The girls go to GREECE! Part I - Santorini

So I've finished my classes in Madrid and traveled around southern Spain with our whole group from my university's study abroad program. I'm back in Madrid and meeting my mom so we can fly to Greece!

I'm going to let you in on a very sensitive moment  in my life.
When I got back to Madrid I called my mom to let her know we were on the bus and pulling up at our hotel . She had booked a room there also, so that we could stay the night there and leave the next morning from the same place to make it easy. So I got off the bus and walked down the sidewalk with our group. I saw my mom and I got all excited because it felt like forever since I'd seen her... she walked right past me!! I grabbed her and she got this weird look on her face and then was like "Oh! I didn't even recognize you!" I'd like to tell you it was because my hair had gotten so long while I was there, and that was part of it, but the real reason.... if you remember from my previous post, I loved Madre's paella. Well... I'll just say maybe I loved it a little too much. I left for Spain a size 0 and by the end of my time there I was a size 4. I know, I know, that's not that big of a deal, except I'm 5'1 and have never been bigger than a size 2. So it was kind of a shock to me already, but the fact that my own mother didn't recognize me! I thought I was going to die! UGH!


Okay on to happier moments. The things I missed the most while I was gone was Milo's sweet tea (if you don't know what that is you're missing out), Little Debbie Nutty Bars and Reese Cups. My mom is so cute and when we got to the hotel room she had brought me, my roommate and 2 of our friends a whole stash of Nutty Bars, Reese Cups and she packed a cooler in her suitcase with little bottles of Milo's sweet tea! WE WERE IN HEAVEN! Not like I needed ANY of it, but at that point I didn't care if I gained 15 more pounds, I was going to enjoy it all! That kept us occupied the rest of the night, as we stuffed ourselves while we told my mom all about our summer!


The next morning we woke up and left for Santorini, Greece! 
It took a full day to travel so when we arrived in Santorini it was dark out and we couldn't see anything. We got to our hotel, had greek chicken and rice delivered to our room, and crashed. 
I woke up the next morning to my mom standing at the window holding the shutters open and gasping for air. All she said was, "You have to come see this". I walked over to the window and stood still and silent in awe...

Our breathtaking view from our window! We stayed at Volcano View Hotel

and I highly recommend staying there!

Our cute little room from outside.

Quick picture before heading out for the day.

Again, I don't remember everything we did, so I'm going to let you enjoy the scenery! Santorini is the most beautiful place I have ever been.

Day 1: We drove around the Island and tried to take it all in. If it's possible for something to be picture perfect, Santorini is.

Our sweet ride :)

PERFECT Greek picture!  

We drove all around the Island the first day and stopped
for lunch. The view was incredible!

The Red Beach

The sunsets were so serene.

Day 2: We rode Donkeys down the mountain to the port, took a boat to the Caldera of Santorini where we hiked the Caldera and went to a natural hot springs (we opted out of swimming), then we took a sunset cruise back to the port.

*Remeber when I said, "When you travel with my mom you WILL do it ALL"?? Believe me yet?

Here are some pictures from our adventurous second day...

I thought this was too funny!

Lord help us! We literally were praying for our lives. The man had the
poor Donkey's running down the mountain and we ALL were screaming
to the top of our lungs, begging him to slow down! He didn't listen.

If you look closely you can see the zig-zag shape of the stairway we came down.

Our boat to the Caldera.

On the boat going to the Caldera.

On top of the Caldera looking back at the island. Wish you could see all the 

white buildings across the rim a little better.

Waiting to get back on the boat for our sunset cruise.

Sunset Cruise. Perfect ending to a perfect stay on a perfect island. 

I WILL GO BACK TO SANTORINI SOMEDAY!

Next Destination: GREECE PART II - ATHENS!