Live Well and Run

The day that followed my marathon was a blur. We slept in knowing that we were foregoing the last morning to explore Athens, Greece before we headed to the island of Santorini. My body ached and I was exhausted so I did not mind in the least bit to get the extra rest. When we did eventually rise nearly in the afternoon, we had a short bit to get brunch and head to the airport.

With carry-on luggage in tow, we walked to where the restaurants were all lined up beckoning us to join them. We glimpsed one menu and decided that they were bound to be all the same. We sat down at the nearest one and it turned out to be excellent! We split spanakopita and dolmathakia which were delightful! Then all of a sudden our server complemented us with a shot of their traditional greek alcohol, Ouzo which tasted like licorice. For our main course, I had a greek egg scramble while my boyfriend had a traditional gyro. We were completely filled and were absolutely content. As we were paying the server once more brought out pudding for us to enjoy. It was an absolute treat and one way to wrap up our trip in Athens.

The flight to Santorini was quick. We got there right after sunset so there were cascading blues, purples and pinks in the sky from the sun that had just set. We were to stay in Oia but last minute our hotel, La Maltese changed our reservations to right outside of Thera. We went to the hotel where we supposedly had been upgrade to a suite with an outside pool and balcony. As we waited for them to take our information down for the reservation we walked onto the balcony of the hotel. The view made my heart so full. It was one of the moments where everything you see in pictures and read about in magazines you realize they are not just fairytales that I am actually living it. The view of the ocean ahead with a volcano sitting in the middle as both ends the island wraps around with white homes and buildings, blue churches and aquamarine blue pools. At each end of the island the little towns lit up like diamonds and you could hear the far off music welcoming guests to dinner. The host called on us and we followed them to our new suite. Once we got there our mouths had dropped, it was absolutely gorgeous! You walk in and there was a kitchen, living room and bedroom all built into the cave. Outside there were two tables to enjoy the views, above was a lounge area and then the outdoor pool. We did not know how we got so lucky to be upgrade but we thanked our luck stars.

(Photos of our suite the next morning!)

As we got dressed for the evening, we ordered a bottle of wine and cheered to the moon that sat outside our window, to the beautiful place where we were and experiencing it together. As we headed out the door to explore Thera, there was a couple in the suite next to us who we said hello. Before we knew it, we struck up conversation and were sharing Jameson and rose. They were a lovely couple from Ontario traveling on their honeymoon and we got along with them so well. We invited them to get dinner, and headed on our way among the labyrinth of twists and turns of Thera’s walkways to find the perfect restaurant. We found one that was decently priced and had quite the options between pizza, pasta and traditional Greek cuisine. We sat down to enjoy the entire meal, pitcher of wine and ongoing conversation learning about one another. We had such a fun time together, we found a street vender who was selling beers and even taught them how to shot gun a beer! It was hilarious and we also befriended stray dogs who followed us around probably looking for scraps of food that we did not have. After many laughs and roaming around the little town in search of bars, we headed back to our hotel. As we said goodnight and split ways from our new friends, there was a moment when I knew they had just made our Santorini trip that much better and I already was looking forward to getting back together with them the following day!

Live Well and Run xox