For my spring break, I spent the past 12 days island hopping throughout Greece. Visiting Greece has been a personal dream of mine for a while. I am my happiest when surrounded by beaches and great food so Greece was my personal paradise.
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| Rock climbing on the beach of Corfu |
My friend Carly and I started off our travels by flying from Athens to Corfu. Corfu is known as the typical spring break party destination of Greece, and The Pink Palace Hostel of Corfu did not disappoint. We were greeted with pink tinted shots of ouzu, (a Greek licorice flavored liquor) and shown around the premises. Our time in Corfu was spent lounging by the beach, partying on the Booze Cruise, and donning pink togas for the Pink Palace's traditional Pink Toga Party.
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| Pink Toga Party! |
We then journeyed by ferry to Athens for a night. Athens was more run-down than the other island spots that we visited and it was here, where Greece's economic hardships were more evident. My highlight of Athens was our multi-course dinner which was our true introduction to Greek food. For 15 euros we were served family-style, unlimited wine, tzatziki, pita, meatballs, calamari, salad, fried cheese (an unexpected and delicious greek specialty!), and moussaka-the greek version of eggplant parmesan but with meat and cinnamon as well. The negatives to eating in such a large group is that the food is devoured before you can manage to take a picture of the meal! All in all the food was delicious and I have certainly been going through tzatziki withdrawal since being back in Rome!
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| Pita with tzatziki |
From Athens we left our hostel at the lovely hour of 5:00am and took another ferry to Santorini. Santorini is known as being the most photogenic Greek island with all the typical blue and white buildings. Santorini was beautiful. That night we were taken to see the sunset from a point overlooking the ocean and cliffs. The sunset against the white buildings was truly spectacular. After taking and posing for hundreds of photographs, we made our way to dinner at a restaurant overlooking the water, with a gorgeous view of the sunset.
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| Santorini at Sunset |
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| The view from dinner |
Our first full day there we took a tour of the island which took us to the Red Sand Beach, the Black Sand Beach, a wine tasting, and to Oia, where the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants was filmed for sunset. The Red Sand Beach was such an unique beach, and mildy reminded me of the Grand Canyon. The beach is hidden away down a cliff, which you must carefully hike down to reach the beach. Red cliffs surround the beach at all sides, giving the beach a very private feeling. Next we laid out on the Black Sands Beach and enjoyed the sunshine. Later we headed to Oia for the sunset. Oia was my favorite part of Santorini because it was so beautiful.
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| Red Sand Beach |
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| Oia |
From Santorini Carly and I journeyed to Naxos. Naxos is not a typical tourist destination, but was highly recommended to us from the Greeks. Naxos ended up being my favorite island. It was small and secluded and the people were so hospitable and friendly. The weather also ended up being the warmest while we were in naxos, allowing us to enjoy the beach every day.
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| Breakfast Every Day: Greek Yogurt with Fruit and Honey |
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| Naxos Beach |
Greece overall, is paradise. The food, people, and scenery all exceed expectations. I cannot wait to go back!
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