My Big Fat Greek Haircut!!!

First things first.  Greece is an absolutely beautiful place.  I'd recommend anyone to go there for sure.  We decided that the plan for our visit to Greece was to stay in Athens for a few days and then go to one of the islands.  We arrived in Athens after our long ferry ride and made our way to the hotel.  We stayed in the main touristy area where there are tons of shops and restaurants.  We also had a view of the Acropolis from the street we were staying on.  It's such a nice view at night when it is all lit up on the cliff overlooking the city.  We spent an afternoon walking up to the Acropolis and taking in the beautiful views.  We walked through the flea markets and found cheap DVD's that we think are probably bootleg.  Of course we had a few Greek salads, gyros, olives, feta, and kebabs.  I did some shopping and also decided it was time to get a haircut.  I found a salon around the corner from our hotel and made an appointment.  I had no idea what I was in for.  The male hairdresser walked up to the chair to begin the haircut.  He then strapped on a tool belt of haircut cutlery.  Oh man, he meant business.  I started to describe the kind of haircut I wanted and he looked at me and said that an explanantion wouldn't be necessary.  Then he asked if he could cut bangs and I told him that was okay as long as they weren't too drastic. He laughed and said 'yeah right, not too drastic.' Then I told him I wanted some length taken off and he asked about layering my hair.  I told him that was fine too.  He seemed to understand English well enough.  He started cutting my hair.  Then he kept cutting my hair...more specifically the top of my head.  He also asked me my zodiac sign and also told me I would miss him when he is gone.  Anyway, after all the cutting, styling, and chit chat he was finally done. I had drastic bangs, more layers and he didn't take any length off the back.  I let out a snorty laugh when I looked at myself in the mirror.  I thought of how Scott might react to this and came to the conclusion he would think I looked like either a lion or Joan Jett.  Here's a picture about 4 days after...I think its more Joan Jett. Votes are encouraged...let me know what you think! 

"I Love Rock-N-Roll"

So life went on after that traumatic experience.  I tried to avoid going out in public but that wasn't possible.  That same day we had planned to leave Athens and take the ferry to Santorini Island.  The goal of going to the island was simply to relax and enjoy the amazing views of an amazing place...and we did exactly that!  Santorini was formerly called Thira.  In 1500 B.C. there was a volcano that erupted which is how Santorini was formed.  There is an island off the coast of Santorini where the volcano sits (pic to right).  We decided to splurge and stay in more of a resort type place since it is the low season now and you can find good deals on the resorts. 

We found a villa near the capital city, Fira, that had its own private pool and view of the ocean including the volcano.  We arrived at 1:30 am and our villa host picked us up at the port.  There was a huge rainstorm that first night and our villa flooded with an inch of water on both the upstairs and downstairs floors.  We inquired about getting a different villa and as it turns out the only other villa available was an upgrade to a room with a jacuzzi bathtub, outside hot tub, and private pool as well as the beautiful ocean view.  We were thrilled!  The temperature wasn't warm enough to swim, but warm enough (in the 70s)  for me to lay out one afternoon and soak up some sun.  The villa also had a kitchenette so we could cook our meals and relax at our place.  We saw the most amazing sunset (see pics below) the second night we were there.  One afternoon we rented a car and drove around the island.  We went up to the highest point on Santorini and to another town, Oia, where there were more beautiful ocean views.  We really enjoyed just hanging out and relaxing and also watching our bootleg DVD's!

Views from our villa

 

View to the right from our villa

View to the left from our villa

Fira cliffs

Oia Cliffs

                                          Boys afternoon fishing

Sunset in Fira down on the water

We are now back in Amsterdam, making a stop here on our journey back to the states.  We leave on Wednesday (11/18) and fly through Dublin on our way to Boston.  Scott and I plan to stay through the weekend then head to see our families in Missouri and North Carolina.  Thanks for joining us on our European adventure!  Stay tuned for a 'Best of' blog and a compilation of the 'Things we've learned'. 

Things we've learned:

- Greek people seem angry all the time, which doesn't make sense since they live surrounded by such beauty

- There are a lot more street peddlers in Greece than we expected (including selling DVD's, flowers, flashlights, etc.)

- Don't get a haircut in Greece or any place where the hairdresser doesn't understand English very well

- Going to Greece in the off season isn't so bad.  You avoid the crowds and can find deals on resorts! The total cost of the villa we stayed in for 5 nights during low season cost about 1/2 as much as one night would have cost us during the high season!

- Greek television programs and movies are awful!

- Brooke in Greek is Brok.

- In Greece, November 8th is the name day for Michael (Scott's first name), the Archangel  Churches and towns organize festivals to celebrate.  People also go to visit everyone in their town named Michael to celebrate their name.