Livin' La Vita Lucca: Wildflowers, Donkeys, and Sunsets

When I was ten, I took a trip with my fifth grade class to Yosemite. It was a life changing experience for me. After spending a week amidst the most beautiful sights in all of creation, I found myself sitting on a bus headed back to “real life”. I sat on that bus with tears streaming down my face, unable to control my emotions. A parent chaperone came over and asked me if everything was all right. What I couldn’t put into words then, I will try now. When you have the opportunity to see, experience, and touch God’s majesty, it’s overwhelming and it changes you. Leaving that place, I was flooded with the sadness of a great loss. I didn’t want to leave on that bus. I wanted to stay forever. With these memories comes a complete sense of thankfulness that places like Yosemite, places touched with wildflowers, waterfalls, and incredible beauty exist all over our planet and I have been so fortunate to go out and find them.

Each of us this year chose a place to visit to celebrate our birthday. Ash chose London, Dave chose Christmas markets in Germany/Austria, and Arya will be celebrating her birthday in Paris next month. My pick? Greece for Easter and the beautiful island of Santorini.

Santorini did not let me down. It gave me that high I got for the first time when I was ten and I was getting to share it now with my own girls. This blog is a lot of photos because most of what we did for three days was just soak in the island. We took an eight hour ferry ride to reach the island and then several days exploring. A hike from Fira to Oia (the two major towns), a boat trip over to the volcano and a swim in the “hot springs”, a donkey ride up the mountain, fish pedicures, leisurely breakfasts, and evening sunsets. My idea of heaven on earth!

Fira

Sunset from our balcony

Our fun room at Pantelia Suites

Our front door

"Downtown"

Day hike to Oia from Fira. Took us about six hours with a stop for lunch and a few detours.

We started off on the trail counting lizards but after about 30 min and 50 lizards in,

we decided it was too hard!

"Detour" for a hike up this adjoining mountain. If you zoom in you can see

Dave and the girls in the middle of the trail!

Church along the road

Investigating rocks. Sedimentary, metamorphic, or igneous?

Snack stand along the road. Time for some fresh squeezed OJ.

I'm in love with this house - well at least the yellow trim!

Grasshopper spotting

Made it to Oia!

After a full day hiking we decided fish pedicures were in order. Something Ashley and I enjoyed in Athens. Arya and Dave now give it a try. So tickly!

Lots of dead skin on Dave's feet or he's super tasty.

We took a three hour boat trip that included a stop to the adjacent volcano that split the island up 3600 years ago. The eruption left a giant caldera between a group of islands that we now call the Cyclades. This same eruption was said to have caused a tsunami at the time, wiping out the Minoan civilization on the island of Crete.

After our hike we had the opportunity to take a dip in the "hot springs." Dave jumped right off the boat and immediately yelled up to me, "NO! Too cold. Don't let Arya come." It was definitely not hot. It was so cold it took his breath away. Ashley jumped in and they swam over to the hot area that was a touch warmer, while Arya and I stayed put on the boat.

After our boat tour we took donkeys to get from the port up to Fira. Arya really wanted to ride, but got freaked out, so Ash and I took the easy way up, while Dave and Arya went on foot. There were SO many donkeys trekking up and down the mountain. They didn't even need a guide (thus the reason Arya was freaking out), because they do it all the time.