Santorini

So because I am on deadlines on Monday, my creativity is sucked out of me because I'm busy throwing it all at this Wednesday's edition of the paper.

So each Monday I'm going to try to answer a blog prompt.

Today's question du jour: If someone gave you plane tickets to go anywhere in the world right now, where would you go?

I immediately think of my favorite past vacations when I think about this and my favorite vacations are the ones where I am surrounded by beauty, but can relax under the sun and read to my heart's content.

Now I realize this isn't my husband's favorite type of vacation, but he doesn't fly so I'll assume I'm taking a friend on this adventure.

Should I go somewhere I've been before? I've always wanted to go back to Santorini, Greece and I've only spent a little time in Hawaii, and then only in Kauai, so I have a lot of Hawaii left to see.

But Hawaii seems doable, and if I can fly ANYWHERE, I would want to fly somewhere that looks unlikely. Somewhere extravagant.

And like the freak I am I just checked the weather there to make sure that it is prime beach relaxation weather and it is. Mid to upper 70s for the next ten days.

So yes, Santorini it is. Why Santorini? Well I realize I've been there before but I was only there for one day and honestly, I'd love to spend a week there. The people were so nice. The food was fantastic and I could see myself just loving relaxing there at a beachside hotel run by some local family.

When we got off the cruise ship, my family and I went immediately to a restaurant overlooking the coast to try some local eats before we set off on our day. The locals who owned the restaurant were so nice and gave us all sorts of authentic Greek food to try and gave advice about what to see while on the island. They wanted us to have the authentic Greek experience, not the tourist-y one.

So they told us which beach to head toward, one on the other side of the island. They even helped us figure out which bus to take to get there. Now the bus, that was quite the experience. It was probably about 85 degrees that day on the island and the bus was so crowded and hot that I was standing and holding on to a seat, while another very sweaty Greek man stood next to me – my head literally placed right in his hairy armpit as he held the upper rail to remain steady on the bumpy ride.

But that unpleasantness aside, the journey was totally worth it. We got off the bus where the locals told us to and we were greeted by a nearly empty black sand beach, the likes of which I have never seen before. My parents got some Greek beers and we just sat on the shore taking in the gorgeous view and thanking God for the experience.

Black sand beach

So I'd like to have that experience again and a lot more time to see other parts of the island. Too bad this is just a prompt and not a real life situation where someone is handing me tickets to my dream vacation.