Journey to Fira, Santorini

The journey to caldera began on a frigid January evening in New Jersey. Twenty hours later, we stumbled along the hilly streets at midnight, en route to the only (and soon-to-be-favorite) gyro shop open. 

When Wilson announced he'd be traveling to Athens for a school trip (lucky kid), mom discovered that prices for off-season flights to Greece couldn't be beat. During Thanksgiving, my aunt Carroll excitedly decided that she'd tag along; our first extended family trip since our Niagara-Toronto road trip in 2003. 

Our past trips have contributed to a streak of "traveling just to see the sights." Connecting with the local people and culture was possible, though the effort was much more intentional. Wanting to break out of this exhausting, bucket-list-driven mentality, we preemptively decided to simplify our itinerary and schedule-in extra time for unrouted wandering. Greece is a small but geographically and culturally diverse country, with ski slopes in the north, a history-rich capital near the center, and thousands of islands throughout the Mediterranean sea. How do you make the most of an 8-day trip while not converting a vacation into a stressful, itinerary-packed pilgrimage? 

As I wrap up my semester and remind myself to find balance in all things, I'll also slowly begin to share about our adventures in Greece, starting with Santorini, following with Delphi, Meteora, and ending with Athens. For your reference, however, here's an overview of our real timeline - we predicted it to be the most feasible and least stressful arrangement when planning, and in hindsight, I agree:

Day 1: Two flights in a row - Newark, NJ to Athens, Greece to Fira, Santorini (also known as "Thira")

Day 2: Santorini

Day 3: Santorini for the day; flight from Fira to Athens in the evening

Day 4: Athens

Day 5: Athens to Meteora for sunset, with a few hours at Delphi along the way

Day 6: Meteora in the morning; drive back to Athens in the evening

Day 7: Athens

Day 8: Athens in the morning; Athens to Newark in the evening

In the next blogpost, you'll find a more straightforward guide to Santorini: when to visit; how to get there; what to see, do, eat. But today, I'll leave you with photos of beautiful Fira, the capital of Santorini island. 

"Para él, la experiencia del viaje representa un acceso privilegiado a la memoria..." 
Radicante, by Nicolas BourriaudI was anticipating disappointment before flying out because our two short days in Santorini were forecasted to be rainy. I love having my camera around, but I had to check myself with the reminder that we ought to travel for the connections and the immersive lessons in anthropology, not for the Instagram photos. After our midnight gyros after arriving, we arrived to our hotel just before a thunderstorm. I scolded myself until I fell asleep for being disappointed about not being able to see the famous Santorini sunset. That morning, feeling less resigned and more positive, I opened the curtains and sunshine flooded in. Well, what do you know? We were blessed with sunshine on both days.

Spoiler alert: Yogi's Gyro was our favorite!