A day in Santorini

I ended up meeting up with Melissa and Yvonne for the night in Santorini and its a good thing I did.  It was so windy on the day of departure that we were not sure the Athens ferries were even going to make it out of the port.  Needless to say, my ferry to Santorini was about 40 minutes late and got me into Santorini around 2:40.  I was unprepared for the majestic fancy-pantsness that I was about to encounter by squatting at Melissa and Yvonne's hotel, The Petit Palace (http://www.petitpalace.gr) in Fira, Santorini, Greece.

Petit Palace rooftop pool view

Oh, look private pools on your deck, too....

I laid out for about 3 hours before they returned from their day trip excursion, at which point the hotel happily collected my luggage and allowed me to use the pool with no questions asked....

Squatter!

 When Melissa and Yvonne returned, I found two weary travelers in the midst of a hard fought battle against the Ios cough, fatigue and some strong cold virus.  Poor girls.  Yvonne crashed for the night leaving Melissa and I to an evening of ridiculous girl talk, reminiscing, story-telling and google challenging each other.

besties reunite!

She's so pretty... me, well, I look un-showered, which I was.

There were people getting married on the balcony of the hotel behind us... We toasted their union then continued drinking...

The sunset was pretty spectacular.  The Petit Palace is really quite beautiful.  Both in its structure and its chosen location.

As the daytime fell to dusk, the moon came out in a multi-colored sky... it brought its friend, Venus, with it.  Venus was one of Melissa and I's google challenges.  She told me to wish on the star and I said it was too bright to be a star, it must be a planet and we spent the next 20 minutes googling it and capturing it on film.

This was the view from the rooftop sitting area.  As we sat here, the moon started to change.  It was incredibly odd.  The moon began dropping in the sky, as it usually does, but as it dropped, it turned from a brilliant white to a fiery orange, then red and dropped into the sea not to be seen again.  It was so odd that another couple actually came by to ask if we had seen it and if it had been an eclipse....(another Google challenge).

Regular moon,  9PM Sept 9, 2013

Blood red moon, 10:30PM Sept. 9th 2013

After having witnessed something extraordinary and enjoying some premier quality time together, we decided to retreat back to the hotel room.  We found Yvonne awake and hungry.  Luckily, I had some Lipton Chicken Noodle Soup packets in my bag for emergencies and we were able to give her a taste of home to fight off the virus.

Off to bed and on to Venice!