Last Updated on July 24, 2013 by
Yasas!
Last week, I had the unique experience of learning how to do a traditional Greek dance! On Tuesday, after a long night of dancing, I was awoken by one of our coordinators for a long morning of dancing! Everyone held their hands up in the air and stood in a half circle. We learned the different counts each dance had and when to kick left or right. The last dance, called Sirtaki was one of my favorites, because you start slow and end with a super fast pace.
On the fourth of July, AIFS had made a plan to celebrate America that weekend in Santorini…one of best decisions of my life. When we got there, we were all astonished by the hotel we were staying in. It was not only breathtakingly beautiful, but the beach was less than a minute away! We dropped our bags, changed into our bathing suits and headed for lunch in front of the beach! The first two days we spent relaxing on the beach and exploring Santorini a bit.
View from our balcony in Santorini!
Saturday was our adventurous day and so we took a tour around the different islands in Santorini. Our first stop was hiking around the famous volcano called Nea Kameni. The last major eruption created a group of islands in Santorini: Thira, Thirasia, and Aspronisi. The tour guide told us to seek little spot holes around the volcano, and when we found one, we were surprised to see a little bit of smoke. We placed our hands over the hole and we could feel the heat! Afterwards, we went back on the sail boat and traveled towards the hot springs where they allowed us to jump off the boat one by one for a little swim. That was one of my favorite parts of the tour. This is where the mud bath is; apparently, the mud is good for your skin so people would put it all over their faces and body.
Sister and I on the Volcano of Nea Kameni
<3
Hot Springs!
We then went to the island of Thirasia, where we had lunch and spent a little bit of time shopping around or by a little beach. Finally, they took us to my favorite spot of the tour, where I believe The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants was filmed…Oia! Where the famous sunset is! To me, it is one of the most beautiful villages in the world! It is where all the houses are white and rounded. When we got there we had the choice to either climb 270 steps or ride on a donkey- see photo below! We spent the rest of the evening sitting on the castle of Oia. It is a moment in life where everything around you freezes…all you want to do is stay there forever and just stare. Thank you Santorini, for a memorable fourth of July weekend. Till next blog. 🙂
270 steps in Oia
Sunset in Oia, Santorini!
