Happy 23rd Birthday Brent!

What a way to spend your birthday—sipping smoothies on the beautiful coast of Santorini. Brent and I had a great day rela-ing on the beach and e-ploring kamari a little better in the evening after a fun birthday dinner. We had heard that Kamari was very overdeveloped and the coast was lined with shops and restaurants and little stores. But, hey, we’re tourists so we enjoyed the area. Besides, the beachfront restaurants are beautiful and the prices in Kamari are a lot better than any of the towns overlooking the caldera.

Just to clarify (since I didn’t realize myself before Brent e-plained) the caldera is the side of the island that overlooks the “center” of Santorini, where the volcano is situated in the middle of the ocean. Santorini is in the shape of an elongated “C” and the volcano that formed the island rests in the center of the “C”, so the caldera side is anything along that inside border of the island. The famous sunset pictures of Santorini are all taken on the caldera side of the island. They’re spectacular!

I think one of my favorite things about Santorini has been driving the quad through the clouds in the late afternoon as fog rolls in. Around 5pm, the clouds drift over the island and because we are situated so high above sea level, we are literally driving through the clouds. It’s the craziest feeling. At first, Brent and I were kind of squinting as we drove through the clouds because it looks like a huge cloud of dirt coming your way. Then we realized that, hmmm….our faces feel damp. It’s absolutely beautiful to watch the clouds drift over head and below as you drive through the windy cliff roads.

Tomorrow is our last full day in Santorini and we are off to hike the volcano and swim in the hot springs. Then it’s off to Paros on the 16th!