Greece

I'm so behind! I've been in Israel for two weeks now and it has been amazing. Before I get started on that though, let me tell you about Greece!

Greece began with a very long 9 hours in the Athens airport waiting for my friends to arrive from LA. I met up with Katie and Lauren in Athens where we spent two nights. We stayed at an amazing hotel with a roof top pool, from which we could see the Acropolis. We visited the National Gardens, the Temple of Zeus and the Acropolis of course. We also spent many hours enjoying the splendors of the roof top pool and bar.

(Acropolis)
Athens is a pretty dirty city and wasn't that pleasant to be in. Luckily we only stayed a short time before heading out to the island of Santorini.
On Santorini we stayed in Thira (also spelled Fira). Upon arrival we immediately hopped on a bus and headed to the black sand beach in Perissa- on the other side of the small island (a 20 min bus ride). The water was warm and the beach was lovely. Back at our hotel we jumped in the pool before getting ready for a nice dinner and night out on the town.

Katie, Lauren and I
Day 2 on Santorini was very similar to Day 1- we went to Perissa and soaked up the sun. We got plenty of exercise by swimming around and playing paddle ball. It was a lovely, relaxing day.
On the third day in Santorini we took a day trip to a volcanic island, a fishing village on the island of Therasia and ended the trip in Oia on Santorini to watch the sunset. The volcanic island was very barren (as you can probably imagine). There are a few spots where our guide skillfully dug into the earth and produced hot lava rocks.
We spent another couple of days enjoying Perissa and another black sand beach, Kamari, before Katie and Lauren left to spend a few days in Rome. When they left I headed to the cheap side of the island to stay at a youth hostel. I had a 5 bed dorm all to myself! I also pretty much had the swimming pool to myself too!
After Santorini I journeyed to Israel to reunite with Katie and Lauren.

pictures of Greece: http://www1.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=3030813017/a=138185395_138185395/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/