the entire ride because I could feel their pain; it was horrible. Not only 5 minutes later of us getting off, they forced the donkies to go back down 340 stairs and back up. The donkies were breathing so hard, and they were even vicious to each other because they were so upset and overworked. This truly broke my heart and I will never, ever do that again. If you go to Greece or Santorini PLEASE do not ride a donkey. It's abuse. No reason for it when there is a cable car that takes 2 minutes.

For the rest of the day, that was on my mind even though I tried so hard for it not to ruin my day. I just have a strong feeling that I should help and do something to stop it. Kaitlyn tried to cheer me up by saying we could ride to Oia, the other part of Santorini, and watch the sunset. The ride was about 30 minutes. We rode along the cliffside seeing the moon rise in the pink-blue sky with the yellow flowers scattered all on the sides of the road. Kaitlyn zoomed through the curving streets, and we made it to the famous part of Santorini. We walked through the narrow pathways of the white buildings built upon each other venturing deeper through the houses. We met more lovely cat friends, and saw the sunset dancing upon the view of the white and blue backdrop.

Santorini was magical, there is no other word to describe it. This memoir is reflecting on my memories because there is no way I can put into words the images I saw there. It’s truly something you must see to believe. I’ve never seen the moon sit in the sky so beautifully over the sea. The white houses add a heavenly effect among the yellow flowers reflecting the stars. This was the trip of a lifetime, and I thank you Santorini for letting me witness what I think mirrors heaven. I’m so glad I got to have these memories and share them with a good friend. Life doesn’t get any better than that.

Remember to see the beauty in all things, even the embarrassing or stressful moments. Live by the 5x5: if it won’t matter in 5 years, don’t spend even 5 minutes thinking about it.

“Everything will be okay in the end. If it’s not okay, it’s not the end.” – John Lennon