A few more words about Athens: It is dirty and crowded - just what we were told to expect. It looks as if the entire city is under construction, which it may be, with the Olympic Games around the corner. As Tracy said, "Athens is in ruins and I don't mean the ancient kind." Good thing we had a ferry ticket to Santorini at 7:25am.

Had an okay sleep, interrupted by late arrivals at 1:30am. Fell back asleep soon, but woke up 1 minute before the alarm was set for 6am. We were just a wee bit excited. The 7.5 hour ferry trip from Athens to Santorini was relaxing. We sat on the deck, looking out the back of the boat, trying to get some much-needed sun on our bodies. I'm happy to report, no sea sickness. We were seated near a group of Greek guys in their 20s, I'm guessing, who brought a HUGE boom box. Like the kind we begged our parents for back in 1984! Good dance music (most of it American) serenaded us through each stop. The boat docked at Paros, Naxos and Ios before we arrived at Santorini.

We were met at the port by a van from our next hostel (what service for 5 euro a night) and then driven up, up, up the side of the island, which is a dead volcano. The ride was gorgeous. Picture a winding, steep, switch-back road overlooking the sea. What a way to meet the island!

Our hostel is in Parissa, a 10 minute bus ride from the main island city, Fira. We met a few fellow hostel guests (all college kids) from England and Australia. Everyone is so tan. Tracy and I could blind the island with our white skin. So, we hit the beach. The sand is black - volcanic ash and rocks. The water is warm and beautiful. We just left the beach to walk the "strip" and found this Internet cafe. The sun is setting, casting a pink glow on the white houses set in to the island. Santorini really does look like its postcards.

It is about 7:30pm local time. We are headed back to the hostel to shower and head to Fira for Coronas and Soulvaki! Yum.

Side note (this one's for Mark): Capris are very popular with the Greeks. However, I've only seen MEN wearing them. Hot hot hot! One might want to rethink their stance on capri pants...