Sunny Greece for Dreary London? Yes, please!

γειά σας! Which means "Hello!" in Greek. It's phonetically translated as "yah-sas." Our time in Greece has been lovely to say the least. We are staying in the Cyclades Islands, specifically on Santorini, which both sets of our parents have told us in case we didn't know, is one big active volcano. It’s a beautiful island in the shape of a backward “C,” and yes, it is a volcano, but we’ll take our chances. Let me first tell you about where we are staying on the island.


We arrived here last Tuesday night via plane, and to our great surprise, the owner of our villa was there waiting for us at the airport! Yorgos (George) is his name, and he owns the villa with his wife and daughter. On the drive to the hotel, he proceded to tell us all about the island, it was like a free tour! We were already amazed at the customer service we were getting. Then when we arrived at Aretousa Villas in Perissa, Santorini. Yorgos and his wife sat down with us and served us some of their homemade wine. We knew we had found a gem. They are an adorable family. The wife, Ariti, is very sweet, but she doesn't speak very much English. We find some way to communicate, with me speaking English and her speaking Greek back to me. My impulse is to speak French so she can better understand me, but just because that is the only other language I speak doesn't mean she speaks it! We've tried to pick up some Greek, but we're finding it pretty difficult. So many syllables compared to English! We had to practice for a few days just to learn to say thank you, which is a four-syllable word compared to our two syllables. We’re up to about three words. I feel a tad guilty waltzing into a country in which I have no knowledge of the language. None except English speakers have this luxury it seems. But how I wish I knew all the languages!


As Santorini is very much a beach destination for Europeans, there is a wide variety of representation of countries here. I like to just sit in a cafe and eavesdrop on the people, even though I don't know what they're saying oftentimes. I just like to see people of different cultures and how they interact with one another. Husbands and wives, children and parents, a group of friends...I suppose it's all the same really, but I find it very interesting.

But back to Aretousa Villas...it is a beautiful place, and we’re so blessed to be here. The prices here are incredible, which is part of the reason we chose to stay for so long....I’m sure it’s because it’s the off season, but the weather has been perfect everyday---sunny with a nice ocean breeze blowing through our hair. Yorgos told us that it hasn’t rained since January! We are staying in the town of Perissa, which lucky for us, has the island’s largest stretch of beach. We’re just steps away. If we ever come back to Greece, we would absolutely stay here again.

The people are incredibly hospitable here, and the outdoor restaurants and cafes are numerous. The food has been delicious...I think we have eaten too much baklava! We in particular enjoy this man named Elias who runs one of the local restaurants. He's very animated and likes to ask us about America. He told us he hopes to visit, but this year he is going to Australia for a wedding. He's heard that they have "big butts" and so he is afraid...


We just stared at him after this comment. I was thinking, "if you think they have big butts in Australia, wait til you get to the States!" But then he made a flying motion with his arms and we realized he meant "big birds." Haha. I can't fault him though, I don't speak a lick of Greek, and he communicates in English very well. It was just kinda funny :)




Having Lunch Beachside

The scenery here is everything I thought it would be---gorgeous. The beaches here are mainly black sand beaches; and there is also the Red Beach, which is indeed red, and we've read it's the only one in the world, and also the White Beach, as they call it. The water is crystal clear. But the most beautiful is the view of the Aegean Sea from the highest points of the island. I just can't stop taking pictures! And I feel like none of them do the island justice.

The Red Beach





It's Red!

Oh, and this is how you get around the island:

Yes, you can circumnavigate the island in about 2 hours on a 4wheeler! Pretty freakin’ awesome. I have to stop and remind myself that I am driving around looking at these incredible views...in Greece!

Much more to come, we've been here almost 9 days, so there is much to report. In short, we're loving it! Looks like we got our beach vacation afterall! As many of you know, we took a tropical vacation in early July of this year to Antigua...three days later we raced home, didn't make it all the way and spent 2 days in an Atlanta hospital...poor Joey was inflicted with severe salmonella. He was sick for nearly two months afterward. It was terrible to say the least. But luckily on this trip, we're not in a third world country (as Joey likes to say), and God willing, we will continue to stay healthy!

Lots of love,