Paradise on Earth: Santorini

If I can find a picture that will do Santorini justice, I'll be sure to let you know. As we did not want to take away from our time in the upcoming countries with set flight dates (Turkey and Egypt) we had two nights in Santorini. They were, quite frankly, two of the best days/nights of my life.

Santorini is impossibly beautiful:

I will vouch that the sunsets are the most remarkable sunsets I have ever seen on the planet Earth:
There are so many amazing church steeples that dot along the coast line, we were lucky enough to still soak in the entire sunset from one (jaw-dropping) vantage point, as we could have just stopped in awe at all of the gorgeous churches.
We had met up with the other American couple I mentioned in Athens and had an amazing time being the only four drunk people dancing at some bar. Santorini, although quite small, has numerous vineyards on the island and all of the local wineries produce some delicious wine. I wish I could have shipped some home for my Dad as this stuff puts two-buck-Chuck to shame. All of the wineries bottle their wine in big two-liter plastic bottles (they are literally recycled water bottles) with a "label" on them (read: sticker). The ones we had were at least 12%, I'm not sure, but the 2L bottle is 3 Euros (4 to 5 for the high-end variety), so you can have a good time for cheap.

Anyhow, during the second day (March 19, Happy Birthday P Sir) we rented ATVs as you can get around the entire island in such a fashion. I made a point to find the sweetest European helmet I could:

That picture is taken from the top of some ancient town on top of a huge hill (there were no fewer than 25 switchbacks to get up there), its name escapes me, but the best part of it is this dog, below:
The dog, whom I named Baxter, is the best dog, ever. I miss him; I'm actually preventing myself from crying as I look at that picture. He saw our ATV cruising around town before we got to the hill, and then the little guy seriously ran alongside us through the town, up the mountain, and down the mountain again (at least 6 kilometers). He darted off to chase a cat when we got to the bottom of the mountain while we carried on our way. Some distance later I could see him in my side/rear-view mirrors as he resumed chasing us, but he slowly faded away as we were going too fast for him (those ATVs go up to 25-30km/hr). I was debating to stop and wait for him to catch up, pick him up by his neck and put him inside my sweatshirt and keep him. Baxter, if you're out there and reading this, I miss you.

Our ATV adventures lead us to the famous red sand beach:

And I should also mention we went to the black sand beach, as well. As you'd imagine, the sand is actually fine volcanic rock, which is why it's either black or red.

On the last evening, the only way to top off another amazing sunset would be a donkey ride from the bottom of the old port all the way back up to civilization (some 300+ big stairs). It's a staple in Santorini and is as touristy as it gets, but nonetheless it was fun. I discovered firsthand why donkeys are (in)famous for being so stubborn. For example, as we were a group of four (two couples), as soon as Natalya got on her donkey it took off like a world-class sprinter. We of course wanted to climb the stairs together, but Natalya's donkey was on a mission and beat all of our donkeys by a good ten minutes or so. Lucky for me, this put her in a good spot to take this picture:

Altogether, the ATVs, Baxter, the food, the wine, the people, and so many other reasons culminated together to create an unbelievable time for us in Santorini. I was pinching myself over and over; it was too good to be true. It was nothing short of paradise on Earth, and I cannot wait to go back to Santorini one day.

Sadly, our two nights had come and gone, and we were on a late ferry heading out of Greece/Europe and on to the second continent we will visit: Asia.