Katie Thorne: Blogger Extraordinaire

From Katie Scarlett:

I am excited to have the opportunity to guest blog, which is a direct result of the group separating after losing each other in Santorini. Because I had my motorcycle license (special shout out to my dad for helping me purse that dream) I was able to rent a vespa while the other ladies rented ATV’s to ride around the island for the day. After losing Catherine and Becky, Caitlynn, Kristin, and I decided to head to the beach for about an hour. The beach was beautiful, rocky and filled with lava pebbles, and water that was crystal clear. We relaxed and soaked up the sun, and those of you who know me, understand my love of tanning so I thoroughly enjoyed our sojourn on the beach at Kumari.

Even though we could have spent the day relaxing there, we decided that we must Seize the Day and ventured back to get our vehicles to head our for a cruise of the island. We then proceeded to ride to the northern most point of the isle, taking the scenic coastal route all the way to the Bay of Armenia. We leisurely made our way twisting and turning through the mountainous landscape, viewing sights that one only could imagine would exist in their dreams. The wind blowing through my hair, and the picturesque mountainside filled with white villas with blue roofs, I had a moment where I truly felt as though I was in heaven. Now mind you there are no street signs on the entire island, and really no rules to the road, so at times when large tour buses would pass us it was a little unnerving, but made for an adventure I will never forget.

After about and hour we wound our way down from the top of the mountain to the Bay. We turned the corner, and what we saw is more than words can describe, but I will try my best. The Bay of Armenia was a small fishing village, at the bottom of the mountain, which stood around 1000 feet above the cove. The water was crystal clear, unlike any I had seen before. Blues, greens, aquamarine, really any shade of azul that you can imagine was how one could describe the water. And the fishing boats were as colorful as an artist’s pallet. We decided this was the perfect place to break for lunch so we found a small restaurant where we could sit and enjoy the view. Then came lunch and boy do I like to eat, especially fresh seafood. There was fresh calamari, fish, muscles, straight off of the fishing boats, my mouth is watering right now reminiscing about how decadent it tasted.

After we finished lunch, we proceeded back to our vehicles’ and decided we wanted to see the southern most point of the island. Again we twisted and turned, passing countless wineries and villas along the road. And for you horticulture lovers out there, the vineyards are quite different than any I have ever seen. The vines grow on the ground, in little mounds, due to the lack of water. They absorb water through the humidity, so you don’t really see rows and rows of grapes, but little mounds planted sporadically in the ground. The same goes for the cherry tomatoes, which at every stand you stop at they have drying in the sun. Enough of my horticulture rant, I could go on for hours about how impressive the utilization of the land is with limited resources, but back to our adventure.

Around an hour later we made it to the Red Beach, where to our surprise we ran into Catherine and Becky. They were on there way back to Fira and suggested we spend some time hiking our way to the beach to relax for a bit. We made our way via the jagged cliffs to a hidden oasis on the southern side of the island. In our distance we could see yachts and smaller island, a pictures landscape I never will forget. With our bellies still full from lunch we sprawled out like fat sea lions on the red and black lava pebbles every so often dipping in the water to sooth our sun kissed skin. It was perfect and I realized then that this island would be one that would be etched in my memory forever.