On to Ios, Greece!

On the second day of my trip, I was up bright and early before sunrise to head to the ferry.  I've never really been on a ferry boat and I had this idea in my head from what I had seen on television, but it was waaaaaay wrong. haha  The ferry ride to the island of Ios was about four hours and it was a super nice boat ride.  The seats were leather and similar to airplane seats in that they reclined a little and there were tray tables so you could enjoy any snacks and drinks you purchased on the boat.

Far Out Beach Club view by the pool

Pulling out from the dock, the views were gorgeous as they were all along the way.  Once we arrived in Ios, our first day was spent just relaxing at Far Out Beach Club by the pool and beach.  The views were gorgeous, the blue water was crystal clear when you walked out to it, and it all just felt like a dream.

Enjoying a beach day!

We had a few days in Ios, so I had plenty of time to explore the whole island.  We spent lots of time in the town square, where we hiked to the top where there was an old church for some amazing views of the island.  I also tried a pork gyro, which was delicious and more food than I could handle.  We went to the square on most evenings to shop and enjoy the night life.  There was just so much to see and plenty of desserts to try! lol

The next day we went on a speed boat tour, which was way more fun than I could have imagined.  The boat ride was several hours long and we spent the time cave crawling, snorkeling, and visiting a private beach.  The water there is very salty and the buoyancy is so different than any water I have every experienced.  I was quite nervous the first time they stopped the boat and told us we were going to jump off and swim to the rocks...without a life jacket!  But I soon realized that you literally float in the water and it's truly amazing!  It made the swim so much easier and was great for snorkeling!  

Our last day in Ios was to be spent however we wanted.  A group of us decided to rent ATVs and I was totally on board with that!  I rented my own small four wheeler, they handed us a map, and we spent the whole day riding around the island together.  We found lots of beautiful beaches, stopped for lunch, saw some goats, found some gorgeous lookout points, and even made a visit to Homer's Tomb!  It was definitely one of the highlights of my time in Ios.

I had many delicious meals and treats while in Ios, including veal for dinner on my last night.  I also made sure to stop by the Nutellaria while I was there because I'm a HUGE Nutella lover!  The food was always amazing and is one thing I miss from my time in Greece!

Ios was a blast and one of the most beautiful islands, but it was time for the last leg of my adventure in Santorini.  Keep watching the blog to read about all the fun I had at my next destination!

The beach was just gorgeous!

First Stop-Athens, Greece

My flight to Greece was the longest flight I have ever been on.  It was around 9 hours, and I really hoped I could sleep for most of it.  Unfortunately, something I have learned about myself on this trip so far is that I don't sleep well on airplanes. lol I packed pajamas and a blanket in my backpack for the plane, but it's so hard to get comfortable enough to actually sleep.  I was so envious of those around me that were able to do it so easily.  Next time I fly internationally, I will have to bring some melatonin or something....and definitely save up some money to score one of those awesome first class seat that lay flat!

Since this was my first big international flight (I don't count the time I flew to Jamaica), I got to enjoy a meal and snack on the airplane.  The food wasn't bad at all and it was nice to have a hot meal to enjoy while in flight.  I had a choice of chicken or pasta and the girl beside me said to go with the pasta. 😂 Either way, I knew that I would be finishing it off with some ice cream, so that was an awesome bonus.  I also got a snack during the flight and then a hot breakfast snack before the airplane landed.

My flight landed in Athens at 10:00am on Monday morning to begin my real adventure.  I was a day later than the original itinerary since one full day of travel turned into two days of travel, but you can read more about that here.  The first order of business was to exchange some American money for Euros.  I had no idea what I would need for the week, so I just took a guess and headed off to grab a cab.

Since I was a late arrival and nobody else in my group was there at the same time as me, I was in a cab by myself to head to the hotel.  It was a real experience to ride in a foreign country with a driver that didn't speak any English! During this ride, I determined that Greece may not have any traffic laws and pedestrians better move out of the way! 😆

Thankful to have survived that taxi ride!

I safely arrived at Hotel Herodion in Athens and was excited to meet up with my group and check in.  I had missed the Acropolis tour that morning, and I only had one day in Athens, so I was excited to explore and check everything out!

I was able to visit the Acropolis, walk the town and visit some of the shops, enjoy my first authentic Greek meal, and meet up with all the other girls on the tour during my one day in Athens.  It was a great way to kick off my trip and I headed to bed knowing the next day would be an early morning since we had to catch the ferry for Ios in the morning.

Stay tuned for more on my trip to Greece coming soon!  Let me know if there's something you want to hear about!